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Remembrance Day Tuesday 11 November 2025
Canadians recognize Remembrance Day, originally called Armistice Day, every 11 November at 11 a.m. It marks the end of hostilities during the First World War and an opportunity to recall all those who have served in the nation’s defence.
Armistice Day
Armistice Day was inaugurated in 1919 throughout much of the British Empire, but on the second Monday in November. In 1921, the Canadian Parliament passed an Armistice Day bill to observe ceremonies on the first Monday in the week of 11 November, but this combined the event with the Thanksgiving Day holiday. For much of the 1920s, Canadians observed the date with little public demonstration. Veterans and their families gathered in churches and around local memorials, but observances involved few other Canadians.
In 1928, some prominent citizens, many of them veterans, pushed for greater recognition and to separate the remembrance of wartime sacrifice from the Thanksgiving holiday. In 1931, the federal government decreed that the newly named Remembrance Day would be observed on 11 November and moved Thanksgiving Day to a different date. Remembrance Day would emphasize the memory of fallen soldiers instead of the political and military events leading to victory in the First World War.
11 November
Remembrance Day rejuvenated interest in recalling the war and military sacrifice, attracting thousands to ceremonies in cities large and small across the country. It remained a day to honour the fallen, but traditional services also witnessed occasional calls to remember the horror of war and to embrace peace. Remembrance Day ceremonies were usually held at community cenotaphs and war memorials, or sometimes at schools or in other public places. Two minutes of silence, the playing of the Last Post, the recitation of In Flanders Fields, and the wearing of poppies quickly became associated with the ceremony.

The Unknown Soldier
Twenty-five years ago, from a quiet grave near Vimy Ridge, an unidentified soldier from the First World War was chosen to represent the thousands of Canadians who never returned. The repatriation marked a moment of national unity, grief, and gratitude.
This initiative was originally proposed by Canada’s veterans, who believed that having an Unknown Soldier on Canadian soil was important not only for memorialization, but to help new generations better understand the causes and consequences of war. With support from the Royal Canadian Legion, Veterans Affairs Canada, the Department of National Defence, and others, Canada’s Unknown Soldier was brought home.
The journey began in France, where a Canadian delegation exhumed the soldier from the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery. He was one of 1,603 unknown Canadians buried nearby. His selection was random, yet deeply symbolic—Vimy Ridge was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together.
On May 25, 2000, the soldier arrived in Ottawa. For three days, he lay in state in the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill, and on May 28, 2000, Canada’s Unknown Soldier was laid to rest at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.
Today, the Tomb of Canada’s Unknown Soldier is a place where generations gather to pay their respect, to not just one, but to all who serve and sacrifice for their country. It is a reminder that freedom has a cost, and that remembrance is a duty.
Explore

more details at The Royal Canadian Mint with these topics

  • Honouring Canada’s Unknown Soldier
  • The Homecoming of Canada’s Unknown Soldier
  • Remembering the Repatriation: Witnessing the Return of Canada’s Unknown Soldier
  • Honouring the Unknown
  • The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
  • The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Legacy Project

The Loyalist-List: Military Veterans Who Were Loyalist Descendants
By Mike Woodcock UE, Victoria Branch
As a tribute to Remembrance Day, I would like to highlight several Loyalist descendants who have served or supported the Canadian military.
For example, WWI Lieutenant

George Richardson often used his own money to buy extra supplies, such as warm boots, gas masks, and cigarettes for his troops. Another remarkable profile is Frank Pickersgill, who served as a Canadian agent for the United Kingdom’s clandestine Special Operations Executive during World War II. He was captured and executed at Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944.
I also admire the story of Elsie MacGill, chief aeronautical engineer known as the “Queen of the Hurricanes.” She oversaw the manufacturing of 1,451 Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft for the Royal Canadian and British Royal Air Forces.
The high number of Loyalists connected to the military is evident from a simple search of the Loyal-List website at uel canada.ca. Entering the word “military” in the search engine generated 113 profiles. Each profile includes brief biographical notes, links to sources such as The Dictionary of Canadian Biography or Wikipedia, as well as links to their Loyalist ancestor’s record in the Loyalist Directory and to Find a Grave.

