Editing Cape Breton Island (section)

===Colony of Cape Breton===
In 1784, Britain split the colony of [[Nova Scotia]] into three separate colonies: New Brunswick, Cape Breton Island, and present-day peninsular Nova Scotia, in addition to the adjacent colonies of [[Prince Edward Island|St. John's Island]] (renamed Prince Edward Island in 1798) and [[History of Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]. The colony of Cape Breton Island had its capital at [[Sydney, Nova Scotia|Sydney]] on its namesake harbour fronting on [[Spanish Bay (Nova Scotia)|Spanish Bay]] and the [[Cabot Strait]]. Its first Lieutenant-Governor was [[Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres]] (1784–1787) and his successor was [[William Macarmick]] (1787).

A number of [[United Empire Loyalists]] emigrated to the Canadian colonies, including Cape Breton. [[David Mathews]], the former [[Mayor of New York City]] during the [[American Revolution]], emigrated with his family to Cape Breton in 1783. He succeeded Macarmick as head of the colony and served from 1795 to 1798.<ref>{{cite DCB |title=Mathews, David |first=R. J. |last=Morgan |volume=IV |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mathews_david_4E.html}}</ref>

From 1799 to 1807, the military commandant was [[John Despard]],<ref>{{cite DCB |title=Despard, John |first=R. J. |last=Morgan |volume=6 |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/despard_john_6E.html}}</ref> brother of [[Edward Despard|Edward]].<ref>Despard, John; ''The Companion to British History'', Routledge</ref>

An order forbidding the granting of land in Cape Breton, issued in 1763, was removed in 1784. The mineral rights to the island were given over to the [[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany|Duke of York]] by an order-in-council. The British government had intended that the Crown take over the operation of the mines when Cape Breton was made a colony, but this was never done, probably because of the rehabilitation cost of the mines. The mines were in a neglected state, caused by careless operations dating back at least to the time of the final fall of Louisbourg in 1758.

Large-scale shipbuilding began in the 1790s, beginning with [[schooner]]s for local trade, moving in the 1820s to larger [[brig]]s and [[brigantine]]s, mostly built for British ship owners. Shipbuilding peaked in the 1850s, marked in 1851 by the [[full-rigged ship]] ''[[Lord Clarendon (ship)|Lord Clarendon]]'', which was the largest wooden ship ever built in Cape Breton.