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Born in Dublin, the son of a Huguenot refugee family. Married at least twice, to Elizabeth Wade (d. 1774) and to Anna Campbell (d. 1798). He also had a daughter from a previous relationship. She married Timothy Newmarsh, probably sometime around 1770. Trapaud's younger brother was General Cyrus Trapaud (1715-1801).
A military officer, Trapaud was Deputy Governor of Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness from sometime between 1746 and 1753 until his death in 1796.1 He had previously been Aid-de-Camp to Major-General Henry Ponsonby (1685-1745) at the battle of Fontenoy, when the general was killed by his side. He was afterwards Aid-de-Camp to General John Huske (ca. 1692-1761) at the battle of Culloden, when he was himself wounded.
According to a stone erected on the Kilcumein burial ground by his widow, Anna, Alexander Trapaud was "a brave Officer, Pious Christian and Faithful Friend, who served his king and Country for 63 years."
Boswell had met Trapaud in Inverness in 1761, when he travelled with his father on the "circuit". They met again at Fort Augustus, where Trapaud was Deputy Governor, on August 29, 1773, during Boswell and Johnson's tour of Scotland. Trapaud invited them to stay the night at his house, which Boswell described as "a neat well-furnished house with prints, etc., a good supper (fricassee of moor-fowl, etc.); in short, with all the conveniencies of civilized life in the midst of rude mountains." Present were also Trapaud's wife, his daughter and her husband, Capt. Newmarsh. Boswell wrote of Trapaud that he "though near seventy, had excellent animal spirits, the conversation of a soldier and somewhat of a Frenchman, talking with importance of everything, however small."
Source for Aid-de-Camp: Newcastle Courant - Saturday 17 December 1796
English peer, politician and courtier who served as a Lord of the Bedchamber to King George III in 1769.
Herbert was the son of Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke (1693-1743) and Mary FitzWilliam. In 1756 he married Lady Elizabeth Spencer (1737-1831), a daughter of the Duke of Marlborough, with whom he had two children. He is also known to have had several mistresses, one of whom bore him a child who was given the remarkable name Augustus Retnuh Reebkomp.
He was educated at Eton College, and was styled Lord Herbert until he succeeded to his father's earldom in 1749. He became a Lieutenant-General in the Army, later Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Dragoons. He became an authority on breaking cavalry horses and in 1755 built an indoor Riding School at Wilton House.
As his London townhouse, Herbert purchased 40 Queen Anne St,Marylebone which he used for entertaining during the "London season". In 1760 he was sent with his regiment to Germany to take part in the Seven Years' War as a Major-General in command of the Cavalry Brigade in Germany until the following year. In 1761 he wrote the British Army's manual on riding, Military Equitation: or A Method of Breaking Horses, and Teaching Soldiers to Ride, which had already reached a 4th edition by 1793, and his methods were adopted throughout the British cavalry.
In a paragraph in his Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, Boswell refers to the Earl as "my noble, and to me most constant friend", also mentioning his "benevolent, gay, social intercourse, and lively correspondence".2
Sometime Collector of Excise in Inverness (abt. 1773). Formerly of Ayr.
Keith called on Boswell and Dr Johnson following their arrival in Inverness in the evening of August 28, 1773, inviting them to dine with him and to go to the English chapel on the next day. Boswell, apparently, knew Keith from Ayr.
On the next day, Keith breakfasted with Boswell and Johnson, before going together to the Chapel, which, according to Boswell, was "but a poor one". After church, they went together to the Quay, where they met the painter Alves, who Boswell had previously seen in Rome in 1765. They continued to see Macbeth's Castle, before going to Keith's for dinner. Here they were joined by Keith's wife, a Miss Duff, and, later, Rev. Alexander Grant for tea. In the evening, Keith and Grant supped with them at their inn.
Daughter of Charles Hutchinson, who was governor of St. Helena from 1746 to 1764. On July 8, 1763, she married the distinguished soldier, later to become MP, Sir Eyre Coote.
