Taking Title of Mount Murray

Title.-- "Grant of the 27th of April, 1762, by the Honourable James Murray, Esq. Governor of Quebec, to Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser, of His Majesty's 78th Regiment of Foot, of all that extent of land lying on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence, from the North side of the River of Malbay to the River Noire, and for three leagues back, to be known hereafter, at the special request of the said Lieutenant Malcolm Fraser, by the name of Mount Murray, together with the woods and rivers or other appurtenances within the said extent, right of fishing or fowling, within the same, included. All kinds of traffic with the Indians of the back country hereby specially excepted."

History of Mount Murray
MOUNT MURRAY, is a British grant en fief et seigneurie, in the co. of Saguenay; it reaches from the north side of the R. Malbay, along the bank of the St. Lawrence, as far as the River Noire or Black River, and is three leagues in depth. Granted Apr. 27, 1762, to Lieut. Malcolm Fraser, Esq, this seigniory is separated from Murray Bay by Malbay River, and contains only a small proportion of cultivated land in comparison to its size. The general surface is mountainous, but in some places the soil is moderately good: timber of all kinds is plentiful and very fine, particularly pine. The lands under the best state of improvement are those along R. Malbay for about six miles. A tolerable good road passes through these settlements, on which are many farm houses and dwellings. The manor-house, belonging to Colonel Fraser, called Mount Murray, is well situated at the entrance of the bay on the east side, and is surrounded by a large tract of well-cultivated lands. This grant is watered by several streams, whose waters are not more than sufficient to work the mills. From the River Noire, along the borders of the St. Lawrence, and as far into the interior as the country has been explored, are only mountains of stone almost without the slightest vegetation. Limestone is abundant in this S. The chief articles of trade are deals, boards, fire-wood and some wheat: the salmon caught between the River Noire and Malbay are sold at Quebec.

Source:

Bouchette, Joseph. "A Topographical Dictionary of the Province of Lower Canada." Longman & Company, Quebec, 1832.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2019.

Arms Issued to the Highland Regiments, 1757

War Office, 13 January 1757

Sir,

His Majesty having thought fit to order two Highland Battalions of Foot to be forthwith raised each Battalion to consist of Forty Serjeants Forty Corporals Twenty Drummers and One thousand Effective Private Men besides Commission Officers, I have the Honour to acquaint you herewith that you may be pleased to receive His Majesty's Commands thereupon and Signify the same to the Master Gen'l of the Ordnance that the Arms &c mentioned in the Annexed List for the said two Battalions may be delivered out of His Majesty's Stores & the Expence thereof charged to the Estimate of Ordnance for Parliament.

Iron Ramrods:

First Battalion: 1040

Second Battalion: 1040
Total: 2080

Firelocks & Bayonets:

First Battalion: 1040

Second Battalion: 1040
Total: 2080

Side Pistols:

First Battalion: 1080

Second Battalion: 1080
Total: 2160

Halberts:

First Battalion: 40

Second Battalion: 40
Total: 80

Drums:

First Battalion: 40

Second Battalion: 40
Total: 80

I am

Sir &c

Barrington

Rt. Honble Wm. Pitt His Majesty's

Principal Secry of State

Note: A list of accoutrements issued to soldiers of the 78th Regiment can be found here.

Source:

Lord Barrington, "Letter to William Pitt requesting arms." War Office Records: Out Letters: Secretary at War. General Letters, Dec. 1756-Apr. 1757. TNA, W.O. 4, vol. 53 (Selections).

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2019.

Major Clephane's Uniform Tailoring, Sep. 1757

Shortly after the regiment arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Major Clephane placed an order for the making of, what appears to be a regimental jacket. Eighteenth-century regimental clothing Tailor Henry Cooke described, that two and one-half yards of cloth would fit a man with a 42-inch chest, indicating the major was probably small in his bodily frame and overall stature. 

It would appear that Andrew Butler was Major Clephane’s personal tailor; perhaps even a local merchant. Additionally, it was quite common each company would also have a trained tailor to make and repair uniforms for the sergeants and other ranks in the field as required.  We discovered, from occupations listed while at Chelsea Hospital, the 78th Regiment had a number of men who were tailors in the civilian sector.

Halifax, 22d. Sep't. 1757

Major Clephanes

B.o.S of Alexander Mackenzie

2 ½ yards Superfine scarlet Cloth	@ 23	£2        17        6
3/16 yard Superfine white Cloth	@ 24	-           3          6
4 yards best white shalloon	@ 3/	-           12        -
¾ yard Buckram	@ 14	-           0          10 ½
3 skeins Twist, 4 ditto Silk	@ 6d each	-           3          6
3 ½ oz. Thread	@ 5d	-           1          5 ½
2 ½ yards Dimity	@ ¼	-           3          5 ¼
¾ linen	@ ⅛	-           1          3
del’d his own Taylor:	[Total]	£4        4          6 ¼
26th,     2 ½ yards Scarlet shag	@ 10	£1        5          -
¾ yard Superfine scarlet cloth	@ 23	-           17        6
3 yards Dimity	@ ¼	-           4          1 ½
4 Skeins Silk & Twist	@ 6d each	-           2          0
2 oz. Th’d, del’d And’w Butler	@ 5d	-           0          10
	[Total]	£2        9          5 ½
Oct 1st, 1 yard white shalloon, del’d his own Taylor		-           3          -
Oct 3d, 1 yard Dimity, del’d  And’w Butler		-           1          4 ½
½ yard Linen, del’d his own Taylor	@ ¼	-           0          8
	[Total]	£6        19        0 ¼

