Alexander Harrison (1774 – after 1854), Quarter Master, 1st [then 3rd] Garrison Battalion. [Housebook]. 1808-1854. Manuscript in-4° (24 x 19,5 cm). [1], 1 bl., [52] leaves, 78 bl. leaves. Contemporary fawn basane, smooth spine decorated with double cold fillets, double cold fillet framing the covers, gilded coat of arms on upper cover.
Born on March 28, 1774 (see his birth certificate glued), Alexander Harrison married Mary Bellison (died July 17, 1849, aged 75) on February 18, 1803; they had two children, Alexander (1808) and Francis (1812). Enlisted in 1798, he completed 45 years’ service, wounded in the left hand by a sword blow at the battle of Colooney [in 1798], active until 1817, then on half-pay. His battalion, the 3rd (1st from 1814) Garrison Battalion, was stationed in Ireland (1808-1813), then in Malta (1813-1814), where it suffered many deaths from fever, and was disbanded in 1817.
His livre de raison contains the account of Wellington’s victory over Junot at Vilmeiro on August 21, 1808, entitled: “Explanation relating to the Battle of the Twenty first day of August One thousand eight hundred and eight Between the British under S. A. Wellesley and the French Forces under General Junot“ (2 pp., without the plan),
commitment and functions of the Quarter Master (uniforms, armaments, barracks, ammunition loaf trafficking, housing ticket management, etc.),
transcriptions of his correspondence (with his commander, Colonel and later General William Needham, and Major Charles Bayley, as well as with other comrades-in-arms, notably concerning Malta), military equipment and the composition of the battalion since its formation on February 25, 1805 (table on 18 pp.),
military supplies for the battalion (February 2, 1815),
followed by tables showing the state of the battalion’s equipment by rank on July 24 and 25, 1817 (when it was disbanded),
as well as the meat supply contract between two butchers and the battalion commander on August1, 1811, stationed on Bere Island, not to mention his various service and pay records,
his correspondence on and about half-pay, as well as a register of accounts (including maintenance of a well, tree trimming, etc.), various powers of attorney and other accounting and financial documents, “ Opinion on Arrests ” by William Empson, followed by various letters of police information.
Binding with impressed gold insignia of the Board of Ordnance.
A few leaves have been torn off, without affecting the continuity of the parts; quite marked wear to the binding.
A rare and interesting document.
800 €