Papers : 1762-1925.

            J.F.W. DesBarres was originally from Switzerland where he received his early schooling in Basel, and later attended the Royal Military College, Woolrich, England. He entered the British army and came to North America with the 60th or Royal American Regiment during the Seven Years War.  His surveying skills became so well known that the Admiralty employed him to survey the coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton.  He finished the survey in 1773 and his charts and views were published in "The Atlantic Neptune" in 1777.  He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Cape Breton when it was created a separate colony in 1784 and held the appointment until 1787. During that time he laid out the settlement that would become Sydney. In 1804, at the age of 82, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island to succeed Edmund Fanning,and he served in this capacity until 1812 when he was 90 years of age.  He returned to Halifax where he died at age 103 in 1824.            

            The Papers are arranged in five series and recorded on seven microfilm reels. They contain the records of J.F.W. DesBarres and his secretary Thomas Ashfield, together with transcripts of documents relating to DesBarres' administration of Cape Breton and his survey of the North Atlantic coast. 
 Series 1: DesBarres-Ashfield Papers, 1784-1829. Correspondence, 1785-1828; accounts, 1784-1825; miscellaneous papers, 1785-1829; memoranda, 1785-1822; and papers relating to DesBarres' estate, 1812-1825. 
 Series 2: Report of John MacDonald on DesBarres estate, 1795. Two notebooks containing detailed reports on, Menudie or the Elysian Fields,  Macan and Napan, and Tatamagouche. 
 Series 3: Related material, 1774-1807. Photostats of letters and papers in the Public Record Office of Great Britain and in the British Museum, relating to DesBarres' administration of Cape Breton and his survey of the coast. 
 Series 4: Biographical and genealogical information on DesBarres and his grandson, Thomas Cutler DesBarres, with notes on Thomas Ashfield. 
 Series 5: An extensive additional collection of correspondence and papers, 1762-1894, which relates chiefly to DesBarres' surveys, his property, the DesBarres estate, and wills, 1818-1868, 1925.            

            A general inventory description is available at the beginning of the first reel. 
 A detailed table of contents is found at the beginning of each volume. 
 The inventory description, tables of contents, and microfilm shelf list are available in print.