1784 in Canada explained
Events from the year 1784 in Canada.
Incumbents
Governors
Events
- August 16 – In response to Loyalist demands, the Crown creates New Brunswick out of Nova Scotia. New Brunswick was then divided into eight counties.
- North West Company built up Grand portage as a general summer rendezvous for all companies and free traders, drawing furs from as far as Oregon and the Arctic Circle.
- David Thompson began his apprenticeship on Hudson Bay.
- James Cook's journal of his last voyage published in London.
- Ward Chipman the Elder, a Massachusetts lawyer, settled in New Brunswick, where he served as solicitor general until 1808.[2]
- Butler's Rangers were disbanded in June 1784, and its veterans were given land grants in the Nassau District, now the Niagara region of Ontario, as a reward for their services to the British Crown.
Births
Deaths
Full date unknown
- Laurence Coughlan, Methodist preacher, Church of England clergyman, and local official
Historical documents
Lower Canada
Ordinance "for securing the Liberty of the Subject" guarantees habeas corpus rights (with certain limitations) to persons charged with crimes[3]
U.S. exporters to be assessed same duties, drawbacks and bounties on goods shipped to Britain as are on British American exports[4]
Canada is "most prominent [in Empire as] a wide world of Wildernesses" poorly defended, bringing in little revenue and costing perhaps £600,000/yr.[5]
Canada and Nova Scotia will not reach their potential for export to West Indies while they lack population, capital and output of U.S.A.[6]
If it draws "an energy from the war" and encouragement of wheat "manufacturing," Canada will supply Newfoundland and West Indies with flour[7]
Large grist mill available at Pointe-Lévy, with 2 water wheels, 4 pairs of stones, 1,000-bushel bins, plus 16,000-bushel granary being built[8]
Henry Rimphoff successfully sends timber raft up St. Lawrence River from St. Paul's Bay to Quebec City, "chiefly to encourage industry"[9]
Montreal merchant appeals to Continental Congress for compensation of expenditures on U.S. forces and losses from confiscations by Canada[10]
Discharged from Butler's Rangers, Charles Anger entitled to "the portion of Land [in Quebec] allotted to each [Provincial Corps] private soldier"[11]
Loyalists and disbanded troops wishing concessions of land are to muster for settlement from Pointe au Baudet to Cataraqui and at Chaleur Bay[12]
Painting: Loyalists arrived at Johnstown (today's Cornwall, Ont.) on St. Lawrence River[13]
Provincial corps officers who have returned to U.S.A. have had to give up their half-pay, but British government may revoke that rule[14]
Henry Caldwell offers Loyalists about 180,000 acres mostly near Lake Champlain and on Chaudière River near Quebec "on the most reasonable terms"[15]
For sale, "a Stout, healthy, young Panis Girl, about 22 years of age,[...]speaks French and English, and is perfectly honest and sober"[16]
For sale, "a Likely healthy Negro Wench," 15 or 16, brought up in New York, has had smallpox and "understands all sorts of house work"[17]
Black woman's remaining 7-8 years of indenture is for sale; seller assures any purchaser of her "honesty, sobriety and good temper"[18]
Offer of $14 for escaped "Negro-Man named Ishmael," about 36, missing some front teeth and knuckle of one finger, and passes as "a Free Negro"[19]
"A Negro man named Tight" ran away August 12 and was seen crossing St. Lawrence with Snow (another enslaved Black man) about 1st of September[20]
$30 reward for capture of Kamouraska indented apprentice Thomas Costin ("18[,] looks sulky[,] very slovenly and dirty in his dress")[21]
Charles Nishonoit "of the Penobscot tribe was executed on the road side a little out of St. John's Suburbs" for murder of two travellers[22]
Fundraising for treatment of Quebec City's "Sick Poor [who have been] recommended by the Clergy, Magistrates, or other respectable persons"[23]
Practitioner to lecture on theory and practice of midwifery, as it will employ "elderly women" and is needed in Quebec's "infant settlements"[24]
Trois-Rivière servant with candle causes loss of entire house by fire (except money, plate and papers saved); 53rd Regiment thanked for saving town[25]
Shoe and boot maker from Edinburgh says "as he is a young beginner," he trusts he will be accepted by public, "particularly his country-men"[26]
Attorney's household effects on auction, including chairs and sofa with curtains and slipcovers "to correspond;" various glassware; cabinetry[27]
"Gentlemen of the Army" and Montreal merchants put on "most elegant and splendid Ball," with dancing 7pm-7am paused for supper at 1am[28]
Pianofortes for sale by Mr. Glackemeyer, who also teaches that instrument and guitar, violin, flute and "Singing French and English"[29]
Poem: "Whence this unusual languor o'er my mind?/This chilling stupor that pervades each sense?/Pensive I sit, each active power confin'd[....]"[30]
Upper Canada
Frederick Haldimand agrees with Joseph Brant that "so fine a Country" as can be purchased on Grand River "is much to be desired"[31]
"The Indians will be greatly surprised[...]when they find that we want to purchase the whole Country" between three lower Great Lakes[32]
