Papers : 1720-1811.

            Peter Russell (1733-1808), the son of an Irish army officer, was born in Cork where he attended a private school for a short time and later St. John's College, Cambridge. He served as an officer in several British regiments before becoming assistant secretary to the British commander-in-chief, Sir Henry Clinton, and later captain in the Royal Garrison Battalion during the American Revolution. In 1791 he was appointed Upper Canada's first receiver and auditor general with seats on both the executive and legislative councils. In 1796 he became Administrator of the colony when Simcoe returned to England, and continued in this capacity until June 1799 when Peter Hunter succeeded as Lieutenant Governor. He remained in York until his death in 1811.                 

            The collection contains personal and business correspondence of Peter Russell, first receiver-general and auditor-general of Upper Canada. Also includes accounts; memoranda; appointments; commissions; and related papers of Peter Russell, his father Richard Russell, and his step-sister Elizabeth Russell. Also contains a diary kept by Captain Peter Russell, 25 December 1779 - 2 May 1780, published in, American Historical Review; a diary of a journey to Barbary and North America, 1754-1755; a journal of army activities around Fort Royal, Martinique in the West Indies, 11 January - 3 February 1762, a period during which the British led an expedition against; an account book of Peter Russell, 1793-1808; and the wills of John and Thomas Russell, and Randall Warnar.

The Papers are concerned with family affairs and with the careers of Peter and Richard Russell, William Jarvis, John McGill, Thomas Welsh, and Robert Hamilton, to name only a few. The correspondence relates to such matters as military affairs; the situation in America; the Queen's Rangers; Indian or indigenous affairs, particularly Joseph Brant and the Grand River tract of land given to the Six Nations; the administration of the Government of Upper Canada; and personal matters. Correspondents include: Sir Henry Clinton, Colonel R. Donkin, Captain Nathaniel Phillips, Colonel Delancey, Colonel and later Governor J.G. Simcoe, John Denison, Hon. Richard Cartwright, Lt. Colonel Robert Prescott and his cousin William Willcocks from Cork, Ireland.  

Arrangement: The collection is arranged in chronological order.            

            A table of contents is found at the beginning of reel 1.

The table of contents and a microfilm shelf list are available in print.