Collection search - John Parr collection [textual record (some microform)]

Record information – Brief
1
John Parr collection [textual record (some microform)]

Hierarchical level:

Collection

Date:

1784-1791, 1927.

Reference:

R3191-0-0-E, MG23-C24

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

99537

Context of this record:

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John Parr collection
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Record information – Details
Collection includes:

1 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1784-1791, 1927.

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

0.2 cm of textual records (6 p.).
1 microfilm reel positive.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Collection consists of the following: a notice of John Parr's funeral which appeared in the Halifax Weekly Chronicle issue of 3 December 1791, 4 pages; an article concerning the actions of John Parr at the battle of Minden, 1 August 1759, which appeared in the [Plymouth, U.K.] Western Morning News and Mercury, 1927, 2 pages, and a microfilmed copy of a pamphlet printed in London in 1784 defending Parr's actions against the petitions of fifty-five associated Loyalists to obtain large tracts of land in Nova Scotia. This latter item is located on microfilm reel A-1991.

Provenance:

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Parr, John, 1725-1791

Biography/Administrative history:

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Parr, John, 1725-1791 : John Parr, colonial administrator, was born on 20 December 1725 in Dublin, son of John Parr and Eleanor Clements. He married Sara Walmesley in 1761 and had a family of three sons and two daughters. He died at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 25 November 1791.

He entered the British Army in 1744 as an ensign in the 20th Foot. Promoted captain in 1756, Parr fought during the Seven Years' War. After promotion to major in 1763, he advanced by purchase to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the 20th in 1770. Six years later he resigned from the army just before his regiment embarked for Quebec as part of the ill-fated Burgoyne expedition.

In 1782, he was named Governor of Nova Scotia whereupon he was required to face the immense task of managing and settling some 35,000 Loyalists who fled to Nova Scotia at the end of the American Revolution. This effort placed impossible strains on the colony's administrative structure as well as on stores and provisions available at the time. Parr encouraged the immigrants to settle in unoccupied areas of Nova Scotia but the process of granting land was chaotic with delays in surveys and other problems. Some applicants such as the 'Fifty-Five Associated Loyalists' applied for vast tracts of land but Parr resisted their efforts.

Parr's administration was substantially reduced in size with the creation of New Brunswick in 1784, out of Nova Scotia. Two years later, he was reduced in rank to lieutenant governor with the appointment of Lord Dorchester as governor general of British North America. Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. IV, 1771-1800 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press).

Finding aid:

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(No finding aid)

Additional information:

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General note:

Textual records were received in 1967 from Mrs. James Walker. The pamphlet was microfilmed during the 1970s by the London Office of the National Archives of Canada and transferred to the National Archives in 1988.
Subject heading:

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Lieutenant-Governors - Nova Scotia - Obituaries, 1791 Weekly Chronicle (Halifax, N.S.), 1791

Great Britain. Army - Officers, 1759 Western Morning News (Plymouth, England), 1921

John Parr - Death and burial, 1759 Minden, Battle of, 1759

Funeral service, 1791
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG23-C24
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [MG23 C 24] 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Textual records: microform

[Consultation90 Open]

Microfilm reel A-1991

[Consultation 90 Open]

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Date modified:: 2024-06-04