Land Petition of Sundry Private Soldiers of the 78th Regiment of Foot

In 1802, eleven former soldiers of the 78th Regiment of Foot reduced in America petitioned the Quebec Government for wastelands of the Crown pursuant to the proclamation of 1763. Having never previously received approval for land for any number of reasons; lost paperwork and the inability to accurately prove who they were, including former military service, would have certainly delayed or even forgone the original approval process.

Quebec 9th. February 1802

To His Excellency Sir Robert Shore Milnes, Baronet, Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Lower Canada &c, &c, &c, in Council~

The petition of Sundry Non-Commissioned officers and private Soldiers of British Regiments and Provincial Corps who were reduced in America – in behalf of themselves and their several and respective families whose names and designations are inserted in a General Schedule hereunder annexed~

Humbly Shewith,

That your petitioners faithfully served His Majesty at various periods of their lives and were reduced in America, thereby coming within the description of persons entitled to grants of certain portions of the waste lands of the Crown, under the authority of the Royal Proclamation and Instructions.

That from want of due information and advice as well as labouring under many other local disadvantages diverse of Your Petitioners who bore arms at the conquest of Canada, and have ever since been settled in the province, were thus deprived of the benefits which would have resulted for themselves and families had they at the time received His Majesty’s Bounty, pursuant to the proclamation of 1763, when in the prime and vigor of their lives they were best able to enjoy and improve their lands.

That such of Your Petitioners come under the foregoing description, humbly conceive it would be an act of justice and indemnity, should it please Your Excellency in Council to comprehend them under the same regulations which govern the Grants to His Majesty’s reduced Forces of 1783 and since the American War, by allowing to them severally Two Hundred Acres and to their wives & Children fifty acres each, as extended by Lord Dorchester to the Loyalists and various other persons.

That Your Petitioners have never received their bounty lands in this or any of His Majesty’s Colonies or provinces in America.

That unable to ascertain what tracts are open for application at present –

Your petitioners humbly prey-

That Your Excellency in council will be pleased to assign unto them Two Hundred Acres each, and such as are married Fifty Acres to their wives and Child respectively, in any Township of equal quality to those awarded to Loyalists and meritorious subjects-

And as in duty bound will ever pray-

                                                                                     R Phillips in behalf

                                                                                     of the Petitioners

Name: James Forbes

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 10 Septr. 1763

Residence:

Trade or Occupation: Labourer

Family:

Remarks: 78th Regt.

Name: John McLeod

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 10 Septr. 1763

Residence:

Trade or Occupation: Farmer

Family:

Remarks: 78th Regt.

Name: Robert Robertson

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 10 Septr. 1763

Residence:

Trade or Occupation: Labourer

Family:

Remarks: 78th Regt.

Name: Dond. McKinnon

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 

Discharged: 

Residence:

Trade or Occupation: 

Family: Wife & 10 Children

Remarks: 78th Regt., By affidavit

Name: Dond. Kennedy

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 12 years

Discharged: 24 Augt. 1769

Residence:

Trade or Occupation: 

Family: A Wife & 4 Children

Remarks: 15th & 78th Regt.

Name: John Frazer

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 11 Septr. 1763

Residence:

Trade or Occupation: 

Family: A Wife & 9 Children

Remarks: 78th Regt.

Name: William Ross

Rank: Corporal

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 11 Septr. 1763

Residence: Rimouskie

Trade or Occupation: 

Family: A Wife & 6 Children

Remarks: 78th Regt. Received an order for 1200 acres

Name: Rand. McDonell

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 11 Septr. 1763

Residence: New Carlisle

Trade or Occupation: Farmer

Family: A Wife & 3 Children

Remarks: 78th Regt. Certificate annexed

Name: Duncan Cumming

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 8 years

Discharged: 

Residence: Montreal

Trade or Occupation: 

Family: A Wife & 7 Children

Remarks: 60 & 78th Regt. Certificate annexed

Name: John Fraser

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 11 Septr. 1763

Residence: St. Anns

Trade or Occupation: Blacksmith

Family: A Wife & 9 Children

Remarks: 78th Regt. Certificate annexed

Name: John Buchanan

Rank: Private

Born: Scotland

Time of Service: 7 years

Discharged: 20 Septr. 1763

Residence: 

Trade or Occupation: Labourer

Family: 

Remarks: 78th Regt. Certificate annexed

Source:

"Schedule of certificates and discharges of non-commissioned officers and soldiers reduced in America." LAC, Lower Canada Land Papers, RG1 L3L, vol. 157.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017. 

Monies paid to Captain Alexander Campbell, 78th Regiment

By the Honble James Murray Esqr.

Governor of Quebec

You are hereby required and directed out of such Monies as are or shall come into your hands for the Contingent Expenses of His Majesty’s Forces under my Command, to Pay or cause to be paid to Captain Alexander Campbell Paymaster of his Majesty’s 78^th Regiment of Foot or his assigns, the sum of Seven hundred Seventy one Pounds, three shillings and two pence Sterling, in Dollars at four shillings and eight pence each without Deduction, being for Subsistence of said Regiment, from the 25^th of August to the 24^th October 1763 both days inclusive as p the annexed amount, and for so doing this with the acquittance of the said Captain Alexr. Campbell or his assigns, Shall be your Sufficient Warrant and Discharge.

