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James Ferguson (Lord Pitfour)
James Ferguson, Lord Pitfour (1700 – 25 June 1777) was a Scottish advocate and second Laird of Pitfour, a large estate in Buchan. His flourishing law practice was sited opposite Parliament House in Edinburgh. He became Dean of the Faculty of Advocates in 1760 and was elevated to the bench as Lord Pitfour, in 1764. Pitfour was described as one of the greatest lawyers in the country. However, by the time he became a Senator of the College of Justice he was past his prime intellectually and thus did not make much of an impact in that role. A Jacobite sympathiser, he is best known for his defence of rebels standing trial at Carlisle after the Jacobite risings. Ferguson inherited the Pitfour estate on the death of his father, James Ferguson, 1st Laird of Pitfour. He purchased additional lands and expanded the estate, which became known as "the Blenheim of the North". A staunch Episcopalian, he had a private Qualified Chapel built on the estate. He also established a small ...
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Aberdeenshire (historic)
Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen ( sco, Coontie o Aiberdeen, gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The area of the county, excluding the city of Aberdeen itself, is also a lieutenancy area. The county borders Kincardineshire, Angus and Perthshire to the south, Inverness-shire and Banffshire to the west, and the North Sea to the north and east. It has a coast-line of . The area is generally hilly, and from the south-west, near the centre of Scotland, the Grampians send out various branches, mostly to the north-east. Symbols The coat of arms of Aberdeenshire County Council was granted in 1890. The four quarters represented the Buchan, Mar, Garioch and Strathbogie areas. Constituencies There was an Aberdeenshire constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1868. This constituency did not include the parliamenta ...
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Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and as it was from the Restoration of King Charles II to the re-establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland following the Glorious Revolution, it recognises the archbishop of Canterbury as president of the Anglican Instruments of Communion, but without jurisdiction in Scotland ''per se''. This close relationship results from the unique history of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. In terms of official membership, Episcopalians today constitute well under 1 per cent of the population of Scotland, making them considerably smaller than the Church of Scotland. The membership of the church in 2019 was 27,585, of whom 19,784 were communicant members. Weekly att ...
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South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in January 1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of the national debt. To generate income, in 1713 the company was granted a monopoly (the Asiento de Negros) to supply African slaves to the islands in the "South Seas" and South America. When the company was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession and Spain and Portugal controlled most of South America. There was thus no realistic prospect that trade would take place, and as it turned out, the Company never realised any significant profit from its monopoly. However, Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, and peaked in 1720 before suddenly collapsing to little above its ...
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John Ramsay Of Ochtertyre
John Ramsay of Ochtertyre FRSE FSAScot (1736–1814) was a Scottish writer and antiquarian. A renowned letter-writer even in his own lifetime, most of his extensive correspondence has since been lost. His home in Stirlingshire is near Blair Drummond, in the parish of Kincardine-in-Menteith. Sometimes referred to as Oughtertyre or Auchtertyre, it is not to be confused by the larger Ochtertyre estate in Perthshire, owned by the Murray family. Life He was born at Ochtertyre House on 26 August 1736 the son of Anne Dundas, daughter of General Ralph Dundas of Manor, and her husband, James Ramsay WS (d.1748), a lawyer. Ramsay succeeded to his father's lairdship at the age of 12, in 1748. He was educated at Dalkeith Grammar School under a Mr Barclay, then studied classics at the University of Edinburgh. In the summers of 1752 and 1753 he spent much time at Menstrie Castle at the home of George Abercromby (1705-1800) where he spent time with the teenage Ralph Abercromby (who went on to a f ...
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Tobago
Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. It also lies to the southeast of Grenada. The official bird of Tobago is the cocrico. Etymology Tobago was named ''Belaforme'' by Christopher Columbus "because from a distance it seemed beautiful". The Spanish friar Antonio Vázquez de Espinosa wrote that the Kalina people, Kalina (mainland Caribs) called the island ''Urupina'' because of its resemblance to a big snail, while the Island Caribs, Kalinago (Island Caribs) called it ''Aloubaéra'', supposedly because it resembled the ''alloüebéra'', a giant snake which was supposed to live in a cave on the island of Dominica. The earliest known record of the use of the name ''Tabaco'' to refer to the island is a Spanish royal order is ...
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George Ferguson (Lt Governor Of Tobago)
George Ferguson (1748 – 29 December 1820) was the fourth Laird of Pitfour, a large estate in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, that became known as The Blenheim of the North. He lived much of his life in Tobago and became lieutenant governor in 1779. He surrendered the island to the French after a battle in 1781. Accusations were made by the commander of the British Fleet that the island was surrendered too easily but Ferguson was cleared of any blame at a subsequent enquiry. He is usually referred to as the "Governor" to help differentiate between the generations, as men of the next generations were also named George Ferguson. Ferguson was only Laird of Pitfour for about three months before his sizeable estate, including the plantations in the Caribbean, passed to his illegitimate son. Early life and family Ferguson was born at Pitfour in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire in the north east of Scotland in 1748. His father was James Ferguson who had been raised t ...
