Papers : 1688-1802.

            William Legge was born in 1731 and succeeded to the Earldom in 1750 on the death of his grandfather, the 1st Earl of Dartmouth (1672-1750), who had been secretary of state for the Southern Department from 1710-1713. His father died the year after his birth and his mother married the Earl of Gilford, Frances North. William was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College Oxford. He was president of the Board of Trade in 1765-1766, a member of the Privy Council, and in 1772 was appointed secretary of state for the American Department, which position he held until 1775. From 1775-1782 he held the office of Privy Seal in Lord North's administration after which he retired from public life. Lord Dartmouth was a devout Methodist and a friend of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, and was connected with the sect organized by the Countess, and with the Indian mission school established in Hanover, New Hampshire by Eleazer Wheelock. In 1769, the name of the school was changed to Dartmouth College in his honour.            

            The greater part of this collection was accumulated during Lord Dartmouth's tenure as secretary of state for the American Department, 1772-1775, and is a rich source for material on the history of the American Revolution. The material includes correspondence, official dispatches, and colonial reports. Correspondents include American loyalists as well as British military and political officials; frequent correspondents were Governor Thomas Hutchinson of Boston and Joseph Reed of Philadelphia, who wrote on the state of public feeling in America. When hostilities began, General Thomas Gage and Sir William Howe, Admiral Graves, Governors Wentworth, Carleton, Franklin and others were among the correspondents. 

The papers relating to Nova Scotia are numerous and deal with the settlement of lands, petitions against Governor Legge and his defence of hisconduct, the Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers, and reports of the Board of Trade. The papers concerning Quebec relate chiefly to the question of the establishmentof courts and the administration of justice, and to the legislative powers of the Governor and Council. Many of the papers on Labrador deal with the mission and settlement of Moravians in Esquimaux Bay. Of the few records touching on Newfoundland, the most important relate to the fortifications of St. John's and Placentia Bay. Those relating to St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) are concerned, chiefly, with settlement. The early settlement of New Brunswick is covered under the heading, Nova Scotia. Also included, is material relating to the Illinois country and to Mississippi settlements. 

Organisation - The general arrangement of the papers is chronological within categories of material.

Reel 1- Nova Scotia 1688, 1710-1784 (pp. 1-816); Nova Scotia & Quebec 1766-1798 (pp. 817-1399); Canada 1757-1792 (pp. 1400-1755)
Reel 2 - Canada 1757-1792 (pp. 1756-2338); Labrador 1772-1784 (pp. 2339 - 2484); Newfoundland 1759-1772 (pp. 2485-2570); Nova Scotia 1760-1802 (pp. 2571-3105)
Reel 3 - Nova Scotia continued; Island of St. John 1766-1776 (pp. 3106-3211); Newfoundland & Labrador 1768, 1774 (pp. 3212-3357); Patshull Transcripts 1688-1798 (pp. 3358-4042)
Reel 4 - Patshull Transcripts continued (pp. 4043-4481); Brymer Transcripts & Illinois Country & Mississippi Settlements 1757-1772 (pp. 4482-5865)
            

            LAC Finding Aid No. 588 is microfilmed at the beginning of reel 1. The Finding Aid includes both obsolete and current references to, Report of the Historical Manuscripts Commission of Great Britain, 1887 and 1895, and revised in 1978. Researchers should use the current page numbers. 
 NAC  Finding Aid No. 588 is available in microfiche and is shelved with the Loyalist Collection finding aids. 
 LAC Finding Aid 588 is available in print.