Given under my Hand at Quebec

This 15^th day of October 1763.

/Signed/ Ja: Murray

To John Powell Esqr.

Paymt. To His Majesty’s

Forces in Quebec

                          

/Counts of H.J. Cramahe

                 42 Serjeants @ 1/p diem.. £2  2  --

    42 Corpls………..8d………………. 1  8 –

    22 Drumr………..8d………………. --  14  8

    337 Private……..6d……………….. 8  8  6

                               Total for one day   £12  13  2

                               Total for 61 Days…………………£771  3  2

                                                /Signed/

                                                                Alexr. McLeod Captain

                                                                                78^th Regiment

                                                                Alexr. Campbell Paymaster

                                                                                78^th Regiment

Note: This muster of 443 soldiers accounts for 170 discharged soldiers that remained in North America at the conclusion of the war, and 273 soldiers [10 less than initially reported] that returned home in December 1763.

Source:

James Murray, “Monies paid to Captain Alexander Campbell, 78th Regiment.” Letterbook/Copie de lettres, 1763-1771. LAC, RG4, C2, vol. 1.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.   

Memorial of Lieutenant James Babbidge, 78th Regiment of Foot

The Memorial of James Babbidge, a reduced lieutenant of the late 78th regiment, stating his services at Louisbourg &c. and praying for employment. [Undated.]

To The Right Honourable The Earl of Dartmouth &c. &c.

The Memorial of James Babbidge a Reduced Lieutenant in the late 78th Regiment of Foot

                                                                                                                                  Shewith

"That he had the Honour of Serving in the 15th Regiment of Foot as Lieutenant and Quartermaster and was at the Reduction of Louisbourg Quebec Montreal & Martinico &c. where he was sevearly wounded & otherwise suffer'd very much in the Service, which brought upon him a Complication of Disorders. That on the Commencement of the Race He was in such a State of Health that it was the advice of the Physicians that returning to His native air was the only chance he had to save His Life, which laid Him under the disagreeable necessity of exchanging into a young Regiment that was Returning to Britain and embracing the only alternative that offer'd. That after languishing several years of the above Disorders, He is now thank God perfectly recovered. That with His health his desire of serving is return'd therefore prays His Lordship will bepleased to recommend Him to some employment either Civil or Military in America."

Background

James Babbidge: (c1730-c1791) - Began his military career as an English NCO and experienced QM of the 15th Regiment of Foot, who exchanged officership with John Macdonell of the 78th Regiment, as of November 14, 1763, so that the latter could serve in an older regiment and continue his military career. Babbidge went on half-pay with most other 78th officers the following month and returned to England. He returned briefly to full pay as a lieutenant in the Plymouth Invalid Company on December 30, 1789.

Military Assignments

Date:  

Regiment:  15th Regiment of Foot

Company:  Jeffrey Amherst's Company

Grade:  Sergeant

Date: 1758-12-21

Regiment:  15th Regiment of Foot

Grade:  Quartermaster

Date:  1762-09-10

Regiment:  15th Regiment of Foot

Grade:  Lieutenant

Date:  1763-11-14

Regiment:  78th Regiment of Foot

Grade:  Lieutenant

Date:  1763-12-24

Date:  1789-12-30

Regiment:  Captain John Hatfield's Invalid Company - Plymouth

Grade:  Lieutenant

Date:  1794-04-20

Sources:

Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, "Memorial of James Babbidge." LAC, MG23, A1, vol. 2.

Marie Fraser, “Officers of the 78th Regiment.” Clan Fraser Society, 2001.

Plains of Abraham, "Military Assignments of James Babbidge." The National Battlefields Commission, Government of Canada. July, 2017. Web.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017. 

Colonel Simon Fraser's Letters to Lord Murray, 1757

The Scottish Highlanders who served in North America were recruited by a variety of methods, but records do indicate most were volunteers. Economic depression swarmed their homelands, and the thoughts of prosperity and securing a better livelihood in the new world certainly would have contributed to each man's decision to enlist. Recruiters scoured the countryside, some concentrating their efforts to the immediate lands around their estates, while others traveled the length of Aberdeen to "make out their recruits." With competition to enlist men coming from Colonel Montgomery of the First Highland Battalion, recruiting was at a premium from a country sorely depleted in able-bodied men. The Recruiting Act of 1756-57 specified commissioners and their representatives may only enlist men aged 17-45; fit to serve His Majesty; free from ruptures and distemper; and non-Papists. Albeit there are no records available indicating recruiting officers compelled men in Scotland to sign and swear to a religious certificate, records do indicate this was a requirement at that time throughout Ireland.

On February 7, 1757, Simon Fraser had personally visited the offices of the Board in Edinburgh, to impress and extol the need for rapid recruitment. He, and others found that traveling the country securing men for the regiment simply came with the territory, -- it was part of the job. In a letter to his brother dated April 8, 1757, Major James Clephane, second in command, described the exhausting need to continuously oversee the recruiting efforts across Scotland for his personal company.