Invitation to Contribute
You are invited to help expand the Loyal-List! To add Loyalists or descendants, suggest edits to existing profiles, or provide feedback, please email membership.vic.uelac@gmail.com or use the Feedback portal on the uelcanada.ca homepage.
The Loyal-List is a website dedicated to United Empire Loyalists (UEL) and their descendants. It highlights individuals identified in sources such as The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Wikipedia, published books, websites, and institutions like the Hockey Hall of Fame. It is recognized as one of the official UELAC projects.
You can read more about this UELAC Project on the national UELAC website.

“I Want to Vent Myself”: The Letters of Mrs. Christian Barnes.  Part Four of Four  
copyright Stephen Davidson UE
When it came time for Loyalists to appear before the compensation board in London to petition for money to replace what they had lost during the American Revolution, Henry

Barnes had the opportunity to recount all that he and his wife Christian had endured in the years leading up to their flight to sanctuary in England.
Barnes imported British goods and made enough money to have homes in both Boston and Marlborough, Massachusetts. Although a magistrate as well as a businessman, his stance as a “friend of government” made him “very obnoxious and the mob threatened to pull down his house“.  Henry felt so endangered that he sought refuge in Boston in April of 1775, leaving Christian in Marlborough with their niece Chrisy Arbuthnot and their slaves. By October, Christian and Chrisy had joined him in Boston.
With the permission of General Thomas Gage, the military governor of Massachusetts, the Barneses left Boston in December of 1775.  In just under three years’ time, Henry’s name was among those listed in the banishment act of Massachusetts. Should he return to the colony, the act stated, he would immediately be imprisoned and then “suffer the pains of death without benefit of clergy“. By this time, the Barneses property  — including their houses and distillery– had been confiscated and their household goods scattered. Little wonder then, that Henry reported himself “very much in the Dumps“.
Henry and Christian eventually settled in Bristol in southwest England, and it was from that city that Christian took up her correspondence with friends and relatives back in Massachusetts.
If Christian’s letters back home had not survived, the only record of the Barneses’ time in England would be references to them in the correspondence and diary entries of Samuel

Curwen, another Massachusetts Loyalist who had made his home in the United Kingdom. Writing from Bristol in October of 1777, Curwen mentioned that there were 18 Americans in the city, including “Mr. Barnes and lady and niece.”
In February of 1780, he visited a fellow Loyalist where he “drank tea in company with Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, {and} Miss Arbuthnot, their niece.” Two months later, Curwen listed over 20 Americans who had settled in Bristol, again including the Barneses.
While this all sounds rather cozy, the historian Mary Beth Norton reports that Henry Barnes complained that the loyalists met with a “cold reception” from the pro-rebel inhabitants of Bristol, and he later advised a relative not to move to the town because the residents were “so selfish and so united among themselves as to their Interests that a Stranger stands no chance among them.”
Added to the losses and dislocation that Henry and Christian experienced as loyalists in the early days of their time in Bristol was the death of Christian’s niece. Chrisy Arbuthnot, the daughter of Christian’s brother, had been with the couple since she was a small child – she would have been just ten years old when two British spies had sought refuge in the Barnes’ home.
After sharing the hardships of Patriot persecution, the flight to Boston, and then a transatlantic voyage to England, Chrisy had settled with her aunt and uncle in Bristol.  On at least one occasion, she served as her aunt’s “amanuensis” (one who takes dictation) at the urging of one of Christian’s correspondents who was so desperate to hear news from the loyalist woman that she wrote, “It will be a high gratification to me, and I shall endeavour by every method in my power to make her some compensation for the trouble.” The fact that such a request was made of Chrisy when she was just 11 years old indicates that she had received enough of an education that she could read and write.
Chrisy Arbuthnot was 17 years old when she died. Her loss would have only added to Christian Barnes’ sense of isolation from the family network that she had known back in Massachusetts.
The Barneses were still living in Bristol when Henry appeared before the loyalist compensation board in October of 1784.  He was recognized as a genuine loyalist — although one who did not bear arms– and was granted an annual pension of £100.
The second last letter that has survived from Christian Barnes’ time in England is a letter that she wrote on April 1, 1786. Now 62 years old, she had lived in Bristol for almost a decade. Her life had settled into pleasant social routines, and the desire to share that life with her friends back in Massachusetts –rather than a need to vent her frustrations and fears– prompted her to share details of her new world.
“We have seventeen American families in Bristol, very Genteel well bred People, all of one heart, and one mind. In this circle, we are treated with Cordiality and respect, being quite upon a footing with them in the style of visiting which is no more than Tea and cards.”
Politics and national affairs no longer featured in Christian’s correspondence. Her last surviving letter, written to an American correspondent on September 5, 1786 dealt with how she was dressed for a friend’s tea before being caught in a rainstorm.
Christian wrote about how “hackney couches and chairs are always to be had {so} it is not expected any weather will prevent your fulfilling your engagement, but this additional expense attending our tea visits I have ever carefully avoided“. On the occasion of this social event, Christian was wearing pattens – shoes with a raised sole or set on an iron ring, that raised one’s feet above wet or muddy ground when walking outdoors. With the proper footwear for rainy weather, Christian set out with her umbrella and “tripped away like a fairy“.
As Henry is not mentioned as accompanying her to the tea, it would seem that Christian was enjoying what female companionship was available in Bristol. However difficult it had initially been to join the social circles within Bristol, it is evident that the friends at Mrs. Maud’s tea were sympathetic to their loyalist comrade. They did not think less of her for “making do” with what she had to wear for get togethers.
Christian wrote of “dismembering” a pair of old earrings to make hairpins. She carried her uncle’s watch, her shoes had stone shoe buckles that an American friend had given her, and she wore a ring sent to her by an acquaintance in Norwich, Massachusetts.
At this point in her last surviving letter, Christian was suddenly overwhelmed by her memories of her friends and family in Massachusetts. She quickly concluded her letter by saying “the recollection of which throws a damp upon my spirits and obliges me to put aside my scribbling.”
The collection of Christian Barnes’ letters ends with this sentiment. The loyalist woman, who at one time in her life was desperate to vent her feelings about “the spirit of discord and confusion which has prevailed with so much violence in Boston” in the 1770s, lived in Bristol until her death at age 71 in April of 1795. Her husband Henry moved to London where he died at age 84 in 1808.
Rather than children, Christian Barne’s lasting legacy to posterity would prove to be a handful of letters that were stowed away in a Massachusetts attic for over a century – a correspondence that candidly reveals the opinions and experiences of a well-to-do loyalist woman.
See

