Moses Henry Perley

Perley, Moses Henry

Moses Henry Perley, lawyer, naturalist, author (b at Maugerville, NB 31 Dec 1804; d off Labrador coast 17 Aug 1862). An avid sportsman and natural historian, Perley became the leading authority on NB's resources in the mid-19th century. In 1842 he prepared a report on the province's Indian reserves - the basis for its 1844 Indian Reserve Act. He was active in forming the Saint John Mechanics' Institute in 1838 and the Provincial Assn in 1844, was provincial emigrant agent 1843-48 and in 1854 published a Handbook of Information for Emigrants to New Brunswick. In 1846 and 1848 he prepared reports on possible railway routes. He published a report on trees (1847) and 1848-49 reports on NB's fish and the fisheries of the Gulf of St Lawrence and Bay of Fundy. Perley collected information used in Reciprocity Treaty (1854) negotiations and in 1855 he became a fishery commissioner.