"My dear johnie,

No doubt you'll be much surprised that, till now, you have had no letter from me ever since I came to this place, which is now 20 days, but I'm persuaded you'll give great allowance for my silence, when I tell you that till yesterday I have not been 24 hours at one time here; sometimes one day at Inverness, next day return here, and a third at Nairn, and so on alternately, and often reviewing my recruits, and Kilraick and I engaging good men and dismissing worse."

Hon. Simon Fraser to Mr. Murray of Strowan

Dunkeld, 19th Feb. 1757.

Dr Sir, -- I have seen some men that are brought in here by a Constable, some of whom say they have had money for Col : Montgomery, & one in particular was inclinable to prefer enlisting wt. me to any other. As I suppose they came here by the Duke’s order, I would not attempt doing any thing without his Grace’s permission. At same time, as his Grace was so good as to say he wou’d not discountenance my recruiting, if any of the men prefer enlisting wt. me to going elsewhere, I flatter myself His Grace will have no objection to my getting any who are still unengaged, & make that choice. The man I mentioned to have already made it, had received no money & was perfectly disengaged, but I wou’d do nothing wt. him without asking his Grace.

Pardon this trouble. I am just setting out. God bless you, & do me the justice to believe me very much your faithful servt.

S. FRASER.

Colonel Fraser departed Dunkeld, Perthshire on February 19, 1757, after posting his letter to Mr. Murray, and appears to have quartered at Moulinearn Inn, about three miles southwest of Ballyoukan, where he sends a second letter, postmarked the same day. 

Hon. Simon Fraser to Mr. Murray of Strowan

Mulenairn, Satud. night, 19 Feb. 1757.

Dr Sr, -- When you did me the honor to call this afternoon, the number of fiddle faddle letters I had just been writing had quite jumbled my Judgement, & it was only upon the road that I began to consider that you said the men I saw were sent for by my Lord Duke for Coll. Montgomery. I had been informed they were impressed to fill up the quota of the county, & seeing a constable with them made me think it was so, & the men themselves thought so. But I suppose the case is that one or two of them may be wanted for that, and the Duke means to make use of it to give the rest to Coll. Montgomery. If I had understood that to be the case when I saw them, I should have not interfered so far as to ask one of them to make his choice of me, & I beg to recall any demand I made of that sort. If they are men the Duke intended & sent for to be given to Col. Montgomery, I wou’d not presume to interfere wt. his Grace’s intentions so far as to take them if they came out and offered themselves, & I shall be obliged to you if you’l do me the honor to present my complts. To His Grace, and tell him this, & that when I took the liberty to send to you before I took them to be impressed men for the county.

I beg leave to offer my complts. To the Dutches & Lady Charlotte. Pray don’t be angry wt. me for this trouble, but believe me wt. great regard,

Dr Sir,
Yr most obt. & hult. Servt.

My paper & ink are very bad, but the place offers no better.

S. FRASER.

Note: Murray, of Strowan, is Lord George Murray (1694-1760), a Scottish Jacobite general most noted for his 1745 campaign under Bonnie Prince Charlie in England. In 1728, he married Amelia, daughter, and heiress of James Murray of Strowan and Glencarse and had five children, Lady Charlotte being the fourth child, second daughter.

Sources:

Atholl, John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, et al. Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine families [Edinburgh, 1908].

William Congreve. "Letter to Wilmot indicating not one of the recruits were papists or had falsely signed the religious certificates." Dated 10 March 1757. PRO Northern Ireland, T3019/3122.

Mackillop, Andrew. Military recruiting in the Scottish Highlands 1739-1815: Col. Fraser in Edinburgh, February 7, 1757 [September 1995].

H. Rose and Lachlan Shaw. A genealogical deduction of the family of Rose of Kilravock: with illustrative documents from the family papers, and notes [Edinburgh, 1848].

“Lord George Murray (General).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Murray_(general). Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

© Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017. 

Petitions of Captain Hugh Fraser, 1764

Petition of Capt. Hugh Fraser, born on the Estate of Lovat, late of the 78^th Regiment, for a farm. He had served his Majesty 28 years, 26 of which in the 27^th Regiment. In the war before the last in the West Indies, and in Scotland all the winter Campaign during the late rebellion, and all the last war in America, and was at the reduction of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Isle aux Noire, and Montreal. He purchased a Company in the Hon. Col. Simon Fraser’s corps, but the peace following soon thereafter the regiment was reduced, and he way put on half-pay. Read 13 Feb. 1764.

Petition of Capt. Hugh Fraser, late of the 78^th Regiment, has been above 30 years in the service, and in the last Campaign in America as a Capt. In the 78^th Regt., and on the peace being concluded the regiment was disbanded. Had prevailed on his uncle, Andrew Fraser of Aigas, to give up a small possession of Inchlair, of £7, 12s. 1d. ster. of rent, and having laid out some expenses, although only from year to year, hopes to get a lease of the same. Read 27 Feb. 1769.

Source:

Millar, A. H. A Selection of Scottish Fortified Estate Papers, 1715; 1745 [Edinburgh, Scottish Historical Society, 1909].

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.