Fabric Notes:

- Superfine scarlet cloth:  a superior, finer cloth, used to make officers uniform jackets.

- Superfine white cloth:  used for the jacket’s facings (cuffs, lapels, etc).

- Shalloon:  a lightweight twilled fabric of wool or worsted used chiefly for coat linings.  

- Buckram:  a coarse material, linen or cotton, used for stiffening clothes. 

- Skein:  a unit of yarn.

- Silk:  used for sewing.  The “twist” was possibly the lace or piping used around buttonholes, cuffs, collars, lapels, etc.

- Dimity:  a strong cotton corded fabric.

Sources:

Major Clephane's Bill of Sale of Alexander Mackenzie, Sep. 1757. Elizabeth Rose Family Papers. NRS, GD125-22-17, p. 1.

Chapman, Earl J. "Bill of Sale." E-Mail letter to Jeffrey Campbell dated 26 July 2017. 

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2019.

Return of Bedding in Fort Stanwix, 1759

Albany, Nov. 22d 1759

Sir, 

I beg leave to inclose your Excellency a Return from Fort Stanwix, sent by Lieut. Col. Massey, of the Bedding there and to acquaint you that Last Fall Beding for 400 men was sent tho' not quite new still good and that upon a representation of Col. Frazier [78th Foot] to Brigr. Genl. Stanwix of its not being fit for his People he order'd that we should send up a New set which was accordingly done wherefore I beg to know your commands upon this head whether the demand must be comply'd with or not in the best manner we can not being provided for such after claps.

I am with with great respect

Your Excellencys

Most obedient

humble servant

Jno. Bradstreet

His Ex. Genl. Amherst

Return of the Bedding in Fort Stanwix

Nov. 14th 1759

Double Beds: 40

Single Beds: 12

Number of men will serve: 92

Double Ruggs: 89

Single Ruggs: 107

Number of men will serve: 285

Blankets good: 6

D'o bad: 40

Number of men will serve: 46

Bolsters Bad: 67

No. of men will serve: 67

Numr. of men wanting Beds: 301

D'o wanting Ruggs: 108

D'o wanting Blankets: 347

D'o wanting Bolsters: 326

Num'r of persons in the Garrison to be compleated in Bedding: 383

[signed]

J. Rogers

Lt. 46th Regt.

acting Qr. Master

In short all the Beding so bad, it is hard to expect Soldiers can lie on them, so that a new set is Wanting for the Provencials did everything nasty in them and on them.

Endorsed - Return of Bedding

Source: 

War Office Records: Amherst Papers. Letters from Colonel John Bradstreet, Deputy Quartermaster-General to the Commander-in-Chief, 1758-1763. LAC, WO 34, vol. 57.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2019.

Lieutenant John Murray's Letter Home, Oct. 1757

My Dearest Sir,

About six weeks ago I wrote from Boston By Capt. Noble bound for Clyde, I was sent from Halifax to boston To provide Quarters for Coll: Frasers Regt. who I believe my Lord Loudon intended should winter there, but he has since ordered them Here where I expect them Dayly & I believe they will winter either at Philadelphia or this place I long vastly to to see Coll: Fraser both to thank him for his kindness in appointing me one of his officers and in hopes of receiving letters from you by him, as I have not had one single line from any of my friends since I arrived on this Continent which I assure you my Dr. papa has given me very great uneasiness often, I hope I shall not for the future for the same Cause. 

In my last by Capt. Noble I gave you my journal since my arrival in this Country since which letter nothing remarkable has happened me My uncle is very well & writes you by this Packet, But of an older date than Mine, he is about Forty miles Above this, on his way to Albany where I believe the Regt. will Quarter this winter, As will likewise Lord John Murray’s who are all well, And at present between Albany & Fort Edward In short every body that I recollect & that you are Acquainted with are in perfect good health, As for me I never was better in my life than since I came to this Country(Except one touch of the Bloody Flux), Altho I have gone thro’ some very Quick Transitions of climate first from heat to coald & then from cold to heat And indeed every body that I know are in the same way, for there never was such a Number of troops together with so few deaths Amongst them, As there is here As for News, I entirely refer you to the Publick Papers, indeed there is none for every thing is in the greatest Tranquillity here At present except now & then a back settler scalped by the Indians which we are so familiarized as to think nothing of it, I dare say not near so much as most people at home do. 

