Duckworth, Sir John

It was said that during the 19th century the sun never set on the British Empire; it is quite possible the same might be said of the papers of Sir John Thomas Duckworth in the 20th century. Scattered throughout repositories in Great Britain and North America, they record the life of a man who served that Empire for almost sixty years. - The Archives and Special Collections contain only a small portion of the Duckworth Papers, but included in this collection are documents which are very significant to the history of Newfoundland, particularly the correspondence from the Society of Merchants petitioning the Governor for removal of the Chief Justice - of the Supreme Court. - This collection has been put together over the last twenty years through individual purchases of single or multi-document packages offered by local and mainland - Canadian dealers. Most of the material relates directly to Newfoundland, but there are several items concerning Duckworth's naval duties in Europe and the Caribbean - which were purchased as part of larger units. There is also a series of correspondence between ships' captains in St. John's Harbour between December 11, 1812 and April 10, 1813 that appear to have no direct connection to Duckworth (his term as Governor of Newfoundland ended on December 2, 1812) but were listed as part of the Duckworth papers by a British dealer. - Listed below are some of the other repositories containing other Duckworth material. - - Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL): Duckworth's Newfoundland Station papers, 1807-1812; Original material: 132.5 cm.; microfilm: 9 reels from PAC. - - Public Archives of Canada (PAC): Duckworth Papers, 1699-1816; Original material: 332 pages; microfilm: 9 reels (includes material at PANL and at other repositories). - - Queen's University Archives, Kingston: Duckworth Papers, 1699-1816; Original material: 1 cm.; microfilm: 9 reels from PAC. (Photocopy of original material contained in this collection.) - - University of Chicago, Joseph Regenstein Library: Duckworth Papers, 1810-1812; Original material relating to the War of 1812 and Newfoundland fisheries. (Photocopy in Archives and Special Collections.) - - National Maritime Museum, London: Duckworth Papers; Original material including Newfoundland squadron papers and official letter book for 1812. - - Public Records Office, London: Duckworth Papers; Original material: Colonial Office dispatches (CO 194/49-53); Admiralty dispatches (ADM 1/477); Admiral's journal from 1810 to 1812 (ADM 50/73); log of his flagship Antelope (ADM 51/2123); will (PROB 11/1598/570)