Boswell and Dr Johnson met Lady Coote, as she then were, at Fort George near Inverness during their tour of Scotland in August 1773. Boswell later wrote of her that "though not a beauty, one of the most agreeable women I ever saw, with an uncommonly mild and sweet tone in her conversation."3
Military officer and Tory politician. Muncaster was a son of Sir Joseph Pennington, 4th Baronet, and Sarah Moore. Married (1778) to Penelope Compton (d. 1806).
Muncaster joined the military at an early age, enlisting in the 3rd Regiment of Foot as Ensign in 1756. In 1762, he was promoted Captain, and he rose further through the ranks to become Lt-Col in the 37th Regiment of Foot before his retirement in 1775.
In 1781, he was elected Member of Parliament for Milborne Port. He held this seat until 1796, before transferring to Colchester, which he represented until 1802. In 1806, he was returned for Westmoreland, and sat for the county until his death in 1813.
In 1783 Muncaster was also elected to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Muncaster. Due to him and his wife having no male heirs, he was succeeded in the barony by his younger brother, Lowther (1745-1818).
Boswell and Dr Johnson met Lt-Col Pennington, as he then was, at Fort George on August 28, 1773, while on their tour of Scotland. They dined with the then commander of the Fort, Sir Eyre Coote, and several of his officers, including Pennington and Major Brewse of the Royal Engineers.
British military officer and Member of Parliament. Son of the Reverend Chidley Coote and Jane Evans. Married (1763) to Susannah, a daughter of Charles Hutchinson, the Governor of St. Helena, but died without issue.
In the early 1740s, Coote entered the 27th Regiment of Foot. He first saw active service during the 1745 Jacobite rebellion, later obtaining a Captaincy in the first regular British regiment to serve in India, the 39th. He stayed in India until 1762, rising through the ranks to Lieutenant-General and Commander of the British East India Company's forces in the Bengal.
In 1768, he was elected M.P. for Leicester, before transfering to Poole in 1774. He returned to India in 1779, assuming command of the company forces there. He relinquished command in 1782, but, shortly before his death in Madras in 1783, was persuaded to return to his command due to increasing French harassment, and ruptures between the governor and new commander in chief.
Boswell and Dr Johnson met Coote at Fort George near Inverness while on their tour of Scotland in late august 1773. In the afternoon, they had dinner with Sir Eyre and several officers. Boswell described Eyre as having "something between the Duke of Queensberry and my late worthy friend Captain Cuninghame in his manner," and as being "a most gentlemanlike man". Boswell wrote that Eyre "had come from the East Indies by land, through the deserts of Arabia," and that he told the assembled company about the Arabs' ability to live for days without victuals, praising their virtue.
As Boswell and Johnson left the fort in the early evening, Sir Eyre went downstairs and saw them into their chaise. According to Boswell, "[t]here could not be greater attention paid to any visitors".
The life of Sir Eyre Coote is presented in much detail in Colonel H. C. Willy's 1922 biography of Coote, A Life of Lieutenant-General Sir Eyre Coote, K. B., published by Oxford's Clarendon Press. It is an impressive and large volume with more than 500 pages and several illustrations. First editions are sometimes available via the AbeBooks used books search engine; otherwise it is available as a free PDF scan on archive.org.
Brewse was a military engineer, who, in 1749 as part of Edward Cornwallis' expedition there, created the first surveys of Halifax in Nova Scotia. He was largely responsible for building the defences of the town, protecting it against native and Acadian attacks. In 1757, when the engineers received military status, he was given the title of Captain Lieutenant, and in 1758 he participated in an expedition against Louisbourg, Île Royale. In 1762 he is known to have been stationed in Portugal, helping build up defences against the Spanish, and he later spent several years at the Ordnance office in London. He was a Major in the Royal Engineers from 1772 to 1777, before, in 1778 as a Lieutenant-Colonel, being appointed Chief Engineer of Minorca. He was promoted Colonel in 1780.
Brewse had at least one daughter, Mary, who married Lieut. William Kesterman, also of the Engineers.
While on the tour of Scotland in 1773, Boswell and Dr Johnson met Major Brewse, as he then was, at Fort George near Inverness. In his journal, Boswell described him as "a man who seemed to be very intelligent in his profession, and spoke with uncommon deliberation and distinctness.".