"We have found a place for to setle" - John Deserontyon says Indigenous people have taken spot on Bay of Quinte and need livestock and seeds[33]
Haldimand's instructions for disbanding and settling British forces at Niagara, depending on War Office orders and any evacuation of forts[34]
Evacuating U.S. posts should be delayed while Loyalists are "insulted in the Grossest manner" trying to recover their lost property in U.S.A.[35]
Mississauga chief Pokquan tells John Johnson they are ready to transfer their interlake lands, and welcomes Brant and Six Nations "brethren"[36]
"Affectionate people" - After 7-year absence, minister to Kanien’kéhà:ka preaches to, baptizes and marries them at their New York camp[37]
John Dease takes over Indian Department at Niagara without supplies Indigenous people want ("Tea, Sugar, Barley Rice &c.") or good storage[38]
Dease approves of Joseph Brant going to Fort Stanwix to sound out Americans, advising "that in proper time & place, the Hatchett wou'd be Buried"[39]
U.S. signs peace treaty with Kanien’kéhà:ka, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca that draws Six Nations' western boundary just east of Niagara River[40]
Map: Indigenous land ceded to U.S.A. in New York; detail showing 1784 Six Nations allotment[41]
George Pownall says difficulty may arise for settlers from conflicts with Indigenous people and distance from markets (Note: "savages" used)[42]
Joseph Brant is travelling "to the New Settlement at the Grand River" with army engineer and promise of sawmill, grist mill, church and school[43]
"To weaken it as a British province" - James Monroe says Canada will suffer due to resources, geography and, mostly, aggressive U.S. trade[44]
Nova Scotia
House of Assembly, after consulting "principal Merchants and Men of Business" about trade, has passed bills to change system of government revenue[45]
Assembly asks governor to begin prosecution over all irregular public accounts, otherwise "Abuses of public Trust[...]cannot be put a Stop to"[46]
Assembly agrees to let freeholders observe its proceedings, members take notes on debates, and members' names and votes be recorded[47]
Louisbourg will have "proper persons to work the coal mines, which have long been[...]objects of the first consideration [and] of immense value"[48]
Petition to Assembly from Halifax orphanage keeper asking payment for maintaining "Moor Children" since House of Commons stopped support[49]
"Encreasing population, building and improvements[...]really amazing" - 9,000 in Shelburne, more in Carleton and Parrsboro, and "numerous towns begun"[50]
Benjamin Marston details Shelburne's development in housing and fisheries, and Nova Scotia's natural resources and Indigenous people[51]
Gov. Parr makes grant of 98 warehouse lots on waterfront at Shelburne to scores of men for annual quitrent of 1 farthing per lot[52]
Edward Winslow dismayed by distressed Nova Scotians, "vagrants from the streets of London" and "Blackies" begging him for provisions[53]
Black Pioneers' petition for land asks they be granted "Articles Allowed by Government[...]the same as [for] the Rest of the Disbanded Soldiers"[54]
More than 600 names listed as head of family in Muster Book of Free Blacks at Birchtown settlement[55]
Surveyor Benjamin Marston notes disbanded soldiers are rioting in Shelburne against "Free negroes," driving them out and looking for him[56]
"The word came with power to my heart" - Black Loyalist Boston King describes his religious conversion in Birchtown[57]
John Wentworth ships to brother's Suriname estate 19 enslaved Blacks, describing men's skills, and women as likely "to increase their numbers"[58]
"The business we are entering into" - Jamaican instructs his brother to set up in importing (and later perhaps fishing) in Shelburne[59]
After Tea Party "you Said it would coust Newingland Dear, and I think It has old Ingland Two" - pre-war traders renew contact[60]
"[Many] are leaving the bleak province of Nova Scotia for the great advantages in trade that are to be met with at Bermuda"[61]
Hannah Winslow, widow of Edward Winslow Sr., grants power of attorney to Plymouth, Massachusetts lawyer to sell her property in that state[62]
In long letter to his wife, Edward Winslow expresses his love for her and relates story of three condemned men's reprieve at last minute[63]
Edward Winslow notes arriving London women "expose to view such[...]parts as nature seems to intend that every modest woman should conceal"[64]
New Brunswick
New Brunswick to be set up for subjects from "revolted Colonies" and disbanded soldiers, as Halifax too far for them to use its courts[65]
Lord Sydney praised for not assigning civil service jobs to friends, "except those of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor"[66]
Loyalists to be "victualled" at 2/3 rations (1/3 for kids under 10) in 1784-5, and half that in 1785-6; disbanded soldiers to get full rations[67]
Robert Lawson and 10 other Black Loyalists petition for land promised but not received, fearing "Greatest Distress" to their large families[68]
"Smart, active Negro Boy," about 15, for sale; "title indisputable"[69]
Fort Howe officer seeks "slave" cooper; "speaks English like the West India negroes [and] very talkative;" is from St. Augustine via New York[70]
