Patrick Heron

Who was Patrick Heron?

Captain Patrick Heron was a British Army officer in Nova Scotia during King George's War.

Patrick Heron was born at Mains of Larg around the year 1690. At age sixteen he went to London to learn commercial pursuits but ended up taking a position on a slaver bound for Guinea. Heron undertook two such voyages before his father procured for him a lieutenancy in Lord Mark Kerr's regiment and soon after an officer's commission in Brigadier Munden's Regiment. In 1732 he went to North America, probably to avoid payment of debts. In 1737 Heron was stationed at Canso, Nova Scotia, a position which, despite a court martial, he held until he surrendered the town after a French surprise attack in May 1744. Heron was held prisoner of war in Louisbourg until 22 September of that year at which time he and the other British prisoners were released and transported to Boston. There they provided the Massachusetts leadership with valuable intelligence concerning the defences of the fortress at Louisbourg, making possible its capture the following year.

Heron was struck from the regimental record in 1752, and nothing further is known of him.