I represent George Murray. I was a captain and the commander of the sloop HMS Ferret in the spring and summer of 1766, when George Gauld was attached to it doing surveys of the West Florida coastline. Like many commanders in West Florida during those early days of the colony, I had quite a bit of trouble with losing men through both desertion and death. I eventually had to petition Governor Johnstone and the council for more crew to keep the ship going. They gave me permisison to impress sailors. This was a common practice of the British Navy in the 18th and early 19th centuries, where we basically forced any idle mariners in town – or even civilians – into service on a ship. I’ll spare you the details and simply say I was able to resume voyages that September. I was a friend of the Pilott family and, in fact, was the godfather of little Elizabeth.
Sources: 35, 111