| Background: |
Edmund Fanning, the Colonel of the King's American Regiment in the American Revolution and from 1783-1786 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, was appointed Lieutenant Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Island of St. John in 1786. In 1793, at the outbreak of war between France and England, he organized the local militia into three regiments: Queens County Regiment; Kings County Regiment; Prince County Regiment; and an independent volunteer company called the Loyal Independent Caledonia Company of Volunteers. Not content that the militia companies and the volunteer company could provide adequate defence for the colony, in the fall of 1793 Fanning requested the authority to raise a regiment similar to the volunteer corps raised in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In 1794, he was granted permission to raise and command the St. John's Island Volunteers, a corps of two hundred volunteers divided into two companies. The officers were to be appointed from regular half pay officers living on the Island, including many Loyalists, and the pay for the corps was to be the same as the pay in the regular army. When the name of St John's Island was changed to Prince Edward Island in 1799, Fanning's corps changed its title and became, His Majesty's Prince Edward Island Fencibles. In 1802, Great Britain and her enemies signed the Treaty of Amiens and the Regiment was disbanded. |
| Contents: |
There are six muster rolls of the St. John's Island Volunteers on this reel. The commanding officer was Major-General Edmund Fanning, Lieutenant Governor and Commandant. The muster rolls contain the names of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and private men. They have been microfilmed in following order, which is not chronological: 24 June to 24 December 1797, 183 days; 25 June 1795 to 24 December 1795, 183 days; 25 December 1796 to 24 June 1797, 182 days; 25 December 1795 to 24 June 1796, 183 days; 25 June 1796 to 24 December 1796, 183 days. Additional details that apply to individual circumstances are included with such terms as: furlough, sick, deserted, died, on leave, and discharged. Dates of enlistment, promotion, and discharge are frequently included. |
