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Lawrence Hartshorne (July 1, 1755 – March 10, 1822) was a merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia. He represented Halifax County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1793 to 1799. He was a Quaker who was the chief assistant of John Clarkson (abolitionist) in helping the Black Nova Scotian Settlers emigrate to Sierra Leone (1792)
He was born in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, the son of John Hartshorne and Lucy Saltar, and came to Nova Scotia as a loyalist in 1783. In 1780, he married Elizabeth Ustick. He became a hardware dealer in Halifax. Hartshorne built a grist mill and bakery around 1792. He married the widow Abigail Tremaine in 1802 after the death of his first wife. Hartshorne served as a member of Nova Scotia's Council from 1801 to 1804 and from 1807 to 1822. He resigned from Council in 1804 to protest the appointment of John Butler Butler to the Council. He was also a magistrate and commissioner of revenue. He died at his home in Dartmouth and was buried in the Old Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
The home Lawrence built in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in 1837 and is a protected heritage property. He also founded the HARTSHORNE-TREMAIN GRIST MILL (1792). His son Lawrence also served in the provincial assembly.