a portrait of Christian Barnes.
To secure permission to reprint this article contact the author at stephendavids@gmail.com.

Moses Kirkland and the Origins of the Southern Strategy
by Charles Hugh Brown 4 Nov 2025 Journal of the Amerocan Revolution
Moses Kirkland was a man born into the unsettled margins of South Carolina, where ambition and survival often blurred together. By the mid-1770s he was a planter of modest means, a militia captain in the backcountry, and a restless figure whose loyalties shifted with the winds of opportunity. In the opening year of the Revolution, he aligned briefly with the Provincial Congress, only to switch his allegiance when the rebellion hardened into war. That decision would place him on a path both remarkable and ill-fated: from provincial captain to Loyalist courier, from prisoner in Philadelphia to exile upon the sea. His life, in many ways, mirrors the turbulence of the southern frontier itself.
By 1775 Kirkland had caught the attention of royal officials who were eager for allies in the Carolinas and Georgia. East Florida’s governor, Patrick Tonyn, sought ways to knit together Loyalist strength in the backcountry with Indian alliances that could threaten the rebel provinces from the south. Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, had already demonstrated a willingness to employ enslaved men and Native allies on behalf of the Crown, while Lord William Campbell, last royal governor of South Carolina, looked for any opening to regain control of Charlestown and the surrounding country. Together, these men penned letters. Read

more…

Blog: About UE Loyalist History
by Brian McConnell UE at UE Loyalist History

The War of 1812

By Brian McConnell, UE 5 Nov. 2025

    Some United Empire Loyalists who were young enough when they settled in Canada, and lived to see it, participated in the War of 1812.  The War of 1812 began on 18 June 1812 when the United States of America declared war on Great Britain.  My 5th great grandfather, James Humphrey, was one of them. He served as a Private with Jessup’s Rangers during the American Revolution and in 1812 was a Sergeant in the Grenville Militia. During the War of 1812 in Upper Canada there were various County Regiments of Militia as well as an Incorporated Militia.  The Incorporated Militia served full time. These units along with British regulars, Indigenous warriors, and Runchey’s Corps of Coloured Men, were crucial for the defense of Upper Canada against American attacks. Read more…

