COFFIN, THOMAS ASTON, office holder; b. 31 March 1754 in Boston,
Mass., son of William Coffin and his wife Mary; one daughter,
Sarah, was born of his liaison with Sarah Johnston, and he and
Louise Benin of the faubourg Saint-Roch, Quebec, had two others,
Marie-Louise and Louisa; d. 31 May 1810 in London, England.
Thomas Aston Coffin studied at Harvard College, Boston, where he
obtained his ab in 1772. He remained loyal to the crown during
the American revolution, as did other members of his family,
including his uncle John, who emigrated to Quebec in 1775. When
the war ended, Coffin was private secretary to Sir Guy Carleton,
commander-in-chief of British forces in North America; Carleton
had been sent to New York in 1782 to oversee, with others, the
evacuation of the loyalists and His Majesty’s troops. This
mission completed, Carleton embarked for England on the Ceres
late in 1783, accompanied by Coffin. In London Coffin was part
of Brook Watson’s circle, Watson being the chief author of
Carleton’s appointmen