Honoring United Empire Loyalists With Plaques in Williamsburg and Matilda Townships
St. Lawrence Branch , UELAC
At two dedication ceremonies held on Saturday, October 18, 2025, the St. Lawrence Branch of the UELAC—joined by Deputy Mayor Marc St. Pierre—honoured the United Empire Loyalists who settled in Royal Township No. 4 (Williamsburg) and Royal Township No. 5 (Matilda). These former Royal Townships are now part of the Municipality of South Dundas.
The Vice President of St. Lawrence Branch, Scott Harris, summed up our intent for these plaques as follows:
This project began for our Branch in June 2024 and came to life through the steady partnership of the Iroquois Waterfront Committee, the Morrisburg Waterfront Committee and with the support of the Township of South Dundas. Plaques have been placed in both the Morrisburg and Iroquois waterfronts.
These plaques join other interpretive signs along the waterfront pathways, inviting residents and visitors to pause and discover the stories. They add Loyalist chapters to a path that already teaches our shared history along the St. Lawrence.
In words and images, the plaques remind us that the first European settlers arrived here in 1784 as refugees from the American Revolutionary War. Many were disbanded soldiers and their families who had remained loyal to the Crown, endured persecution and dispossession.
We remember that this shoreline has deeper histories. Long before 1784, Indigenous peoples lived along the St. Lawrence; later, the people of Akwesasne would be neighbours. Remembering the Loyalists does not erase earlier stories.
Our hope for these plaques is that through photographs and text, we will make more people aware of whom the United Empire Loyalists were, why they came, and how their arrival along the St. Lawrence River in 1784 helped shape the communities we share today.
(Text contributed by Darlene Fawcett, UE.)
Photos:
Plaque at Morrisburg Waterfront (photo by Darlene Fawcett, UE)
Plaque at Iroquois Waterfront (photo by Darlene Fawcett, UE)
Group photo (L-R: Darlene Fawcett, Scott Harris, Carol Goddard, Katie Cleghorn, Deputy Mayor of South Dundas Township) at Iroquois Waterfront plaque (photo by Darlene Fawcett, UE)