Papers : 1695-1866.

Call Number:
HIL-MICL FC LFR .W5E3P3
Category:
Family
Creator:
Winslow, Edward, 1746/47-1815.
Material Description:
14 microfilm textual records (38 volumes) ; 35 mm
Background:
Edward Winslow was a direct descendant of the first Edward Winslow who came to the Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower in 1620. He was educated at Harvard College, and following his graduation in 1765, he was appointed to several civic offices in colonial Massachusetts and moved in the governing circle of the Boston elite.

With the coming of the American Revolution, he joined the British forces in Boston, and in 1776 left his family to accompany the British troops to Halifax, Nova Scotia. While in Halifax he was appointed Muster Master General of all Provincial (Loyalist) forces in North America with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Later the same year he returned to New York with the troops under the command of General Sir William Howe and continued to hold his rank and position until the end of the war in 1783.

For the Winslow family, the war resulted in suffering, deprivation, and the loss of property. They survived until the end of the conflict, like so many thousands of dispossessed Loyalist refugees in New York City, completely dependent upon the British government.

In 1783, Winslow settled with his family at Granville, Nova Scotia, but later moved to the St. John River where he was involved in settling the Loyalist regiments. His goal of creating a separate Loyalist province was finally realized when New Brunswick was set off as a separate jurisdiction from Nova Scotia in 1784.

While Winslow struggled to support his family by farming, several appointments, although none of them lucrative, gave him an opportunity to play an important role in the public affairs of the new colony. He was a member of the Executive Council, Surrogate General of the Province, Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas for York County, Muster Master of the King's New Brunswick Regiment, secretary to the International Boundary Commission of 1796 -1798, and Deputy Surveyor of the King's Woods. However, it was not until 1807, when he was appointed to the New Brunswick Supreme Court and served as Administrator of the Province in 1808, that he received the recognition he had earned and so richly deserved.

Contents:

Online: Some or all of this collection is available electronically; see Finding Aid section.

The greater part of this collection consists of letters to Edward Winslow, Jr., together with letters, notebooks and reports that he authored. The Winslow Papers relate to many subjects and are a major source for the study of the political affairs of the period and the quality of life during the early years of settlement. Of particular note are the following: references to land grants and settlement; Acadians on the Upper St. John River; the timber trade; numerous occupations; education (schools), including Indian (native) schools; transportation systems (roads); health (diseases); agriculture; travel; religion (churches); exports and imports; ships; politics; treaties; and military affairs, including records of the New Brunswick Militia, and muster rolls of the King's American Dragoons, 22nd Regiment of Foot, King's New Brunswick Regiment, New Jersey Volunteers, Guides and Pioneers, King's American Regiment, New York Volunteers, and the Queen's Rangers.

Arrangement:
Volumes 1-17, family correspondence and papers, 1695-1866;
Volume 18, letter book of General Henry Fox (1775-1811) concerning public business in Nova Scotia;
Volume 19, New Brunswick accounts, 1786-1787;
Volumes 20-22, diary of Benjamin Marston, (d.1795), 1776-1787;
Volume 23, campaign journal, 1779;
Volume 24, Edward Winslow's letter book consisting of letters to his wife, 1784;
Volume 25, letter books of Mather Byles (1734/35-1814), rector of Trinity Church in Saint John, 1784-1786;
Volume 26, Winslow's diary, 1799-1810;
Volume 27, sketch of Nova Scotia, 1783;
Volume 28, Day Book of Penelope Winslow's husband, Colonel Stephen Miller (1727-1816), and an anonymous diary;
Volume 29, field book of the Chibnitcook Survey, 1797-1798;
Volumes 30-31, Edward Winslow's accounts, 1769-1811;
Volume 32, Claim of the American Loyalists Reviewed and Maintained Upon Incontrovertible Principles of Law and Justice, 1788; and
Volumes 33-35, Maine-New Brunswick Boundary Question, St. Croix, 1796-1798.

Two supplementary reels follow the main collection:

Supplementary reel 1 contains Mather Byles' Letter Book 2, and a genealogical tree of the descendants of Edward and Hannah Winslow.

Supplementary reel 2 includes volumes 36 to 38 which contain 32 documents, including the records of the New Brunswick Inferior Court of Common Pleas, 1796-1808, and a genealogical chart of the Winslow family, compiled by B.J. Grant.

Originals:
The original manuscripts are held by the University of New Brunswick Archives.
Archival Ref. No.:
UNB MG H2.
Finding Aids:

Online: Digital images of the Winslow Papers can be found online on the UNB Libraries website (Atlantic Canada Portal). This is a searchable database of keywords attached to each record/document, and includes scanned images of the documents, as well as transcripts. Pertaining to the Inferior Court records, by typing "Inferior Court" into the database, an alphabetical list is produced.

Indexes

  • The Winslow Papers Index, prepared by B.J. Grant, is available on film and separately catalogued, FC LFR .W5E3P3 index.
  • Raymond, W.O. Winslow Papers, A.D. 1776-1826 - this book contains lists of documents, each summarised, with an index, and is available with The Loyalist Collection books (HIL-MICGDL FC2471.3 .R27 1972).

A microfilm shelf list, (B), which provides the reel number for the volume/dates of interest, is available in print with The Loyalist Collection red binders, and electronically (see Electronic Finding Aid section).

FINDING DOCUMENTS:

  1. Using the alphabetical index for the collection on film (FC LFR .W5E3P3 index) - search persons, places, or subject terms.
  2. These terms are located on alphabetical filmed cards. The index notes the name, volume, document, and page number.
  3. Using the Microfilm Shelf List B (see Electronic Finding Aid section), find the UNB reel number which corresponds with the aforementioned volume number.
  4. Load this reel. Volumes are separated by title pages filmed on white envelopes. Once in the correct volume, go to the corresponding volume and page number to find your topic of interest.
Winslow Shelf List B.pdf Contents_Edward-Winslow_Papers.pdf
Notes:
There are two microfilm copies of the Winslow Papers.

Supplementary reel 2 contains a letter that refers to records which were once in the possession of Lilian Mary Beckwith Maxwell. It appears that the records referred to in the letter may have become part of the Lilian Maxwell Collection in the Archives of the Harriet Irving Library. The documents consist of Surrogate Court records, 1846-1878. The reference for this material in the UNB Archives is MG H9, Box 3, No. 64.