By Isabelle Charron

In September 1760, the British army took Montréal, but there was still no guarantee that it would hold on to the heart of New France and Canada (the present St. Lawrence Valley). It had little knowledge of the territory it occupied or of the river and land lines of communication with New England. This lack of knowledge weakened its hold on these areas. To make up for this, General James Murray, Governor of Quebec, undertook to have the St. Lawrence Valley mapped in detail. The occupation provided an advantage: many military engineers were already present in the territory, including the talented John Montresor and Samuel Holland. Holland settled in the city of Québec and had a significant impact on the history of cartography in Canada. The maps and information compiled during this major project were ultimately sent to King George III of England and senior officers to improve their knowledge of the territory and its inhabitants. These documents would become essential tools in the event of a handover to France, which could require a new invasion attempt.

Thus, in spring 1761—260 years ago—teams surveyed the entire area from Les Cèdres to Île aux Coudres. During their journey, they included every element of physical and human geography: relief; cultivated, wooded and swampy land; rivers; roads; village cores, including houses, churches, and mills; and many other sightings. They also included the First Nations communities of Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Wendake, Odanak and Wôlinak. Fortifications and British troop positions were also represented. General Murray also demanded that, for each village, the number of families and the number of men able to bear arms be counted and that these data be included on the map. It should be noted that the location of the logbooks belonging to the surveyors who took part in this extensive cartography project remains unknown.

Seven immense hand-drawn maps of the St. Lawrence Valley (commonly referred to as the “Murray Maps”) were drawn as part of this project, each including numerous sheets. Three draftsmen, Charles Blaskowitz, Digby Hamilton and Charles McDonnell, drew the final, watercolour-enhanced versions so that they could appeal to their prestigious recipients. Two of these maps are part of LAC’s collection: the map belonging to the Board of Ordnance (item 4134060), which was tasked with supplying the army and military engineers, and the map belonging to James Murray (item 4134077). Two maps are in the British Library in London: the map belonging to William Pitt, Minister of War and future Prime Minister of Great Britain, and the map belonging to King George III. Another map, which may have been intended for Governor of Montréal Thomas Gage, is kept at the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The other two maps, including Commander-in-Chief Jeffery Amherst’s, are missing. Perhaps they will re-emerge one day? Since the Murray Maps reported military intelligence for that time, they were never engraved for publication. The extent of the territory represented, the form followed, and the style of drawing differ somewhat from one map to another. Thus, the Board of Ordnance map, the design of which is more artistic, covers a slightly smaller area, from Les Cèdres to Cap Tourmente. It consists of 23 sheets of varying dimensions divided into four sections. The map intended for James Murray includes 44 sheets of roughly the same size and extends to Île aux Coudres.

No similarly detailed map of this immense territory, on this large scale, had been drawn under the French Regime. Even still, cartographic production had been very prolific: think of the maps of Jean-Baptiste-Louis Franquelin, Gédéon de Catalogne and Jean-Baptiste de Couagne, or even the maps created by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (e.g., item 3693313) at the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine, in Paris, using information from the colony. The Murray Maps are therefore a unique representation of the St. Lawrence Valley on the eve of the official transfer of New France to England through the Treaty of Paris of 1763. They constitute one of the most significant cartographic projects undertaken by the British army during the 18th century, along with projects carried out in Scotland (Roy, 1747–1755), Florida (De Brahm, 1765–1771), Bengal (Rennell, 1765–1777) and Ireland (Vallancey, 1778–1790).

This Flickr album contains the 44 sheets of James Murray’s personal copy, which was restored and then re-digitized. The finding aid includes the index map on which the electronic copy numbers for each sheet have been added and a comprehensive list that makes it easier to search for and identify places (note that today’s toponyms are used). You can easily locate the sheets that interest you and download images using LAC’s Collection Search tool.

A large part of the built heritage that appears on the Murray Map has disappeared, the landscape has undergone major transformations, and the representation of many features is not perfect. Nevertheless, you may be able to find the house of your ancestors, your neighbourhood, the church or mill that you visited on vacation, or even the roads that you have travelled over the years. Comparing the Murray Map with current images, like those found in Google Maps, is also very interesting. You can also use Co-Lab, LAC’s crowdsourcing tool, to help further document this cartographic treasure. The possibilities are many. Explore as you wish!

Enjoy your trip to the 18th century…through the eyes and pens of British military engineers.

To learn more:

• • • BOUDREAU, Claude. La cartographie au Québec, 1760–1840. Sainte-Foy, Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval, 1994.
    • CHARRON, Isabelle. “L’acquisition des connaissances géographiques par les Britanniques au cours de la guerre de Sept Ans. Seconde partie : le territoire d’après le projet de Murray.” Cap-aux-Diamants, no. 132, Winter 2018.
    • DUNNIGAN, Brian Leigh. “Governor Murray’s Canada.” The Quarto, The Clements Library Associates, no. 30, Fall/Winter 2008.
    • HAYES, Derek. Historical Atlas of Canada: Canada’s History Illustrated with Original Maps. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre; Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002 (revised edition, 2015).
    • LITALIEN, Raymonde, PALOMINO, Jean-François, VAUGEOUIS, Denis. Mapping a Continent. Historical Atlas of North America, 1492-1814, Sillery, Québec, Les éditions du Septentrion, Montréal and Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007.
    • MURRAY, Jeffrey S. Terra Nostra. The Stories behind Canada’s Maps, 1550-1950. From the collection of Library and Archives Canada. Sillery, Québec, Les éditions du Septentrion, Montréal and Kingston, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Ottawa, Library and Archives Canada and Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2006.
    • SHIELDS, James Gordon. The Murray Map Cartographically Considered. A Study of General James Murray’s Survey of the St. Lawrence River Valley in 1761. Kingston: Queen’s University, Department of Geography, master’s thesis, 1980.

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This blog was written by Isabelle Charron, early cartography archivist in the Specialized Media Section of the Private Archives Division at Library and Archives Canada.