| Description | Bundle of fourteen letters to James Watt from Captain John Marr (James Watt's cousin), Mrs Nancy [Agnes] Marr (née Miller), and Betty Miller (James Watt's sisters- in- law), 1774 - 1775.
John Marr was a military surveyor and served in Canada and North America against the French. [See MS 3219/4/272-280]. Nancy and John Marr married in ?1774 and she sailed with him in 1774 to be with him on campaign. Nancy's sister, Betty looked after James Watt's two children by his first marriage, Margaret /Peggy and James, after the death of his wife, Margaret, in 1773. The children were then six and four years old.
The letters have no original dockets. A summary has been provided in square brackets by the cataloguer. They were numbered in red ink. There is a bundle label, written in red ink, which reads :
'Letters from Cap[tai]n Marr and Miss Millar. 1774-1775. No. 1 to 14'.
The letters were arranged in chronological order, except for that of 28 Nov. 1774 which had been misfiled with 1775. Order has been restored and a conspectus of old and new numbers is given at the end of the bundle list. |