Lord Durham Rare Books

KEMPT, General Sir James [c1765-1854] & NICOL, C. & JACKSON, Jonathan

Proceedings of a General Court Martial held by Order of his Excellency Lieutenant General Sir James Kempt [...] Commander [etc] Quebec 9th December 1828.

Place Published: Quebec
Date Published: 1828
Binding: 

EARLY 19TH EARLY COURT MARTIAL DOCUMENTS IN CANADA RARE

Dated 9th December, 1828, [8] Eight foolscap pages, secretarial; first and last leaves detached; old stab sewing holes. Old folds; browning to edges, short tears along folds. Signed 'C Nicol... President', by the Judge Advocate and 'Approved and signed by James Kempt Com'r of the Forces.'

Jonathan Jackson 66th Regiment accused of desertion and loss of Regimental clothing with values given for items. Jackson pleaded guilty with certain exceptions.

Verbatim report of questions to Sergeant Patrick Hogan regarding loss of kit followed by similar reporting of interrogation of Peter Greengrass [?] 'Inhabitant of the neighbourhood of Quebec' who took Jackson in late at night and the following morning was asked by him for directions to Three Rivers but 'I told him the best road was to stay in my house as he was a Deserter' before handing him over the the guard.

Jackson found guilty, deprived of benefits, 'marked with the letter D pointed out in the Marking Act and further to be placed under stoppages not exceeding half his Pay'.

General Sir James Kempt, GCB was a British Army officer, who served in the Netherlands, Egypt, Italy, the Peninsula, and British North America during the Napoleonic Wars. He famously led a British brigade at the Battle of Waterloo.

After the first abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte, Kempt was transferred once again (Kempt was quartermaster general in Canada from 1807 to 1811) to North America, where the Anglo-American War of 1812 was still being fought. In 1814 Kempt commanded a brigade which was intended to attack the vital American post of Sackets Harbor.

Kempt was Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia 1820 to 1828 and Governor General of British North America 1828 to 1830.

Kempt himself was universally liked and respected, being a man, Joseph Howe noted approvingly, who “had a passion for road making and pretty women.” One of his aides-de-camp later recalled that “society, by the force of his example, was the most agreeable thing imaginable,” but he was “perfectly astonished” by Kempt’s abilities as a colonial administrator.

Item #6667

$1,250.00 USD
$1,708.19 CAD