Loyalist & Historical Trivia

This section contains miscellaneous items that may not belong elsewhere, along with links to relevant material outside of the Trivia folder.

You may also wish to refer to the Education & Outreach folder or the Site Map.

Index:

• Dates of importance in loyalist history
• Lists of Loyalists:
  • The Oldest Loyalists
  • The Largest Loyalist Families
  • Loyalists and descendants who participated in the War of 1812
• Military information:
  • Loyalist Connections in the Modern Military
  • Loyalist Military Units
  • Military Re-enactments
  • Revolutionary War: Chart of the Major Battles (PDF)
• Queen Elizabeth II and Canadian Prime Ministers
• Ships that brought Loyalists to Canada
• UELAC organization:
  • Directors and Officers
  • History of the UELAC
  • Mission statement
  • Vision statement
• “Where in the World … (are the members of the UELAC)?”
• “Who’s in the picture?” Unidentified photographs from the UELAC Library & Archives – do you recognize anyone?

Loyalist history in 125 words

UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS

In 1776, the 13 British colonies to the south of Quebec declared independence and formed the United States. North America was again divided by war. More than 40,000 people loyal to the Crown, called “Loyalists,” fled the oppression of the American Revolution to settle in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Joseph Brant led thousands of Loyalist Mohawk Indians into Canada. The Loyalists came from Dutch, German, British, Scandinavian, Aboriginal and other origins and from Presbyterian, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Jewish, Quaker and Catholic religious backgrounds. About 3,000 black Loyalists, freedmen and slaves came north seeking a better life. In turn, in 1792, some black Nova Scotians, who were given poor land, moved on to establish Freetown, Sierra Leone (West Africa), a new British colony for freed slaves.

• from Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship
(a study guide issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for those preparing to become Canadian citizens)

Documents of Note

Below is an alphabetized list of significant documents (mostly in PDF format):

• 84th Regiment of Foot (Royal Highland Emigrants) and Loyalist Re-enactment, by Brian McConnell, UE
• The American Vicars of Bray: Exploring New Areas of Research for Loyalist Studies, by Todd Braisted
• Armorial Bearings and other Loyalist symbols
• Arnold’s March To Quebec In 1775, by Barry M. Gough – the defeat of the Americans and death of General Montgomery
• The Battle of Oriskany, by John R. Matheson, UE
• The Blockhouse in Bergen Wood, by Dr. H. H. Burleigh
• Books for the Young at Heart – a reading list for elementary schools
• (Formation of) Butler’s Rangers, by Donald C. Holmes, President of the Sir Guy Carleton Branch (1977)
• The Canadian Heraldic Authority and the Loyalists, by John E Ruch, UE
• Declaration of Dependence in New York (November 28, 1776)
• Henry Caldwell’s advertisement for land at Caldwell Manor for Loyalists (Quebec Gazette, 1784)
• HMS Clinton: Names of Loyalist Refugees Transported from New York to Nova Scotia by His Majesty’s Ship “Clinton” (1783)
• HMS Clinton: Families of Loyalist Refugees Transported New York to Nova Scotia By HMS “Clinton” (1783)
• Horrors of a Civil War: McAlpin’s Corps (1776–1783), by Alex Cain
• John Graves Simcoe Proclamation (April 6, 1796)
• Lord Dorchester’s Proclamation (November 9, 1789) which conferred the “Mark Of Honour” on the United Empire Loyalists
• Loyalist Claims – Searching on Ancestry.ca and Elsewhere, notes and links by John Noble
• Loyalist Day (May 18) in New Brunswick – background and significance
• Loyalist Day (June 19) in Ontario – background and significance
• The Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers: A Teacher’s Resource
• The Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers of Quebec: A Teacher’s Resource
• The Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers of the Maritimes: A Teacher’s Resource
• The Loyalists, Pioneers and Settlers of the West: A Teacher’s Resource
• Mecklenburg District, Index of Owner and Tenants (1790)
• North West Mounted Police, establishment of
  • Is there a Loyalist Connection? During the spring of 1874, 150 young men from Eastern Canada were recruited to form three troops of the North West Mounted Police for service in the west. It is possible that many of these recruits stayed and settled the west when the term of service was completed. With the lure of adventure and the declining options for land in Eastern Canada, many grandsons and great grandsons of the original Loyalists may have signed up.
• NY 1779 Attainder Act: Loyalists named in the Act and Loyalists escorted North towards Montreal, by Rick Porter
• The Palatines – background and online research resources
• The Queen’s Rangers – First American Regiment, by Capt. H.M. Jackson
• Revolutionary War: Chart of the Major Battles
• A Short History of the United Empire Loyalists, by Ann Mackenzie M.A. (also available in French)
• Tories in the Revolution, by Lorne E. Rozovsky
• UELAC Letters of Incorporation – the Act to incorporate the United Empire Loyalists’ Association

If you are looking for something specific and can’t find it above, try the Site Map.