Nova Scotia Lieutenant Governor Edmund Fanning notes beginning of commerce between Saint John River settlements and West Indies[71]
Settler on "Le Tete Island" praises ice-free and timber-rich Passamaquoddy Bay[72]
New in Carleton are New York watchmaker, Brooklyn tavernkeeper serving some of his old customers, and surgeon with 7 years' army experience[73]
School opened "to teach Youth[...]gauging geometry, trigonometry, navigation, mensuration, surveying, dialing, &c." plus morals and behaviour[74]
Anonymous author seeks 1,000 subscribers for 3-volume "History of the Settlement of his Majesty's Exiled Loyalists," and prints its introduction[75]
Prince Edward Island
Shelburne resident encouraged to come to Charlottetown, where land is "good & easy" to farm and cod fishery "will encrease & rise mens weages"[76]
John MacDonald goes over reasons his charges settling on St. John's Island should be more aware of his sacrifices and good advice for them[77]
MacDonald tells his sister Helen that royal council is impatient with St. John's Island government almost as much as he is with her "Childishness"[78]
Elsewhere
Author experiences (on December 12, 1784) "Nehethawa" moon called "Pou-arch-e-kin-e-shish [or] the wind blowing the brush from the pine tree"[79]
Notes and References
- Web site: Kings and Queens of Canada . aem . 24 February 2021 . 11 August 2017.
- Web site: SEARCHABLE ONLINE DATA – New Brunswick, Canada / Canadian Genealogy & History Information. globalgenealogy.com. 2017-07-01.
- "[...]An Ordinance," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 977 (May 13, 1784), pgs. 1-3. Accessed 8 February 2023
- "At the Court at St. James's[....]" (April 16, 1784), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 982 (June 17, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 8 February 2023
- John Earl of Stair, "Address to, and Expostulation with, the Public" (1784), pgs. 30-2 Accessed 3 February 2023
- Richard Champion, Considerations on the Present Situation of Great Britain and the United States of America[....], pgs. 107-15 (frames 147-55). Accessed 20 February 2023
- George Chalmers, Opinions on Interesting Subjects of Public Law and Commercial Policy (1784), pgs. 78-9 (PDF pgs. 87-8; see also similar argument for lumber production, and counter argument that Canada can't meet demand; also see reasons Nova Scotia and Canada can supply West Indies with all they want) Accessed 3 February 2023
- "To Be Let" (March 1, 1784), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 967 (March 4, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "At the Wharf of Mr. Charles Grant Lower-town[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 983 (June 24, 1784), pg. 4. Accessed 8 February 2023
- "On the report of a committee[...]to whom was referred a memorial of Mr. Francis Cazeau" (March 1784), Journals of the Continental Congress; Volume XXVI, 1784 pgs. 147-50 (PDF pgs. 153-6), Library of Congress. (See also similar report in this volume (pgs. 260-1) concerning Pierre du Calvet) Accessed 20 February 2023
- "Anger, Charles; Discharge papers[....]" (June 24, 1784), Land Petitions of the Niagara Settlers "A" (See also request of Adam Bowman for medical treatment of war wound) Accessed 14 February 2023
- "Advertisements; Quebec, 25th February, 1784," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 967 (March 4, 1784), pg. 2. (See also details (PDF pgs. 18-19) of this process) Accessed 7 February 2023
- James Peachey, "Encampment of the Loyalists at Johnston (sic), a New Settlement, on the Banks of the River St Laurence in Canada" (June 6, 1784) Accessed 20 February 2023
- "Aug. 14. The terms[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1009 (December 23, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Advertisements; Whereas[....]" (December 24, 1783), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 958 (January 1, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "To Be Sold[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 986 (July 15, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 8 February 2023
- "To Be Sold by Private Sale[....]" (May 10, 1784), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 977 (May 13, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "To Be Sold[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1000 (October 21, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Fourteen Dollars Reward" (Montreal, March 1, 1784), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 968 (March 11, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Ran Away" (September 7, 1784), The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 992 (September 9, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Ran Away from his Master[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1001 (October 28, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Quebec, November 11," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1003 (November 11, 1784), pg. 3. (See also further details(Page 2 of 2, right column on lefthand page) of Nishonoit's death, and reason (in footnote) for this unusual execution) Accessed 9 February 2023
