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Transcribed by Garth Bulman, [email protected] - Thanks also to Gary Carroll for his assistance in proofreading the transcription.

Reference: Assession No. 2849, Item No.66 P.E. I. Public Archives, Charlottetown , Prince Edward Island, Canada

Letter dated 20, June, 1817 from Mrs. Palmer written at 4:05 am
Transcribed by Garth Bulman, 16^th March, 2002.

Addressed to Her husband, J.B. Palmer Esq.

To the care Mr. Bensley No. 110 Tottenham Court Road
London, England
Taken by Mr. LePage

Wonderful and passing strange, My dear James:

What is going to happen to me, only five minutes past four, I�m writing to you, believe me this is true & the sun rose most beautiful. Who knows perhaps I'm to see you soon, God grant my mind will be then at peace.

LePage�s Brig sails on Sunday for Plymouth there to unload & return immediately to the Island, this is a good chance for you & I think it necessary to inform you of it & give you LePage's direction in case your business has detained you longer then what you expected - W" L. P.¹ on board Brig John to the care of widow Lymons & Co. Plymouth. Court starts next week, one hundred and fifty inquiries from your Clients to know whether you will be here in time and if you have succeeded agreeable to your expectations, I received a Notice a few days ago from Mr. Johnson for McDonald�s of Tracadie , not respecting Hills business but a Person in Newfoundland, Donald's in town & I gave it to him who went immediately with it to the Chief Justice & says, if he cannot get it put off, it is of no great consequence. I have now a great deal of trouble about the papers, Serani as usual not very often to be found so that it often falls upon me & Joseph Pippy. Papers we neither of us can find: Mc Keys & one or two others. I wish you had not depended upon him the People are so dissatisfied with him.

Your letter dated the 2 February I mentioned before did not come to hand till the latter end of May, I was sorry that your request came too late for me to be of any service, in the business Woodside. I mean, for I am well aware, could you have obtain�d the Papers you would have been gratified. This is the middle June & only just left off fires what do you think of that horrid! I was never so disgusted with the weather, crops very backward, some obliged to plough up their oats & put in Barley in the place. Gardens also very backward. Thanks to Mr. Mc Key for ours this year, he sent a Gardener and a man to Plough & put in our potatoes, I feel gratified that it is done & truly grateful for all the kindness. I do not know what I should have done without them. My Cow is doing very well, but cannot get a pasture for her. I think of selling her. My horse is not yet sold but the Chief justice has sent to look at him. The children are all well anxiously waiting your return, you will, find some of them grown very much. I wrote you last packet, therefore I have nothing more to say, no news, neither good bad or indifferent, but W. Lobban showed me a letter directed to you going by this conveyance I believe, which I hope will give you such information as you require. The children are all awake & I must be with them. God bless you ever more may the Almighty accept of my ardent Prayer for your safe & speedy return to yours affectionately.

M. Palmer [Millicent Jones Palmer]

N.B. Excuse this strange scrawl I'm out of ink and pens

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Notes:
¹As with all transcriptions, this letter contains passages which are difficult to decipher with 100% certainty - this line may be referring to the Widow LePage accompanying Widow Lymons and her party - the W" is roughly aligned above the mention of Widow Lymons in the written text. Despite this possibility, we have chosen to show it as it appears. Another thought crossing our minds during transcription, is that it could be referring to William LePage whose obituary may be found on the "Island Register's Obituary Page" or its archives.

² - Additional information on James Bardin Palmer may be found in Volume VI of the Dictionary of Canadian Biography. An Index to Islanders who may be found in its volumes was compiled by Gary Carroll and may be found on the Island Register. These books an excellent resource and may be found at your local library in either book or an electronic format.

³ - DCB Volume 5, in an article on Bardin by H. T. Holman mentions in part, that "Palmer was struck off the roll of barristers on 14 Nov. 1816. His request to appeal to the King in council was turned down by Smith and within two months Palmer was on his way to England seeking to have the matter reviewed and the decision overturned." This letter was written to him during his stay in England... "At the time he considered leaving the Island for good and practising in the appeal court for the colonies, a forum with which he was becoming quite familiar. While in England, however, he was able to secure the support of some of the Island�s absentee proprietors and he returned to the colony late in 1817 or early in 1818 as agent for Lord Westmorland and Lord Melville."

⁴ - Palmer appears to have actually arrived home in December 1818 and wrote a letter to William Roubel in May, 1819 which also appears in this Letter Database.