Comment: about The

King’s Orange Rangers (last week’s blog)
I live in Liverpool, NS, where the King’s Orange Rangers came, as mentioned by Brian McConnell. A reenactment is held every summer during Privateers Day. Here’s a link… https:// privateerdays.ca/history.html
….Kathryn Killam

250 Years Ago: The Invasion of Canada: Events between Nov 5 and 12

from Lake Champlain
General Philip Schuyler orchestrated the plans for the attack on Canada, launched on 25 August 1775. The first attack on Fort St. Jean on 6 Sept failed. A second on 10 Sept also failed. Schyler became too ill and Richard Montgomery assumed command on 16 Sept.

  • The siege of Fort Saint-Jean began on 17 Sept.
  • The Americans tried to capture Montreal but were repulsed  at the Battle of Longue-Pointe on Sept 25
  • Fort Chambly, was attacked on Oct 16;  surrendered on Oct 18
  • Fort Saint-Jean surrendered on Nov 3.

Between Nov 5 and Nov 12, 1775

With Fort Saint-Jean and Fort Chambly under American control, the way was clear to march to Montreal and to go down the Richelieu River to Sorel where the river merges with the St Lawrence. Sir Guy Carleton prepares to leave Montreal.

  • Nov 8, Montgomery occupies Saint Paul’s Island, adjacent to Montreal.
  • Nov 11, Carleton departs Montreal by boat towards Quebec City

The British Preparations

  • Nov 10,  Lieutenant Colonel Allan Maclean, coming from the area of Sorel where he had been on his way to try to relieve Fort Saint-Jean, arrived at Quebec City with 200 men of his Royal Highland Emigrants .

From Maine
Between November 5 and 12, 1775, Benedict Arnold continued the expedition to Quebec City.

November 9: the expedition finally reached the Saint Lawrence at Pointe-Levi, across the river from Quebec. Arnold had about 600 of his original 1,100 men, and the journey had turned out to be 350 miles (560 km), not the 180 that Arnold and Washington had thought it would be.

British Preparations
The city of Quebec was then defended by about 150 men of the Royal Highland Emigrants under Lieutenant Colonel Allen Maclean, supported by about 500 poorly organized local militia and 400 marines from the two warships.

Podcast: Dunmore’s Proclamation & the American Revolution in Virginia
With Andrew Lawler Nov 2025 Ben Franklin’s World
In November 1775, as tensions between the British Empire and its rebellious colonies continued to escalate, Virginia’s royal governor made a radical—and to some, terrifying—proclamation: Any enslaved person who fled a revolutionary enslaver and joined the British Army would gain their freedom. Read

more, and listen in…

Book: Infantry in Battle, 1733–1783
Author: Alexander S. Burns, assistant professor of History at Franciscan University of Steubenville
Infantry in Battle rewrites the story of combat in the eighteenth century by placing enlisted infantrymen and their experiences at centre stage. While popular memory and film portray these men as robotic automata they fought in flexible and adaptable ways, and they left their mark on eighteenth-century warfare.
Burns provides a new understanding of combat during the mid-eighteenth century: the pivotal period between 1733 and 1783. Professor Burns argues that eighteenth-century soldiers informally negotiated authority with their officers on the battlefield by firing without orders, firing at longer ranges than their officers preferred, and by taking cover on the battlefield. In this process, these enlisted men played an important role by asserting tactical reforms from below. Read

more…

Podcast: with Mr. Burns at Dispatches – Listen

in…

Brickett’s Brigade: Less Infantry and More Cavalry at Saratoga
by Sherman Lohnes 6 Nov 2025 Journal of the American Revolution
Borden H. Mills, writing on the Saratoga campaign a century ago, noted:

The task of determining, with any degree of certainty, what militia units actually participated in the battles or were present at the surrender is a stupendous one. All that can be done is to present the known facts and draw certain conclusions therefrom, which may, or may not, be in accordance with the actual situation then existing.

