Collection search - Montreal fire of 18 May 1765 [textual record]

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1
Montreal fire of 18 May 1765 [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Item

Date:

2 July 1766.

Reference:

R16735-0-6-E, MG21-ChurchBriefs-B.VI.8.-6Geo.III, Volume number: 1

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

104866

Context of this record:

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Montreal fire of 18 May 1765
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Record information – Details
Date(s):

2 July 1766.

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

6 p. of textual records : transcripts.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Item is copy of Letters patent of George III, dated 2 July 1766, signed Billingsley, in response to a petition from John Thornton, Fowler Walker, and Jonas Hanway. It give permission to the bishops and clergy of England, Wales and the town of Berwick-on-Tweed for a house-to-house collection to be made in their parishes for the relief of the sufferers in the great Montreal fire of 18 May 1765. A long list of the deputies appointed to oversee the collection and receipts is included. Transcripts, 6 pages. For further information, see also MG 21, Add. MSS. 35915.

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General note:

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On Saturday, 18 May 1765, Montreal, which at that time had a population of about 7000, was ravaged by fire. The conflagration broke out on St. Paul Street in the house of one of the British inhabitants named Livingstone, and was occasioned by hot ashes being carried into the garret to make soap. Because of the high wind, it spread rapidly and the flames were so fierce that some houses built outside the walls on the opposite bank of the Rivulet St. Pierre, near the Grey Nunnery, were consumed. It was finally checked by pulling down part of the Hospital of the Soeurs de la Congrégation, on Notre Dame Street, and some houses adjacent to it.

The destruction and loss caused by the fire was very great. It was computed that about a quarter of the city was consumed and about a third of its value. According to the account of James Murray, the Governor, 108 houses were destroyed and some 215 families were left homeless. The monetary loss was [under-]estimated at 116,773 18s 6d currency (equivalent to 87,580 8s 10d sterling). An appeal for charitable assistance was launched in England on behalf of the sufferers and a considerable sum, to which George III personally contributed 500, was raised for their relief.

Custodial history:

A large collection of original Briefs for collecting alms, from the year 1754, 28 Geo. II, to their abolition in 1828, 8 Geo. IV, was presented to the British Library by John Stevenson Salt, Esq., in 1829. Church Brief B. VI. 8, 6 Geo. III, was transcribed by the National Archives of Canada at some time between 1881 and November 1914.

Location of originals note:

Originals with the British Library, London, England.

Container note(s):

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1 : T
Subject heading:

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Montreal (Quebec) - Fires, 1765 George III, King of Great Britain, 1766

Church fund raising, 1766 John Thorton, 1766

Petitions - England, 1766 Fowler Walker, 1766

Charitable organizations - England, 1766 Jonas, Hanway, 1766

Berwick-on-Tweed (England), 1766
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG21-ChurchBriefs-B.VI.8.-6Geo.III
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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [MG21 Church Briefs B. VI. 8. 6 Geo.] 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

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Date modified:: 2024-05-10