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42 ARCHIVARIA 20 succeeded in producing truly convincing evidence which would have settled the identity of the sitter once and for all. Notwithstanding the disappointing outcome of the efforts of FitzGibbon and Mickle, even today the miniature continues to be treated as a likeness of Brock, the "very perfect knight," as Lady Edgar, another of his biographers, described her hero.32 The miniature was for the second half of the nineteenth century in the hands of certainly two members of the Short family of Three Rivers, Quebec, before Mary Agnes FitzGibbon acquired it in 1896. A copyrighted photograph was very quickly published .~~ were included in and incorporated in the popular Cabot C ~ l e n d a r Reproductions works about Isaac Brock and the War of 1812 such as Walter R. Nursey's The Story of Isaac Brock, Hero, Defender and Saviour of Upper Canada, 1812 (Toronto, 1908) and, more recently, in Bruce West's commemorative article on the two-hundredth anniversary of Brock's birth.34The latest example of its use is the engraving after the miniature which the States of Guernsey used in its ten pound note.35 The miniature is a portrait on ivory and bears the name "J. H ~ d s o n . Efforts " ~ ~ to trace this miniaturist have ended in failure.37The miniature is dated in a very peculiar manner: "18X6." Gerald S. Hayward (1845-1926), a noted miniaturist, restored and copied the portrait.38While working on it in 1896, he declared that a "friend" of his "from England has been studying out with me the signature and date as above," and proceeded to advance the explanation that "the X [was] being used for an 0,as we often do now in cheques -thus easily making the figures 18x6, the very time Genl Brock was visiting his friends for the last time before coming out here June 26 1806 - & is so likely to have been persuaded to have it done."39 The use of "Xs" on cheques is a practice continued even today, but they are used in a pair to denote no pennies. Inquiries made during the last few years with established galleries and dealers failed to elicit any confirmation of this 32 Lady Matilda Edgar, "General Brock's Portrait," The Canadian Magazine 3 1 , no. 1 (May 1908), p. 265. 33 The photograph was copyrighted in 1896 by L.M. Taylor and published by William Briggs, Toronto. Mary Agnes FitzGibbon and Sara Mickle produced the Cabot Calendar which included photographs from portraits of major figures in Canadian history with the avowed aim of fostering patriotism. An example of this calendar has survived in the Library of the Public Archives of Canada. 34 GIobeandMail, 7 October 1969. An anniversary stamp utilizing the miniature was issued in Canada for this occasion. 35 The engraver copiedso faithfully that he even included the line to be seen near the wing which is in fact a remnant of the damage Gerald S. Hayward had tried to repair; see FitzGibbon notebook, folios 33-35. 36 FitzGibbon notebook, folio 35, Gerald S. Hayward to Sara Mickle, 17 August 1896. The author examined the miniature in the summer of 1984, but did not notice anything unmentioned before. 37 Foskett, Dictionary, I, pp. 342-43, lists a William J.L. Hudson (1779-1834) whom Basil S. Long omits altogether in his BritLsh Miniaturisls (London, 1979). No evidence is at hand to connect J. Hudson with William J. Hudson. The FitzGibbon notebook contains eloquent testimony regarding Mary Agnes FitzGibbon's failure to track down this particular "J. Hudson." 38 FitzGibbon notebook, folio 35. 39 Ibid., folio 37. Thestyle of the portrait is a strong argument against the 1806 date because it is very mucha la Wellington.Such astyle may be encountered after Napoleon's defeat in 1814-15,but not in 1806 when Wellington's name was hardly a household word. James Shakley, Toronto, was so kind to call this point to my attention. Two recent publications deal peripherally with the question of genuine portraits of Brock but fail to provide even the most nominal trace of any research; see Donald B. Webster, Georgian Canada, Conflict and Culture, 1745-1820 (Toronto, 1984), p. 193, no. 217; and Charles J. Humber in Loyal She Remains (Toronto, 1984), p. 138.