- "The Public is informed[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 968 (March 11, 1784), pg. 2. (See also (pg. 3) Quebec Theatre benefit for Hôtel Dieu infirmary) Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Mr. Gill, late Army Surgeon[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1007 (December 9, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Three-Rivers, February 13," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 965 (February 19, 1784), pg. 2. (See also further details (pg. 2), particularly "a Negroe man belonging to Mr. Malcolm Fraser") Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Robert Urquhart[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 988 (July 29, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 8 February 2023
- "For Sale by Auction[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1000 (October 21, 1784), pg. 3 (right column). Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Montreal, 22d. January, 1784," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 963 (February 5, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "For Sale, Five elegant Piano Fortes[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 983 (June 24, 1784), pg. 3. Accessed 8 February 2023
- "Poets Corner; An Ode on Sickness, By a Young Lady," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1003 (November 11, 1784), pg. 4. Accessed 9 February 2023
- "From General Haldimand to Sir John Johnson" (March 15, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pg. 7; see also (pgs. 11-12) Haldimand staffer's enlargement on subject). Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Extract of a Letter from Colonel John Butler to Major Robert Matthews" (May 8, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pg. 13). Accessed 10 February 2023
- https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1478/967 Letter of John Deserontyon to Daniel Claus
- "From General Haldimand to Lieut.-Colonel A.S. De Peyster" (March 29, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 9-11; see also (pg. 12) Lord Sydney's views on evacuation). Accessed 9 February 2023
- "From General Haldimand to Lord North; No. 33" (May 12, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 16-17; see also (pg. 25) Haldimand's view that government confirmation of non-evacuation policy will benefit Indigenous people). Accessed 10 February 2023
- "Indian Council at Niagara" (May 22, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 19-20; see also (pg. 35) official notice of land transfer to Six Nations and (pg. 33) British policy to accommodate Indigenous peoples). Accessed 10 February 2023
- "From Reverend John Stuart to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel" (July 17, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 32-3). Accessed 10 February 2023
- "From John Dease to Sir John Johnson" (August 21, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1789 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 3-4). Accessed 9 February 2023
- "From John Dease to Sir John Johnson" (September 5, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1789 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 5-6; see also (pgs. 6-7) Dease's idea that other priorities (including troops to take possession of Upper Posts) will delay U.S. attention to "an Indian Treaty"). Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix" (October 22, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1789 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 9-10; see also (pgs. 8-9) report from Stanwix that U.S. commissioners dictated treaty terms and U.S. speech (pgs. 221-4) containing terms, and translated notes of "Iroquois chief" who was there). Accessed 9 February 2023
- https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3701em.gct00002/?sp=47&r=0.037,0.236,0.653,0.288,0 New York detail
- "Extract of a Letter from George Pownall Esqr. Secretary to the Province of Quebec" (November 11, 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pgs. 37-8). Accessed 10 February 2023
- "Extract from a Letter from General Haldimand to Lieut.-Colonel De Peyster" (November 1784), in Records of Niagara(...)1784-1787 unpaginated (PDF pg. 38). Accessed 10 February 2023
- https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-07-02-0353 "To Thomas Jefferson from James Monroe"
- "Thursday, 2nd December, 1784; To his Excellency John Parr[....]," Journal and Votes of the House of Assembly For the Province of Nova-Scotia pgs. 89-90. (See also (on pg. 90) disagreement Assembly has with Nova Scotia Council amending money bills) Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Monday 29th November, 1784; To his Excellency John Parr[....]," Journal and Votes of the House of Assembly For the Province of Nova-Scotia pg. 85. (See, for example, accounts listed on pgs. 86-7) Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Wednesday 3rd November, 1784," Journal and Votes of the House of Assembly For the Province of Nova-Scotia pgs. 61-2. Accessed 7 February 2023
- "Aug. 18. A Governor[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1010 (December 30, 1784), pg. 1. Accessed 9 February 2023
- https://archives.novascotia.ca/assembly/archives/?ID=57 "Memorial pf Samuel Albro, Keeper of the Orphan House, to the Assembly(....)
