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Treaty of Aix la
Chapelle | Halifax |
French Indian Wars |
Governor Murray
James Murray was the
Governor of Canada from 1760 to 1766. Murray was born in
1719 into nobility. His father was the 4th Lord Elibank
and as a youngest son his choice was either to join the
clergy or enter the military. He choose the army and was
dispatched to the West Indies, the Netherlands and
France. His father helped him purchase his commission as
Lieutenant Colonel in 1751.
As the confrontation
in North America spun out of control and the Seven Years
War was ignited, his regiment was sent to Nova Scotia
where he lead a Brigade during the siege and attack on
Louisbourg in 1758. After victory and the fall of
Louisbourg, he was one of the Brigade commanders for
Wolfe when the British army sailed up the St Lawrence in
1759 with the objective of taking Quebec City.
Murray commanded the
left wing of the British army during the Battle of the
plains of Abraham. With the death of Wolfe, Murray took
command and prepared Quebec city for the expected
counterattack form Montreal in 1760. By April the French
had arrived and the siege began. Murray and his mean
held out and in May it became apparent that the first
forces coming up the St Lawrence as the ice melted was
the British. The French forces lifted the siege and
retreated back to Montreal. Murray led his troops in ht
pursuit and as General Amherst also attacked Montreal,
the French surrendered and the North American part of
the war was for all practical purposes over.
In 1760 Murray was
made commissioned Governor of Quebec and quelled the
unrest that remained in many segments of the population.
By 1763 the peace had been signed and he was made the
Governor of Canada. Murray sympathised with the farmers
and landed gentry of the St Lawrence Valley and was not
a big supporter of the many American merchants who
arrived to make a quick buck. He also believed that the
French Canadians could best be brought into the North
American by maintaining their traditional customs, legal
traditions and Habitant identity.
His sympathy towards
the defeated French created a strong counter movement
which solicited support to have Murray recalled to
London so they the British merchants could really take
advantage of shifting centres of power in the colony.
They succeeded and in 1766 he was recalled and charges
were brought against him. He was exonerated and resumed
his duties at another post.
Without Murray's wise leadership, the
restructuring of the French colony within the British
Empire might have been a very ugly experience but as it
was the process was peaceful and when the American
Revolution burst into fire to the south, Quebec remained
loyal to the British Crown. |
