Scotsman is one of at least 100 people who still hold the title of Baronet of Nova Scotia

Meig Campbell · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 29, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

The days of baronets and baronetesses would look a happening of the distant past, acold removed from Nova Scotia. 

But 1 antheral successful Edinburgh, Scotland, holds the rubric of the 11th Baronet of Nova Scotia, and he's not alone. Sir Crispin Agnew, 81, is 1 of astatine slightest 100 radical who inactive clasp the title, primitively created arsenic a money-making strategy to assistance money the colonization of New Scotland.

Agnew is astir to participate successful an upcoming league successful Stirling, Scotland, that volition mark the 400th day of the first-ever Baronet of Nova Scotia successful 1625.

"It's important from a household past constituent of view.… It's bully to person it, but successful the modern time and age, it's truly not of immoderate peculiar payment oregon thing different than a humanities constituent of interest," Agnew told CBC's Information Morning Nova Scotia. 

As a means to get much Scots to settee successful New Scotland astatine the time, the King offered for acquisition the hereditary rubric Baronet of Nova Scotia, with the proceeds from those income utilized to screen migration costs for settlers.

The outgo of 3,000 Scottish merks, which would beryllium the equivalent contiguous of astir $66,000 Cdn, entitled the purchaser the usage of the rubric Sir earlier their given name and 6,500 hectares of onshore to settee successful New Scotland, the onshore between New England and Newfoundland.

While it was intended to promote colonization, Agnew said many were deterred due to the fact that the title and onshore offering besides came accompanied by a wealth tax.

"There was a batch of skulduggery that went connected to promote radical to instrumentality up the titles," said Agnew. 

He said King Charles I went to large and morally questionable lengths to unit radical to judge the title, including threatening to analyse murders and impact successful the investigation people who refused to judge the title. 

The extremity effect was that lone about 110 titles had been sold by the extremity of the reign of King Charles I. 

Agnew's family, helium said, received a missive that threatened to instrumentality distant their astir invaluable root of income, a hereditary sheriffdom, if they didn't bargain a title. 

Since then, it has been passed down through generations. 

"I inherited it from my father, helium inherited it from his uncle," said Agnew. 

Although determination is small to nary modern value to being a baronet, he quipped being called Sir Crispin has a bully ringing to it. 

"After all, we did wage 166 pounds 13 and fourpence, truthful we mightiness arsenic good payment from it."

Agnew owns a badge signifying that helium is simply a Baronet of Nova Scotia. But helium besides acknowledges the rubric was utilized arsenic a means to enforce wide colonization of Indigenous people, including the Mi'kmaq successful Nova Scotia. 

That's thing that volition beryllium discussed astatine the Nova Scotia and Scotland Conference successful Stirling connected June 30. Agnew said speakers from Indigenous communities volition sermon the semipermanent interaction of the granting of a charter for New Scotland to Sir William Alexander. 

"It's thing I deliberation we modern baronets are truly rather conscious of, adjacent though we were … the archetypal origin of it, though we were fundamentally determination to money colonization. It was a mode of raising wealth by the King without having to spell to Parliament," said Agnew. 

And portion helium holds the rubric of 11th Baronet of Nova Scotia, Agnew has yet to set foot successful the province. 

"I haven't and nor has immoderate adjacent subordinate of my family, arsenic acold arsenic I'm aware. It's possibly connected my bucket list," said Agnew.