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Flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking lock (firearm), ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also known as the ''flintlock mechanism, true flintlock'', that was introduced in the early 17th century, and gradually replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the matchlock, the wheellock, and the earlier flintlock mechanisms such as snaplock and snaphaunce. The true flintlock continued to be in common use for over two centuries, replaced by percussion cap and, later, the Cartridge (firearms), cartridge-based systems in the early-to-mid 19th century. Although long superseded by modern firearms, flintlock weapons enjoy continuing popularity with Black powder, black-powder shooting enthusiasts. History French court gunsmith Marin le Bourgeoys made a firearm incorporating a flintlock mechanism for King Louis XIII of ...
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Ferguson Rifle
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech-loading rifles to be put into service by the British military. It fired a standard British carbine ball of .615" calibre and was used by the British Army in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, and possibly at the Siege of Charleston in 1780. Its superior firepower was unappreciated at the time because it was too expensive and took longer to produce – the four gunsmiths making Ferguson's Ordnance Rifle could not make 100 in 6 months at four times the cost per arm of a musket. Details The breech of the weapon is closed by 11 starting threads on a tapered screw, and the trigger guard serves as the crank to rotate it. One complete turn dropped the screw low enough to drop a round ball into the exposed breech followed by a slight overcharge of powder, which was then sheared to the proper charge by the screw as it closed the breech. Since the weapon was loaded from the breech, rather than from the muzzle, ...
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Patrick Ferguson
Patrick Ferguson (1744 – 7 October 1780) was a Scottish officer in the British Army, an early advocate of light infantry and the designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, in which he played a great effort in recruiting American Loyalists to serve in his militia against the Patriots. Ultimately, his activities and military actions led to a Patriot militia force mustered to put an end to his force of Loyalists, and he was killed in the Battle of Kings Mountain, at the border between the colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina. Leading a group of Loyalists whom he had recruited, he was the only regular army officer participating on either side of the conflict. The victorious Patriot forces desecrated his body in the aftermath of the battle. Early life Patrick Ferguson was born at Pitfour in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on 25 May (Old Style) ...
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James Ferguson (Scottish Politician)
James Ferguson FRSE (25 May 1735 – 6 September 1820) was a Scottish advocate and Tory politician and the third Laird of Pitfour, a large estate in the Buchan area of north east Scotland, which is known as the 'Blenheim of the North'. Ferguson studied law in Edinburgh, qualifying in 1757 to gain membership of the Faculty of Advocates. He then undertook a tour of Europe throughout 1758 before following in his father's footsteps by joining the Scottish legal profession. Later in life his interests turned to politics and he became a Scottish Tory politician. Among the extensive work carried out by Ferguson at Pitfour, he is also credited with beginning work on a canal between the Pitfour estate and the sea at Peterhead in order to transport agricultural produce. Despite planning objections from neighbours, work began in 1797. He is also credited with establishing the planned village of Mintlaw in 1813. Ancestry and early life James Ferguson was born at Pitfour on 25 May 1 ...
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Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the largest province by area and the second-largest by population. Much of the population lives in urban areas along the St. Lawrence River, between the most populous city, Montreal, and the provincial capital, Quebec City. Quebec is the home of the Québécois nation. Located in Central Canada, the province shares land borders with Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast, and a coastal border with Nunavut; in the south it borders Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York in the United States. Between 1534 and 1763, Quebec was called ''Canada'' and was the most developed colony in New France. Following the Seven Years' War, Quebec b ...
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James Murray (Quebec Governor)
General James Murray (20 January 1721 – 18 June 1794) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of Quebec from 1760 to 1768 and governor of Minorca from 1778 to 1782. Born in Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Murray travelled to North America and took part in the French and Indian War. After the conflict, his administration of the Province of Quebec was noted for its successes, being marked by positive relationships with French Canadians, who were reassured of the traditional rights and customs. Murray died in Battle, East Sussex in 1794. Early life Born in Ballencrieff, East Lothian, Murray was a younger son of Lord Elibank Alexander Murray, 4th Lord Elibank, and his wife, Elizabeth Stirling. His cousin with two children was Alexander Murray (British Army officer, died 1762) Alexander Murray who served in Nova Scotia. Educated in Haddington, East Lothian Haddington, and Selkirk, Scottish Borders Selkirk, he began his military career in 173 ...
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