Brig. Gen. James Brickett’s Massachusetts militia brigade was one of those organizations which challenged Mills. He concluded that it consisted of four Essex County militia regiments, identifying one as the 4th Essex County Regiment under Col. Samuel Johnson, another as a regiment of volunteers commanded by Major Charles Smith, and stated that “No evidence as to the service of any other regiments in this brigade has been found. This is unfortunate, as the brigade appears to have had a most creditable record in the campaign.”
Read

the analysis which sorts the details…

Advertised on this day in Revolutionary American Newspapers

Advertised on 1 Nov 1775 “JOHN HANCOCK, BATTLE at CHARLESTOWN, A map.”

“A NEAT Mezzotinto print of the Hon. JOHN HANCOCK.”
“A large and exact VIEW of the late BATTLE at CHARLESTOWN.”
“An accurate map of the present seat of CIVIL WAR.”

Nicholas Brooks produced and marketed items that commemorated the American Revolution before the colonies declared independence.  In an advertisement in the November 1, 1775, edition of the Pennsylvania Journal, for instance, he packaged together three prints previously advertised separately, each of them related to imperial crisis that had boiled over into a war.  For this notice, Brooks presented them as a collection of prints for consumers who wished to demonstrate their support for the American cause by purchasing and displaying one or more of them. Read

more…

Advertised on 3 Nov 1775 “THE estate of John Randolph, his Majesty’s AG”

“To be SOLD … THE estate of John Randolph, esq; his majesty’s attorney-general.”

The advertisement for the “Estate of John Randolph” that ran in John Dixon and William Hunter’s Virginia Gazette in the fall of 1775 also appeared in the other newspapers published in Williamsburg, John Pinkney’s Virginia Gazette and Alexander Purdie’s Virginia Gazette.  When the Loyalist departed for England, either he left instructions to advertise widely or the trustees – Peyton Randolph (his brother), John Blair, and James Cocke – decided that they wanted news of the upcoming sale of Randolph’s house, furniture, and enslaved “family servants” to circulate as widely as possible. Read

more…

Advertised on 3 Nov 1775 “MAPS … Montreal, its fortifications. Quebec.”

“MAPS … Montreal with all its fortifications.  The city of Quebec.”

Robert Bell, one of the most prominent American booksellers of the eighteenth century, also sold “PLANS, MAPS, and CHARTS” at his shop in Philadelphia.  In an advertisement in the November 7, 1775, edition of the Pennsylvania Evening Post, he promoted maps depicting “Montreal with all its fortifications.  The city of Quebec.  The river St. Laurence, with the operations of the siege of Quebec, under Admiral Saunders and the brave General Wolfe.  The Harbour of Halifax.  Nova Scotia.  Canada.  New Orleans, the capital of Louisiana, with the course of the river Mississippi.  [And] The West-Indies.” Read

more…

The Loss of HMS Tribune at Halifax NS – 23 November 1797
by Richard Hiscocks | Oct 29, 2025
In the late autumn of 1797, a sailing master’s misplaced confidence, compounded by a captain’s obdurate determination not to lose his ship, resulted in the disastrous sinking of HMS Tribune and the loss of some 250 men, women and children in a violent gale off Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The frigate Tribune 34 had been launched at Rochefort in June 1793 and commissioned into the French Navy six months later. However, her career under Republican colours had proved to be short, for on 8 June 1796 she had been captured off the Scilly Islands by the British frigate Unicorn 32, Captain Thomas Williams. Purchased into the navy, she spent four months fitting out at Portsmouth between March and July 1797 before being detailed for the convoy duty to Newfoundland and Quebec. Sailing from Torbay on 22 September, she carried crew and passengers estimated to number about 250 people, and her commander, Scory Barker, was an experienced officer with four years seniority as a post captain.
On 19 October, a month after leaving England, and being well to the north-west of the Azores, the Tribune lost company with her convoy. Bending a course for Nova Scotia, she appeared off Halifax harbour at 8 o’clock on the morning of 23 November. It was then that her sailing master made a fateful decision. Read