- "Quebec, March 4; Extract of a letter from Halifax dated 16 January, 1784," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 967 (March 4, 1784), pg. 2. (See also Edward Winslow's observation that energy of newcomers has excited "languid" earlier settlers) Accessed 7 February 2023
- https://blackloyalist.com/cdc/documents/letters/settlement_description.htm "Marston Describes Shelburne"
- https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.42650/5 "To all to whom these Presents shall come(....)"
- https://archive.org/details/winslowpapersad100raymuoft/page/237/mode/1up Edward Winslow to his wife
- https://archives.novascotia.ca/african-heritage/archives/?ID=19 "Petition on behalf of the Black Pioneers"
- https://blackloyalist.com/cdc/documents/official/muster_book_free_blacks.htm Muster Book of Free Blacks
- "Monday, [July] 26 [1784]," Marston's Journal Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People. Accessed 13 February 2023
- https://blackloyalist.com/cdc/documents/diaries/king-memoirs.htm "Memoirs of Boston King"
- T. Watson Smith, "A wholesale baptism of slaves[....]," The Slave in Canada (1898), Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Accessed 17 February 2023
- https://archives.novascotia.ca/white/archives/?ID=264 Letter of Nathaniel Whitworth to Charles Whitworth
- https://archives.novascotia.ca/easson/archives/?ID=139&Page=200601313&Transcript=2 "Letter, Joseph Curtis, Roxbury, to John Easson"
- "London, August 10; By letters lately received[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1005 (November 25, 1784), pgs. 1-2. Accessed 9 February 2023
- https://preserve.lib.unb.ca/wayback/20141205161005/http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/loyalistwomen/en/documents/browse/view.php?id=3_104&mode=dpl "Letter from Hannah Winslow to John Davis"
- https://preserve.lib.unb.ca/wayback/20141205162202/http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/loyalistwomen/en/documents/browse/view.php?id=24_04&mode=dpl "Letter from Edward Winslow to Mary Winslow"
- https://archive.org/details/winslowpapersad100raymuoft/page/230/mode/1up "Edward Winslow to His Wife"
- https://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/PreConfederation/oic_17840618.html "Order-in-Council Establishing New Brunswick"
- "The establishment of the infant province of New-Brunswick[....]," The Quebec Gazette, Nomb. 1001 (October 28, 1784), pg. 2. Accessed 9 February 2023
- "Commissary-General's Office, Fort Howe" (September 15, 1784), The Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer, Vol. I, Numb. XLI (September 23, 1784), Page 3 of 23. (See also adjacent call for small craft owners to ship 2,000 barrels of provisions from Ft. Howe, and report of official overseeing distribution) Accessed 2 February 2023
- https://preserve.lib.unb.ca/wayback/20141205160820/http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/blackloyalists/en/petitions/browse/view.php?id=Lawson_Robert_1785_01&mode=dpl "The Petition of Robert Lawson"
- "To Be Sold[....]," The Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer, Vol. I, Numb. XXXI (July 15, 1784), Page 2 of 4. Accessed 2 February 2023
- "Five Guineas Reward" (July 13, 1784), The Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer, Vol. I, Numb. XXXI (July 15, 1784), Page 3 of 4. Accessed 2 February 2023
- https://archive.org/details/winslowpapersad100raymuoft/page/201/mode/1up "Lieut. Col. Fanning to Ward Chipman"
- https://archive.org/details/winslowpapersad100raymuoft/page/200/mode/1up "Dr. William Paine to Edward Winslow"
- Various ads, The Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer, Vol. I, Numb. VII (January 29, 1784), Page 3 of 4. Accessed 2 February 2023
- "John Sinnott[....]" (June 30, 1784), The Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer, Vol. I, Numb. XXX (July 8, 1784), Page 1 of 3. Accessed 2 February 2023
- "Proposals[....]," The Royal St. John's Gazette, and Nova-Scotia Intelligencer, Vol. I, Numb. XLI (September 23, 1784), Page 1 of 4. Accessed 2 February 2023
- https://www.islandregister.com/letters/petermcmahon1784.html Letter of Peter McMahon to Charles Cready
- https://preserve.lib.unb.ca/wayback/20141205155521/http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/macdonald/en/letters/browse/view.php?id=2664_08&mode=dpl "Letter from John MacDonald to Helen MacDonald"
- https://preserve.lib.unb.ca/wayback/20141205155521/http://atlanticportal.hil.unb.ca/acva/macdonald/en/letters/browse/view.php?id=2664_10&mode=dpl "Letter from John MacDonald to Helen MacDonald"
- Edward Umfreville, The Present State of Hudson's Bay, (1790), pgs. 191, 145 Accessed 6 February 2023