John Nairne
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
-Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
soldier and seigneur
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
. Nairne came to Canada in 1758 as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
, and participated in the captures of Louisbourg and Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. Given Nairne's lack of prospects back in Scotland, he decided to remain in Canada, and in 1762 he received, along with his friend Malcolm Fraser, the seigneury of La Malbaie, with Fraser taking Mount Murray
Mount Murray
Mount Murray is a hill often referred to simply as The Mount, located on the northern border of Santon, Marown and Braddan parishes on the Isle of Man. Mount Murray is also home to the Chibbenagh Plantation and nine of the eighteen holes of the Mount Murray Golf Club.Today, a in the grounds of...
and Nairne receiving Murray Bay and the town of La Malbaie
La Malbaie, Quebec
La Malbaie is a municipality in the Charlevoix-Est Regional County Municipality in the province of Quebec, Canada, situated on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River, at the mouth of the Malbaie River...
. Nairne retired on half-pay as soon as he received his land.
Devoting himself to his seigneury, Nairne had it surveyed, and brought some soldiers from the regiment with him to settle the land. Nairne hoped to establish a Protestant settlement on his lands, but found it impossible to bring a Protestant priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
in with only five Protestant families living in his seigneury. Although Nairne turned out to be an excellent farmer, it was difficult to make much revenue off of his land, and many of his requests (such as asking for a road to be built) went unanswered.
In 1769, Nairne married a fellow Scot, Christina Emery. With Christine, Nairne had four children, but by the time Nairne returned from a 1773 trip to Scotland, three of them had died. Eventually, he would have five more, and life in La Malbaie improved, with Nairne building a large manor house and working hard to promote his products.
In 1775, with an American invasion imminent, Governor Guy Carleton
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester
Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, KB , known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Irish-British soldier and administrator...
charged Nairne with organizing a regiment from his seigneury and the surrounding communities. On August 12, Nairne offered himself for any available Captaincy
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
. He was appointed a Captain in the Royal Highland Emigrants
84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants)
The 84th Regiment of Foot was a British regiment in the American Revolutionary War that was raised to defend present day Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada from the constant land and sea attacks by American Revolutionaries...
the next month, a group largely composed of soldiers from Nairne's old regiment, the 78th Regiment of Foot
78th Regiment of Foot
The 78th Regiment of Foot was a Highland Infantry Regiment of the Line raised in late 18th Century Scotland for service against the French during the Napoleonic Wars.- History :The original 78th Foot was raised by the Earl of Seaforth in 1778...
. Nairne played a key role on the Loyalist side during the Siege of Quebec, although he was extremely reluctant to fight men who spoke the same language and had been raised as he had. This stage of his military career was to last eight years, with Nairne serving with distinction and eventually reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army. During his time with the army, Nairne fought at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Île aux Noix
Ile aux Noix
Île aux Noix is an island on the Richelieu River in Quebec, close to Lake Champlain. The island is the site of Fort Lennox National Historic Site. Politically, it is part of Saint-Paul-de-l'Île-aux-Noix.-Background:...
, and also supervised the building of a fort and at Carleton Island
Carleton Island
Carleton Island is located in the St Lawrence River in upstate New York. It was the location of Fort Haldimand, controlled by the British during the American Revolution, and of great strategic importance, as well as being a center of shipbuilding. The ruins of the fort can still be seen at the...
. He also supervised the building of a jail at Murray Bay. Finally, in 1783, after his promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, he sold his rank in the Royal Highland Emigrants, receiving 3000 pounds for it, and returned to Murray Bay, where he settled permanently.
By the time of Nairne's death in 1802, his segneury had more than 500 inhabitants and was prospering economically. Nairne had little to regret, although he deeply wished that his attempts to implant Protestantism had been successful, still, he was on good terms with the Roman Catholic priest. His source of greatest sadness was the death of his son John in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Although Nairne had many children, only one of his sons survived his death, Tom, who followed his father's foot-steps and joined the army. Tom Nairne was killed at Carleton Island in 1813, fighting at the fort his father had built.