Manuscript Collection MS COLL 00557 - Guy St-Denis Papers

Identity area

Reference code

CA OTUTF MS COLL 00557

Title

Guy St-Denis Papers

Date(s)

  • 1756-1765 (Creation)

Level of description

Manuscript Collection

Extent and medium

1 box

Context area

Name of creator

(1960-)

Biographical history

Guy St.-Denis of London, Canada, is a descendant of Juliana Norcop, another of Lieutenant Norcop’s half-sisters.

Name of creator

(1733-1766)

Biographical history

Laurence Norcop’s military career began with an ensign’s commission in the 32ndRegiment of Foot. While the exact date of his appointment is unknown, it probably occurred shortly before 1756 and the formal declaration of the Seven Years’ War. Norcop, who was born in 1733 to a family of landed gentry in Shropshire, no doubt arranged the purchase of his commission with the financial backing of his father. A promotion to the rank of lieutenant followed in the summer of 1756 but, despite the persistent family tradition that Norcop attained the rank of captain, he never succeeded to the command of his own company. He did manage, however, to purchase the quartermaster’s commission in 1764. For most of the decade or more that Lieutenant Norcop served in the army, his regiment was garrisoned at various places in north-eastern Scotland. But rumours of a possible deployment overseas eventually materialized in 1764, when the 32nd Regiment was ordered to the West Indies. In the late summer of 1765, several months after his arrival in St. Vincent, Norcop was stricken with what seems to have been a malarial fever that swept through his regiment. A relapse probably accounts for Norcop’s death early in 1766.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Gift of Guy St-Denis, 2006

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Consists of 23 letters by Lieutenant Laurence Norcop, 32nd Regiment, 1756-1769 to his father Laurence Norcop, and other related documents.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/stack-retrieval-form

Conditions governing reproduction

PLEASE NOTE: there is no photocopying of this material due to the fragile condition, transcriptions are available upon request

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Uploaded finding aid

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Existence and location of originals

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Description control area

Description identifier

CA OTUTF MS COLL00557

Institution identifier

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

Rules and/or conventions used

Dates of creation revision deletion

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