Departures of note

Samuel Hart, a merchant and politician in Nova Scotia, turned to fencing stolen goods after his brother's bankruptcy threatened his business. Hart had emigrated from England to Philadelphia and then to Nova Scotia, where he ran an import/export firm. In Liverpool Township, he met Joseph 'Weasel' Thomas, a highwayman who worked as a carpenter, and the two formed a partnership: Hart used his export network to move valuables Thomas stole during robberies. The scheme proved lucrative, and by 1801 Hart had paid off all the mortgages on his properties.

Hart's political career included election to the 7th General Assembly of Nova Scotia, representing Liverpool Township from 1793 to 1799. His financial troubles began in 1798 when his brother Moses, a merchant in London, declared bankruptcy; Hart had acted as a guarantor on some of Moses's debts, putting his own business at risk. This pressure likely drove him into the fencing arrangement with Thomas.

In 1809, Hart was declared legally insane. He died a year later, chained to the floor in his own property, on October 3, 1810.