The sum of £8,900 had been expended by the Commissioners on the building of Government House, and but the first story had been completed. Much dissatisfaction was expressed in the House of Assembly with the course pursued by the Commissioners. Belcher, Hutchinson, Cochran and Beckwith had kept no minutes of their proceedings. Wallace appears to have had the principal supervision. He was censured by the House for having acted without the concurrence of those associated with him, and for exceeding the limits prescribed him by law. But his zeal and ability were commended and no corrupt motives were attributed to him. In 1804 an additional sum of £2,500 was voted to complete the building, a considerable sum having been voted and expended the previous year.[64] [Footnote 64: The building cost about £18,000.] Several fires occurred in June which were supposed to be the work of incendiaries. It had been proved beyond all doubt that buildings in several parts of the town had been set on fire. A patrol of militia under Colonel Pyke was ordered to patrol the streets from sunset to sunrise, and all suspected persons who could not give a good account of themselves at night were ordered to be arrested. A reward of £100 was offered for discovery, and several arrests were made. A boy who confessed to having attempted to set fire to the Dockyard was sent out of the province. On the 2nd September the 97th regiment arrived in the harbor and landed immediately at the King's Wharf. On the 14th the fleet arrived from Jamaica under the command of Commodore Baynton, consisting of the Cumberland, 74, Bellerophon, 74, Ganges, 74, Vanguard, 74, Goliah, 74, Thesis, 74, Elephant, 74 and the Pelican, Brig. The 7th regiment embarked shortly after, and the town people presented a farewell address to Col. Layard and Lieut.-Col. Edwards. In April the Governor and Council were prevailed on to grant a press warrant to Capt. Bradley of the Cambrian for ten days in the town to enable him to fill up the number of his crew, it being 50 short of its complement. The Rev. Dr. Burke was at this time Roman Catholic Vicar General of Nova Scotia under the Bishop of Quebec; he afterwards administered the Episcopal office in Halifax as Bishop of Zion. Dr. Burke was a gentleman of education and highly esteemed in the community. The death of a very aged inhabitant, John Murphy, occurred this year. He was 90 years of age, and had been one of the first settlers of the town. He had acquired a large property in fields in the south suburbs, where he kept a large number of cows, and for a great many years supplied the principal inhabitants with milk and butter. The fields extending northward from Smith's tan yard to the corner house formerly occupied by the late Sheriff Sawyer, were known formerly as Murphy's fields. 1803. The following is an account of the butchers' meat sold in the Halifax market for six months commencing July 1st and ending December 31st, 1802.