Samuel Vetch

In 1698 Vetch and his brother William joined a Scottish attempt spearheaded by William Paterson to establish a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. The "Darien scheme" failed due to political infighting in the colony, diseases, lack of support, and Spanish hostility.[6][7] Vetch was elected to the colonial council, and was one of the survivors (many of the 1,200 colonists sent to Central America, including William Vetch, succumbed to disease) to make his way to New York City in August 1699.[6][8]

Vetch formed connections with the politically powerful Livingston family, marrying Margaret, the daughter of Robert Livingston.[9] With the Livingstons Vetch then established a highly profitable but illegal trade with New France, and eventually settled in Boston, capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.[6][10] Although he curtailed his trading activities when Queen Anne's War began in 1702, he was given a renewed opportunity for trade after Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley sent him on a diplomatic mission to Quebec in 1705 as part of an embassy to recover prisoners taken in a 1704 raid on Deerfield, Massachusetts. The embassy was a success, and Dudley permitted Vetch to make a trading voyage to New France in 1705. He was spotted upon his return, and the outcry compelled Dudley to have him put on trial and convicted in 1706 for trading with the enemy. He then sailed to England to appeal his conviction, and to lobby for military action against New France.[10]

Using his knowledge of New France, Vetch proposed to Queen Anne the conquest of all of New France. His proposals included the deportation of the Acadian people to the West Indies so that Nova Scotia could be peopled by Protestant settlers.[11] With the support of political allies and sympathetic colonial governors, the queen gave Vetch a military commission and promised him a governorship and military support for the 1709 campaign season. Along with Francis Nicholson, Vetch travelled to Boston in 1709 to raise colonial militia and supplies. However, the promised military force never arrived (having been diverted to the European theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession), and the effort collapsed. Nicholson immediately returned to London, and secured a new promise of support for 1710.

The 1710 expedition succeeded in capturing the Acadian capital of Port Royal, although little of the surrounding countryside was pacified. Vetch was named the first governor of Nova Scotia, and the town was renamed Annapolis Royal in honour of the queen. The garrison that was left there was woefully undersupplied, and Vetch apparently funded at least some of its expenses, although he did get some official assistance from Massachusetts. However, some of his underlings also complained that he was grossly mismanaging the affairs of the colony. Nicholson capitalised on these complaints to have himself appointed governor in Vetch's place in 1713.

Vetch then returned to England to recover his reputation and his lost funds. With the accession of George I to the throne, he succeeded, and was reappointed governor in 1715. However, he never returned to North America, as he was called on to advise on matters of North American trade and politics. He was formally replaced as governor in 1717 by Richard Philipps, and spent his remaining years in unsuccessful attempts to recoup his expenses and acquire other colonial postings.

His descendants included William Bayard (1729–1804), Samuel Bayard and Harriet Elizabeth Bayard Van Rensselaer (1799–1875).

There is a memorial plaque to Vetch at the Fort Anne National Historic Site in Annapolis Royal.[14]