| Notes |
- WO 12/8191
The muster roll of His Majesty's 76th Regiment of Foot commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel John McDonnell.
Capt James Fraser's Company mustered at Inverness on 27 Jan 1779. Andrew
Bisset was listed as a Private. The muster covered the period 25 Jun 1778 to
24 Dec 1778 and was sworn before Duncan Grant JP at Forres on 2 Feb 1779.
There was also an Alexander Bisset, (whom I did not pursue), in Captain
John McDonald's Company which mustered at Banff on 25 Jan 1779.
The next muster of the 76th took place on 8 Jul 1783 at Staten Island for
the period 25 Dec 1782 to 24 Jun 1783. Captain Fraser's Company was mustered
but Andrew Bisset was not present. No explanations were available and there
were no musters between Jan 79 and Jul 83. There are obviously two
possibilities why there are no musters during this period. Either the
musters did not take place or they did but the records were not preserved.
I have discussed this in the past with resident staff in the PRO and did so
again today. The official view is that the musters must have taken place or
the regiment would not have been paid, therefore the records have not been
preserved. The next muster was on 8 Mar 1784 at Stirling and obviously
Andrew Bisset was not present.
The final pieces which I had hoped would locate him in the 76th at Yorktown
in 1781 followed by the first muster when he was not present with an
explanation about his absence was just not forthcoming and I am afraid we
will have to accept that. However, we can draw reasonable conclusions.
1 Andrew Bisset was in service with the 76th until Feb 79 and probably
until 1781.
2 He was not present on 25 Dec 82 and was probably absent from 1781.
3 As the 76th were reformed in 1777, he probably joined around then,
or shortly thereafter, and as the first muster available was in
Aberdeen, it is reasonable to assume that he was recruited
from that area.
I know there is room for argument with these probabilities, but I think they
are reasonable and they go a long way towards substantiating the claim of
his son.
76th Regiment of Foot: The 76th regiment was formed in Scotland in 1777. Three hundred and forty five men were present at the battle of Yorktown, VA and were known as Lord MacDonald's Highlanders. Major Francis Needham was the commander of this group which was disbanded in 1784.
From: Alexander Good [agood@netjets.com] Oct. 2005
It’s my understanding that there were 4 muster rolls for the 76th, but none surviving or known during the regt’s time in North America. I know that there was an offer made that any soldier of a regiment that was to disband could go to Canada and be granted land as long as he joined the militia, which many did. The numbers of those that mustered out in Scotland for the 76th are pretty low, about half of the numbers there should’ve been. Finding info from the 76th in Virginia or New York has been high on
my list, but so far, there’s nothing out there. So, I’ve been having to piece things together from all manner of sources, especially from other regiments. Do you have the inspection return that was mentioned as having been done in March of 1779? I have the one from May of 1778, and it’s driving me crazy trying to find the other one. I’m starting to go through microfilm reels from the Amherst Papers, but it’s slow going.
As told by Mary Ann 4, Thomas 3, William 2, Andrew 1
Mother's great grandfather, William Bissett, a Lieutenant in the Black Watch (Scotch) died in Virginia at the time of the war between England and the United States. His widow came to St. John, NB, Canada and settled at the foot of King St. Brining their only child, a son, William. They, not caring for the place, moved up the St. John River to a place called Bissett's Point. She married a second time to Mr. Fitzgerald. Afterward she lived at Chapel Grove, Kings County, on the Kennebecasis River, where she, we suppose, died. Her son married Betsy Elizabeth Weldon, an adopted daughter of his mother and they had twelve children.
As told by Alberta May 4, William 3, William 2, Andrew 1
Capt. William Harding Bissett's grandmother came to New Brunswick from Scotland about 1770 shortly after the death of her husband, bringing with her, her only child, Thomas, eight years old. Her maiden name was Bissett and her husband's name was Bassett and after the death of her husband became a captain and the owner of his ship. Capt. Thomas Bissett's wife's maiden name was Elizabeth Weldon. Their son, William Harding Bissett, who became a sea captain, was born in the district known as the Devil's Back in St. John County, New Brunswick. Capt. Thomas Bissett, was in the Coasting Service between New York, Boston, and the Maritime Provinces.
As told by Margaret3, William 2, Andrew 1
Back from the south and have found a old note that my mother typed. It relates to what her grandmother requested she write down. Her grandfather came from Scotland: went directly to Virginia in 1812, he was a Lieutenant in the War of 1812 and died there. His wife was a Perth from Scotland, they were watchmakers. Their son my grandmother's father settled in St. John for the winter; then went to Bissetts Point. He sold out there and settled up the Kennebecasis River at Chapel Grove. There were sixteen children: Benjamin who drowned while skating on the river; John a Sea Captain was lost while taking a ship laden with passengers and all else off Bermuda enroute to California. Elisha a sea Capt. was killed by his crew during a mutiny and buried at sea. He had assumed the name Thomas Elisha Whitney as a boy to allow him to ship out underage. He had promoted one of his men to 1st Mate and the crew ebelled resulting in his death. Charles went to the pearlfisheries in Australia and married there. His wife died at sea and he in Australia. He left his estate to his niece (perhaps Lida M.W.Ray) Five children died in infancy. There were three girls, Marion, Margaret(my grandmother) and Harriot. My mothers maiden name was Wadsley.
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1748 - 1781 (33 years)