more…

Lacemakers and Handicraft 1750-1775
By Viveka Hansen 3 Nov 2020 at The IK Foundation
Laces had been a luxury item long before the mid-18th century, primarily visible today via artworks often focusing on clothing details showing off impressive craft skills of complex needle or bobbin-made examples. To work as a skilled lacemaker, with specialist knowledge in producing laces for sale was undoubtedly backbreaking work over many long hours. In contrast to when lacemaking was part of a leisure activity for young ladies of the elite strata of society, such textile craft was evidently depicted as a relaxing and enjoyable moment in a comfortable or even extravagant domestic sphere. At times a lady seems to have preferred other sorts of handicraft – like embroidery – but laces still being an important part of her fashionable silk gown. This essay will focus on a selection of artworks, sumptuary laws and preserved handmade laces from Sweden, Denmark and France, but similar traditions and fashions could also have been applied to several other European countries or in the North American colonies.
Linen or silk lacework of this kind was detachable so that the delicate handmade laces could be removed for washing, starching and ironing. Additionally, the double or even triple layers of scalloped sleeve ruffles were popular at the time and included many meters of wide lace, which had the advantage of being useful on more than one gown. It may also be noticed that such delicate silk gowns and matching stomachers could not be washed; soft brushes and airing were instead a vital part of caring for silk garments. Wool would usually be beaten or brushed clean and was very seldom washed. Whilst linen would be put to soak in lye to remove stains, if soap was used, the dirty clothes had to be boiled.
Bobbin lacemaking appears to have roots in the earlier known techniques of passementerie, pleating and embroidery, judging by preserved images and documents from the 16th century. Genoa, Milano – possibly also other city-states in present-day Italy  – and Flanders were the areas that initially and continuously developed the finest lacework of this kind. Read

more…

Salem’s Absent Witches
by Carla Pestana Nov 2025 at Common Place
Salem, Massachusetts, has a witch problem, again. In 1692, the problem revolved around their alleged presence, with the colonizers of the Salem region fearful that malefic magic was aimed at their community. Today the difficulty arises from an attempt to monetize that history: in response to long-standing efforts to identify the city of Salem with witchery, Halloween tourism has overwhelmed the city’s historic links to witchcraft fear. In the process, they’ve all but eliminated the witches themselves. From witches’ presence as a cause of fear, we have arrived at a moment when witches are all but absent from efforts ostensibly intended to commemorate their experiences.
In Salem itself, the city’s association with witchcraft stretches the truth somewhat, since most of what happened in 1692-93 did not occur in the modern metropolis of Salem. Fear of witches first arose in what is now Danvers, then the rural hinterland known as Salem Village, a community beyond the boundaries of today’s city of Salem. The crisis reverberated out from the village to involve individuals in numerous other locations Read more…

UELAC Memberships for 2026 Now Available
New members:  Join a branch and become part of the UELAC Loyalist community. We are open to friends and Loyalist descendants alike. Enjoy friendships, learn more about our Loyalist history and help preserve our Loyalist heritage.
Enjoy publications like the Loyalist Gazette. Participate in branch events. Help promote our Loyalist heritage through Branch Projects. Join at uelac.ca
Current members: Renew your membership for 2026 today. Log in at uelca.ca and renew there, or connect with your branch membership person and renew with them.
All memberships are appreciated.

For Members:
Members have access to the Members section at uelac.ca where branch newsletters are posted.
Presentations to branches may be recorded and these are available to members for replay. Recent examples include

  • “The Servos Family Journey: A Story of Bravery, Loyalty, and Determination” by David Servos UE
  • “The Brown Homestead: Past, Present and Future” by Emily Fulton
  • “The Rebels Invade Canada in 1775” by Doug Grant UE

Renew your membership today. Login at uelac.ca and follow the link.
Thank you if you have already renewed for 2026. Thank you in advance to those who will soon.

Loyalist Projects:  Plaquing Project: Mount Vernon Pioneer Cemetery, Burlington ON by Hamilton Branch, UELAC
This Branch Project was completed in October 2025
First-Generation Loyalist Lucas Clement, Jr., UEL
Clement Lucas Jr. and his father Clement Sr. have been on the Hamilton Branch research beginning as far back as 2010.   As we all know, genealogy research can get bogged down and the project stopped until a new point of interest takes place.  That is the case with Clement Jr. and Sr.
From the first attempt in 2010 researching the Lucas family we knew that both Sr. and Jr. were United Empire Loyalists who received Land Grants in New Brunswick.  However, proof of the regiments they fought under in the American Revolutionary War was missing.  We also knew that Clement Lucas Jr. was buried at the Mount Vernon Pioneer Cemetery in Burlington. Read

more…

Branch projects, by a branch as a whole or by a person or a small group within a branch help to preserve and promote our Canadian history, with a particular focus on the Loyalist time frame of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Loyalist heritage takes many forms from actual buildings of the time to family histories. Read more…

UELAC Loyalist Directory: New Contributions

Entries which have been added, or revised, this week.

