Entering the drawing room, we were presented to General and Mrs. Murray  and Miss Murray, with quite a courtly air, by uncle who seemed to have recovered all the dignity, which the nobels (sic) and the protracted voyage had deprived him.  And well he might, for our visitors were real English people, and our next door neighbours, who had in their earnest wish  for the society of their countrymen, laid off their national reserve, and introduced themselves.  Gen Murray appeared to me at that first interview the very achme (sp?) of high born elegance, his lady the perfection of womanly lovelyness (sic) , and the daughter! Ah me, it was so delightful to meet  a person not too much taller than myself.  I am sure that I forgot in a moment the annoyance I had felt at entering the presence of strangers and(..dled?) up to the little lady , shyly eying the elders and fancying I blushed all over.

I was very small, in fact decidedly undersized and lean, and angular to a degree of plainnys (sic) very heartyly (sic) regreted  (sic), for I just now began to realize the fact, and would have kept out of sight till I grew taller and handsomer, as I was sure I should do, but this was a person- almost as diminsterive  (sp?) as myself, and not much prettyer (sic),as I discovered the next moment; which discovery measured me amazingly,notwithstanding the tasteful attire which adorned my visitor.



My note;

There are at least 40 pages of this manuscript.  I haven’t finished transcribing it.  I find that I copy a few pages out, and then want to reserach what I am finding.  I love the reserach- it is like unearthing the past and breathing remembrance into what is forgotten…

Now for the facts- I have called this the 1790 manuscript.  That is what my reserach is telling me.  There is an account of General Murray, and ironically he has a  daughter called Cordelia, but the dates don’t match up.  Murray is a governor of the district of Quebec in 1760-1768. Cordelia isn’t born in 1781 and it is claimed in Minorca.  Montmollin- who will be mentioned if you read these documents- is a clergyman in Quebec during 1768- 1775 (around there).  No dates are mentioned in the manuscript only names and events.  Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Additional Note:

After researching for a while I have come to the realization that the author is most probably Belle Born- the granddaughter of Dorathea Gamsby- both are relations on my grandmother’s side of the family.  I will find out more on this. In this excerpt ‘the voyage’ that Dorathea is talking about  is her escape from Boston with her Uncle Sir George Nutting and his wife-a loyalist who was forced to leave America when the British army pulled out in the American Revolution. She was ten years old in 1775- so she might be 15-17?