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Archives provinciales du Nouveau-Brunswick

Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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PIKE, LUKE (1792-1879)

PIKE, LUKE, seaman; b. Ireland, c1792; m. 1816, Sarah Wainwright, a native of London, England; d. Chatham, 6 Jan 1879.

Luke Pike's claim to fame is that he was a combatant in the duel which took place off the coast of Massachusetts in 1807 between the Chesapeake and the Shannon. He was only fifteen years of age at the time and was not on board the Shannon by choice. He had been pressed from a merchant vessel for service on the British warship, but he did his duty as a gunner's mate and rode as triumphantly into Halifax Harbour as the rest of the crew, with the Chesapeake in tow.

Pike was discharged at Halifax, where he earned a reputation as "a man well able to play his own part in any fight." After he had lived there for nearly twenty years he moved north to Chatham with his wife and family. A "stalwart, vigorous man," he worked as a laborer and served as a parish constable. He evidently continued to be somewhat of a ruffian as well, because in 1843 his name was high on John Ambrose Street's list of culprits responsible for perpetrating the violence associated with the provincial elections of the previous year.

For many years Pike was one of the most frequent jurors at coroners' inquests held in Chatham. He was also Chatham's first dog tax collector, acquiring the nickname "Lettle Doggie...so gentle and insinuating were his approaches to a stray dog." In spite of the brevity of his military service he was granted an Imperial pension some years prior to his death. He and his wife, Sarah Wainwright, had a number of children, including a son Luke Pike Jr, who also went to sea at an early age.

Sources

[m] Halifax Marriages [d] Advocate 15 Jan 1879 / Advance 16 Jan 1879; Advocate 2 Jan 1878; Gleaner 31 Jan 1843, 28 Jul 1843, 9 May 1846, 15 Nov 1862, 29 Nov 1862; Memories


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