NEWLY discovered letters that help chronicle the life of a
Scottish settlement in 19th century Canada have been released to
mark the territory’s 200th anniversary. Founded in 1812 by the
Earl of Selkirk for those displaced during the Highland
Clearances, the Red River settlement in Manitoba grew to become
the city of Winnipeg. Documents found within the past two weeks
in archives held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) shed
new light on what life was like for the settlers and provide a
first-hand account of the Battle of Seven Oaks, which took place
between rival fur trading companies. One of the letters is a
refusal by Lord Melville, First Lord of the Admiralty, to
provide a naval escort for the settlers as they crossed the
Atlantic in 1812. The document is part of a collection of papers
bought from the Melville family for £1.35 million this year
after being on loan to the NRS since 1951. The other letter,
part of the Dalhousie collection acquired for the nation at the
cost of £1.6m in 2007, is an acc