Collection Acc2870 - Sir James Montgomery collection : [1780-1798]

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Sir James Montgomery collection : [1780-1798]

General material designation

  • Textual record

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

  • Source of title proper: Title based on contents of collection

Level of description

Collection

Reference code

CA PCA Acc2870

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • Copied 1976 (Creation)

Physical description area

Physical description

.006 m of textual records

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

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Archival description area

Name of creator

Montgomery, James (d. 1803)

Biographical history

James William Montgomery, married to Margaret Scott, was lord advocate of Scotland from 1776 to 1775, and lord chief baron of the exchequer of Scotland from 1775 to 1801. Montgomery was a business man who had made his fortune in part through progressive management of landed estates in Scotland. In the lottery of 1767, which divided up St. John's Island (Prince Edward Island) among various friends of the crown, the Lord Advocate of Scotland drew Lot 7. By 1770, James had added Lots 30, 34, 51, and 36. Five years later, his estate also included half of Lot 12 and two-thirds of Lot 59, totaling over 100,000 acres in total. In 1770, Montgomery sent out approximately 50 Scottish settlers under David Lawson to establish a flax farm at Lot 34, and he also financed several unsuccessful commercial enterprises on Lot 59, which fronted on the harbor of Three Rivers. James Montgomery died in 1803.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The collection consists of correspondence to James Montgomery from a variety of individuals from London and PEI, including Thomas Desbrisay, Alex McPherson, Peter Stewart, Robert Gray, William and John Rae, and Robert Shuttleworth. These letters to Montgomery consist of news pertaining to the affairs of his land agents, tenants, and the Island in general, such as the establishing of a store in Georgetown and charges brought against Lieutenant Governor Fanning in 1792. The collection also consists of a letter to Montgomery from his daughter Miss M. Montgomery, dated 13 June 1798, a letter from an unidentified party to Robert Shuttleworth (n.d.) and a contract between Joseph Clark, millwright, and David Lawson for the building and operating of a grist mill, dated the 3 September 1785.

Notes area

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

NO RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Finding aids

Associated materials

See also: Acc3205/Item 1 (microfilm), Item 7 (oversize), and Item 8 (stacks)

Brown, George W., ed. "William Montgomery," The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. IV (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1979), p. 550-552. For detailed information regarding James Montgomery and his lands records on PEI see: James P. Lawson, "Montgomery's Lands 1833: Land Records and Genealogy," The Island Magazine, No. 32 (Fall/Winter 1992), p. 33-39.

Related materials

Accruals

General note

Most of the letters contained in Acc2870 are copies of letters contained in Acc3205

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Standard number

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Description record identifier

Institution identifier

Level of detail

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

Accession area