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358:"Old Inns and Coffee Houses of Halifax"; by George Mullane; The Great Pontack, The Spilt Crow, Jerusalem Coffee House, British Coffee House, Sutherlands Coffee House, Governor Lawrence's Head Tavern, Wolfe Inn, Prince Edward Hotel, Wentworth Coffee House, British Tavern, Nine Mile House (Bedford), Rockingham, The Exchange Coffee House, Woodworth's Inn, McAlpine's Inn, etc.; Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. Vol #22 (1933); pp. 24.
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424:; According to the Gazette on September 1st, 1768, The American Company of Comedians was performing in Halifax: the first production was Jane Shore and another, a farce, "The Virgin Unmasked." "No one was allowed behind the scenes. Performances were on Monday and Thursday, the doors opened at 5, and the show began at 6:30."
50:, believed to have performed at The Great Pontack, Halifax, in the summer and fall of 1768. (A lively garrison and amateur theatrical tradition emerged in the Maritimes, among these was a romantic comedy called Acadius: or, Love in a Calm, the first recorded English Canadian play, performed in Halifax in 1774.)
80:
The building housed auctions, dramatic productions, balls and civic ceremonies. The building contained a slaughter-house, ballroom, public conveniences, bakers, butchers’ stalls and stabling. It was the principal hotel in
Halifax. On the first floor was the kitchen. There were several assembly rooms
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and others. The dignified procession walked to the
Pontack and entered the long room where they were served a formal breakfast. Afterward Belcher was escorted to the courthouse, where his first official act was to exhort a grand jury to wield the "sword of Justice" to protect the innocent and to
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There was a courtyard in the centre of building for wagons. The courtyard was also used to mount theatrical productions. Actors were mainly gentlemen of the Navy, the Army, and the town. There were several famous productions that were mounted for various benefits: playwright
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It was built prior to 1754 by and first operated by a
Jerseyman named Decartaret. John Willis took ownership of the building in 1769. The Pontack was partially destroyed by a fire in 1837, rebuilt and briefly occupied and eventually purchased by Imperial Oil Limited in 1925.
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The Great
Pontack was well known in the early years of the city and often hosted prominent members of Halifax society. In October 1754, on the day of the swearing in of the first Chief Justice of Nova Scotia,
411:
Major, p.188; Wheatley and
Cunningham's London Past and Present; Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, i. 186–7; Burn's Descriptive Catalogue of London Traders, Tavern, and Coffee-house Tokens, p.
115:
On 4 June 1756, there was an auction sale of a vessel which was selling arms to the
Acadians and Mi’kmaq that was captured off present-day Prince Edward Island by HMS Success under Captain
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30:(also known as Great Pontac, Pontack Inn, Pontiac Inn, Pontack Hotel, Pontack House, Pontac Tavern) was a large three-story building, erected by the Hon.
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73:. Four days later, on May 29 the invasion fleet departed. Wolfe returned to his headquarters in Halifax and the Great Pontack before his
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179:
office for ship owners, other business men and financiers of the town, who met in the Guild of
Merchants’ chamber in the establishment.
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strike terror into "the noxious and guilty." This moment in legal history marked Canada’s first superior court open for business.
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on the second floor. There was also a large veranda which encompassed the four sides of the building off the second floor.
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was among the more important groups to hold regular meetings and to celebrate special occasions at the Great
Pontack.
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57:, who was headquartered on Hollis Street, Halifax, threw a party at the Great Pontack prior to departing for the
46:.) It was named after the famous Pontack Club in London. The first resident professional company in Canada was
643:"Annals, North British Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia : With portraits and biographical notes, 1768-1903"
629:"Annals, North British Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia : With portraits and biographical notes, 1768-1903"
558:"Annals, North British Society, Halifax, Nova Scotia : With portraits and biographical notes, 1768-1903"
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186:, and about twenty others founded a chess club, which met once a fortnight at the Pontac Tavern.
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34:(and run by John Willis ), previous to 1754, at the corner of Duke and Water Streets in
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The most famous event to take place at the establishment was on May 24, 1758, when
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in his scarlet robes walked out of the
Governor’s House with Lieutenant Governor
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Richard
Bulkeley. Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society. 1905. p. 81
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Memoir of Lt Gov. Michael Francklin. Nova Scotia Historical Society, p. 15
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https://archive.org/stream/collectionsofnov01novauoft#page/n44/mode/1up
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https://eapps.ednet.ns.ca/HPIPublic/PropertyDisplay.aspx?Fid=23MNS0100
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Major, p.174; One such ball was on the King's birthday 1754 (See
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List of oldest buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Great Pontack (extreme left), Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1759
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Collections of NS Historical Society. Vol.1 1878, p. 39
16:Large three-story building in Halifax, Nova Scotia
700:Historic buildings and structures in Nova Scotia
695:Buildings and structures in Halifax, Nova Scotia
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175:The Great Pontack served the function of the
61:. Wolfe and his men purchased 70 bottles of
346:Marjorie Major's "The Great Pontack Inn"
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434:English Theatre - Canadian Encyclopedia
422:English Theatre - Canadian Encyclopedia
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362:Annals: North British Society, p. 23
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348:Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly
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133:Historic Properties (Halifax)
131:Pontac House (bottom right),
44:Historic Properties (Halifax)
42:and the Pontac House at the
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154:The Suspicious Husband
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603:2012-02-18 at the
199:Guests and Patrons
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69:and 25 bottles of
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671:44.650°N 63.573°W
453:Johnston. Endgame
228:Richard Bulkleley
177:Lloyd's of London
28:The Great Pontack
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380:John Willis
243:James Wolfe
55:James Wolfe
32:John Butler
689:Categories
662:63°34′23″W
659:44°39′00″N
338:References
367:Endnotes
212:Governor
117:John Rous
601:Archived
321:See also
164:Meetings
158:The Rake
111:Auctions
645:. 1905.
631:. 1905.
560:. 1905.
350:, 1973,
190:Decline
123:Theatre
342:Texts
241:Major
85:Events
71:brandy
67:claret
168:The
156:and
148:and
152:'s
135:Map
691::
412:13
160:.
119:.
77:.
466:)
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