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Show FRENCH ESTATES IN CANADA SOLD TO CONQUERORS The history of the relics of a sort of feudal system in Quebec is briefly this: Not long after Wolfe's victory the Scottish Highlanders marched into Quebec with the victorious army. The French garrison was sent away to France, the British fleet soon followed, and the conquerors, con-querors, with General Murray in command, settled down to face the rigors of a Quebec winter. Rather than live under British rule, many civilians also left Canada and with them many of the lords of the numerous nu-merous manors. They sold out their holdings cheap and so It chanced that General Murray became possessed pos-sessed of a considerable amount of property both personal and governmental. govern-mental. James Murray, the son of a Scottish peer, Lord Elibank, was a high-spirited, brave, generous and Impulsive officer of scarcely more than thirty years at this time. He describes himself as a soldier of fortune, for-tune, and was certainly not rich, yet now, when many of the Canadian seigniories were being sold, he managed man-aged to purchase half a dozen vast estates. Nairne and Fraser had little money with which to buy property, but they had done good service and when they aspired to become seigneurs General Murray supported them. The property was vested In the government, for which Murray was authorized to act Nairne apparently appar-ently had greater resources than Fraser and, being now captain, was his senior in rank. He asked for the more important tract that lying on the right bank of the Murray river riv-er and stretching to the seigniory of Les-Eboulements. Fraser contented con-tented himself with the manor lying on the left bank and extending some eighteen miles along the Saint Lawrence Law-rence to the Riviere Noire, about half way to Tadoussac. The grants were to extend for three leagues Into the interior. In order to preserve pre-serve the name of their friend and patron, Nairne called his seigniory Murray bay and Fraser called his Mount Murray. The village of La Malbaie lies between them. |