It is very usuall for people who come to a strange Country to make some remarks upon it The inhabitants their Manners Customs &Trade &c &c But as You have seen many much more distinct Accounts of all these Things Than I could pretend to give As my unsettled way of life And the Company I mostly keept have prevented my coming to the thorough knowledge of them. However that I may not seem entirely Ignorant of the People Amongst whom I have lived above a Twelvemonth, I will sett down a few things that must appear Obvious to every person who comes here. The lay of the Country In generall is woody but very Fertile when Clear’d, which is but every small proportion of the whole, Yet is for the most part very pleasing to the Eye The produce I dare say you are thoroughly well Acquainted with Therefore will not detain you on that head. The Inhabitants (I mean of the Country only) are A Vulgar, Ignorant, Rich, Independent, People And mostly all upon the same footing, Owing I believe to their wealth & the too great lenity of the Government to them which indeed they seem to be very Insensible of, But I hope will soon. To say any thing of their Towns (that at present seem to be flourishing very fast wou’d lead me entirely out of my design of Brevity Therefore I shall not touch on that subject. As for the Inhabitants of them. I believe they may make a very good figure in the Trading world, but I think never will in either the Polite or Political (altho they all pretend to be Great statesmen) for their heads are so crammed with Profit & Lose, That they have left no Room for any thing else, The more refin’d sentiments of friendship & honour seldom enter their Brains I believe I might have even added honesty however I wou’d not Mean from this that the whole are so, As there are some extreame Good People amongst them, Altho there is too many of them in the Above style. As I dare say you are very much Tired with this long Narration I will conclude it with giving you a hint that I don’t intend to Publish my remarks at present I mean to put them in the press, Therefore beg that you may not expose me by shewing this Nonsense to any body, I hope you’l forgive this freedom 

Just now I rece’d a letter from my Uncle he is Extreamly Well In the list of Captains for Lord John Murray’s Additional Company’s there is one James Murray which I think is very Probably my Uncle as there is not a James Murray in the Army, Some think it is Lord John’s Nephew, But a little Time will soon determine us. It is reported here that there is another Highland Regt. to be raised And the Command to be given to Lochiel who I’me told is at London. If so I should Imagine it was possible to procure me a Company in it, But of this And the method how to apply for it, you are best Judge Believe me my Dr. Sir the greatest pleasure it would give me, wou’d be that I should be enabled to Assist you in your Difficulties, I pray God you may have no need of it, But I beg you may do me the Justice to believe that if it shall be ever in my power I will perform with a greatefull and Dutifull heart. I hope this will find you reconciled to Mr Drummond & Sir John Miln’s as I dare say it would extricate you out of some of your Difficulties, I beg you will write me by every Packet and let me hear how your affairs are & how you and Mama keep your health, with every thing else concerning You And my other Relations, As I assure you your long Silence has given me great uneasiness, I always, until I met my Uncle flatored myself with the hopes of your letters having been miscarried But he Informed neither you nor he had ever wrote any. If it were convenient for you to get a letter of Recommendation for me from Mr Hugh Forbes to his Brother the Coll: who is adjutant Generall here I should be greatly Obliged to you And I believe it might be of Service to me, Not that I think I could procure me a step But it might be of use in severall other cases, I am pretty well Acquainted with him & go pretty often to see him, he is at present very well. I have not heard one word from Mrs Brand since I came here yet & very seldom of her – I beg you may remember me to all my Relations, friends, and cquaintances in the proper Manner, And with my Duty to Mama Grandmama, Aunts and Uncles, and love to my sister &a her Children, her husband And Brother in law are both well & I am My Drlay yrs most affect & loving Son 

John Murray

New York Octr 18 1757

P.S. always send your letters by the Packet and direct for Me To lieut John Murray of Collonal Frasers Ret at New York North America, If they are so directed they must come to hand, Provided you pay the postage to Falmouth & the freight from there Here. This is my fourth letter – Since I wrote the rest of my Letter, I’me ordered by Lord Loudon to go to Connecticut Collony & take up Quarters for Col: Frasers Regt as they are To be Cantoned in several different Villages in that Government This winter, adieu once more my Drllays 

John Murray

Octr 20

Note: John Murray, the son of Glencarnock, was gazetted a lieutenant on 6 February 1757, and killed at Louisbourg. Glencarnock did not survive his son - he died in Edinburgh in October 1758. This letter is printed in A. G. M. Macgregor's, History of the Clan Gregor.

Sources:

Lt. John Murray, "Letter from New York to his father in Scotland, 18 October 1757." Stirling Archives, Scotland.  http://www.stirlingarchives.scot/2016/10/28/vulgar-rich-independent-people-letter-lieutenant-john-murray-new-york-father-18th-october-1757. Accessed 15 June 2018.

Macgregor, Amelia G. M. History of Clan Gregor [Edinburgh, 1901], p. 390-2.

©  Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2019.