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Edward Winslow
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11 pp. of textual records
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Biographical history
Edward Winslow (1746/7-1815), son of Edward Winslow and Hannah Dyer, was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts. His father and other members of the Winslow family held administrative posts at the local, provincial, and imperial levels. Graduating from Harvard College in 1765, Edward was appointed to several official posts. An outspoken Tory who opposed the Sons of Liberty, by 1774 Winslow was so disliked by Plymouth residents that he was removed from public office. In 1775 he fought with the British regulars at Lexington and was appointed collector for the port of Boston by General Thomas Gage during the siege of Boston.
In 1776 Winslow left his family in New England and sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia where he was commissioned muster master general of the loyalist forces in North America. At war's end, Winslow was named as agent for the Loyalist regiments in Nova Scotia, responsible for laying out lands for approximately 6,000 troops and their families. In July 1783 he suggested that this area be partitioned from Nova Scotia and made a separate province. The efforts of Winslow and others were successful on 18 June 1784 when the Privy Council approved the establishment of the province of New Brunswick. By early 1785 he was preparing to move from Halifax to New Brunswick and corresponding with his former deputy, Ward Chipman.
Ward Chipman (1754-1824) was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts to John Chipman and Elizabeth Brown. He graduated from Harvard College in 1770 and studied law in Boston under Jonathan Sewell and remained there until the evacuation in 1776. He was appointed deputy muster master general to Edward Winslow in 1777, at New York, and served until 1783. He went to New Brunswick and in 1784 he was appointed solicitor-general of New Brunswick. He acted as chief crown prosecutor for most criminal cases in the province until he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court in 1809. He married Elizabeth Hazen (1766-1852) daughter of William Hazen and Sarah LeBaron in 1786. He died at Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Sources: Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. v, vol. vi
Custodial history
These letters were probably among the papers of Ward Chipman and his family which came into the hands of New Brunswick historian, Joseph Wilson Lawrence (1819-1892) on the death of Senator Robert Leonard Hazen. Lawrence was in the habit of giving letters from the collection to individuals whom he thought would be interested in them. These letters were probably given to someone with an interest in the coat of arms in Trinity Church. They are quoted extensively in "History of Trinity Church" published by the Rev. Brigstocke in 1892. Brigstocke cites Lawrence as the ultimate source of the documents.
Sometime thereafter they were left with the New Brunswick Museum for examination, at which time they were stamped with the Museum's seal. They did not remain in the Museum and were eventually purchased from an unnamed New Brunswick clergyman by J. P. Frances of Ottawa who presented them to the Anglican General Synod Archives in Toronto.
Scope and content
These two letters by Edward Winslow discuss a royal coat of arms, formerly in the Council Chamber in Boston, and removed, probably by Edward Winslow, at the time of the evacuation in 1776. Winslow authorizes Ward Chipman to give it to any worthy public room in Saint John. In 2003 the coat of arms hangs in Trinity Church, Saint John. The letters also discuss the politics of the new city of Saint John and the relative merits of Gabriel Ludlow and Elias Hardy as candidates for mayor.
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Immediate source of acquisition
Donated by Anglican General Synod Archives through D. Kealy in August 1980.
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- English
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Researchers must use the photographic copies of the letters.
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An inventory is available.
Associated materials
The Winslow family fonds (MG H2) is held by the University of New Brunswick Archives and Special Collections, Harriet Irving Library.