During their conversation Brewse said "he believed [Brewse] was originally the same Norman name with Bruce. That he had dined at a house in London where were three Bruces, one of the Irish line, one of the Scottish, and himself of the English line. He said he was shown it in the Herald Office spelled fourteen different ways. I told him the different spellings of my name. Mr Johnson observed that there had been great disputes about the spelling of Shakespeare’s name."4
Master of stores at Fort George near Inverness from ca. 1750 to at least 1773.
While on their tour of Scotland, Boswell and Dr Johnson received a letter of introduction to George Fern, then Master of Stores at Fort George, from Valentine White at Cawdor on August 27. On the next day, the travelling companions continued from Cawdor to Fort George, where they were immediately introduced to Fern and a Major Brewse. According to Boswell, Fern "was a brisk civil man. He had been in the Fort for twenty years, but had been at different intervals in London and other places."
After a tour of the Fort and a meeting with Sir Eyre Coote, commander of the 37th Regiment, Boswell and Johnson reposed themselves for a bit in Fern's quarters. According to Boswell, "[Fern] had everything in neat order as in England. He had a tolerable collection of books. I looked at Pennant. He says little of this fort but that the barracks, etc., form several streets. This is aggrandizing. Fern observed if he had said they form a square with a row of buildings before it, he would have given a juster description." At three, they joined Sir Eyre for supper together with Fern and several officers, discussing various subjects including the stage and the virtues of Arabs. They "had a dinner of two complete courses, variety of wines, and the regimental band of music playing in the square before the windows after it," and according to his journal, Boswell "enjoyed this day much.".
They stayed at the Fort until early evening before going on to Inverness.
A welshman who, in the second half of the 18th century, served for several years as factor of the estate of Cawdor/Calder between Nairn and Inverness, on behalf of its owner, John Campbell of Stackpole Court and Cawdor (1695-1777), MP and the last hereditary Sheriff of Nairn.
Several pages in George Bain's History of Nairnshire (1893) are dedicated to White's factorship of Cawdor and his correspondence with his laird.4
Boswell and Dr Johnson met White at the Manse of Cawdor between Nairn and Inverness on August 27, 1773. White invited them to his home, but they had not time to accept. He provided them with an introduction to Mr Fern, master of stores at Fort George, one of the next stops on their journey through Scotland.
White later informed his employer, John Campbell, the laird of Calder, who himself lived in Stackpole, Wales, about his meeting with the two famous visitors. The laird wrote back, that "The weakness of Mr Boswell, in regard to the foolish and absurd stories which abound in the Highlands, and indeed in all very remote and lonely places, amazes me. Mr Johnson is a learned and ingenious man, and his Dictionary a useful book ; but there are some things in it which, I fancy, he now wishes were not there. For instance the articles on ' oats ' and ' excise/ which are both silly and impertinent ; and I observed two or three things in Mr Boswell's books which I thought wrong ; but no man is or can be without failings."5
Church of Scotland minister. Son of George Grant (1700-1772), Minister of Kirkmichael, and Ann Chapman. Married (1782) to Grace Fraser, with whom he had several children. One of their sons, James Grant (1790-1853) became Minister at Nairn, while another, George Grant (b. 1787) became a merchant in Liverpool.
Alexander Grant was educated at King's College, Aberdeen, from where he graduated M.A. in 1759. He spent some years as a missionary at Fort William from 1764, before becoming minister of the Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity near Inverness on April 2, 1771. He was translated to the nearby Parish of Cawdor in 1779 upon the death of its previous minister Kenneth Macaulay.
Boswell and Dr Johnson met Alexander Grant at the Manse of Cawdor on August 27, 1773, as they stayed there for the night as guests of Kenneth Macaulay, the local minister. Boswell described him as "an intelligent and well-bred minister". According to Boswell, Grant told them "a story of an apparition, which he had from the Rev. Mr Grant at Nigg, who saw it.". Later, Dr Johnson went with Grant to see their host's library, which Johnson thought "rather a lady’s library, with some Latin books in it by chance." In the evening, Grant said prayer, and he and Boswell slept in the same room for the night, while Dr Johnson had a room for himself.6
Grant joined them again at Mr Keith's in Inverness on the 29th, where he had tea with them, and he and Keith supped with them at their inn in the evening.