Some additional information from a Loyalist Certificate application by Ruth Rogers UE has been added to the entry for William

Rogers Jr. (1750-1820). He was from the Saratoga NY area, served with Jessup’s Corp of Loyal Rangers. He resettled in  1790 in the Township of Ernestown, Midland District, ON. He married 20 Oct 1771 Mary Williams (b. 1752, d. 1818, daughter of John Williams UE) at Salem, Westchester County, New York. They had 12 children. Today’s Loyalist descendants have proven though lines of descent of at least three of their children.

If you are willing to submit some information, send a note to  loyalist.trails@uelac.org All help is appreciated.                     …doug

Events Upcoming

American Revolution Institute: Panel Discussion—The Archaeology of the American Revolution

    The Archaeology of the American Revolution is an anthology that offers new interpretations of the Revolutionary War. Drawing from select works within the volume, panelists will connect historical narratives with material culture, explore how cutting-edge archaeological methods and technology have illuminated previously undiscovered sites, and examine how material remnants and memorials shape the ways the war is remembered. Registration…

Sir Guy Carleton “My Childhood Christmas Memories in Atlantic Canada” Thurs 13 Nov. 7:00 ET 

Step back in time with Carl Stymiest UE as he shares the magic and wonder of Christmases past in Atlantic Canada. This presentation brings to life the warmth of family traditions celebrated at his 4th Great-Grandfather Alexander MacDonald’s historic stone farmhouse in Bartibog, Miramichi, New Brunswick. Read more…
Register with  carletonuel@hotmail.com

Kawartha “The Building of the Murray Canal” Sun 16 Nov 2:00 ET

The Murray Canal connects Bay of Quinte to Lake Ontario as a regional transportation link during and after the steamboat era and now part of the Trent-Severn Waterway. Experience the politics of the 1800s in moving big projects forward, with many bidders, several routes and intense lobbying – just like today. Join

the meeting via zoom – Meeting ID: 870 6876 2902 Passcode: 636178

Nelles Manor Museum, Grimsby ON: Tea Workshop Sat 22 Nov @1:00 

With Katie Cyr, Tea Sommeiler. Enlighten your senses & knowledge of teas and tisanes through an interactive tea blending workshop! Read

more and tickets…

Kingston and District Branch: “Untangling Township Papers” Sat. 22 Nov 2:00 ET

    The in-person part of this hybrid meeting will meet at 1:00 p.m. at St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, 137 Queen Street (doors open at noon; zoom meeting at 12:30);  Author and lecturer Jane E. MacNamara speaks on “Untangling Township Papers”.  Start finding the story of your ancestor’s Ontario property!  Township Papers are a highly organized series of records based upon the very hectic and disorganized activities of the (especially early) Crown Lands Department.
Further information and the Zoom link visit Kingston Branch.  All are welcome!

From the Social Media and Beyond

  • Clothing and apparel
    • This ring c 1782 has gold, ivory, and enamel, decorated in hairwork with a funerary urn with initials ‘J.G.’ and inscribed ‘J. Garth Ob. 15 June 1782 Aet 54’
    • The craftsmanship of paste was the same as gemstone jewelry, but the designs were often more embellished because paste could be made and cut to fit any composition. This c 1780 necklace has a bow drop center pendant that is removable to become a brooch.
  • Food and Related: Townsends

    •  WinterSurvival Food: Pork Cutlets(9:34 min)
  • This week in History
    • 8 Nov 1731 Philadelphia, PA Benjamin Franklin opens 1st library in the North American colonies, called the Library Company of Philadelphia. It was a subscription library and supported by members. image
    • 5 Nov 1741 Sir John Johnson, 2d Baronet of NY, is born—Son of Sir William Johnson, land baron & Indian Affairs Superintendent. John inherited the title in 1774. He led the King’s Royal Regiment (KRR) of NY in loyalist campaigns through the Mohawk Valley. image
    • 2 Nov 1751, George Washington arrived in Barbados with his older half-brother, Lawrence. They arrived in Bridgetown, one of the most populous cities in British America, and the largest urban area George Washington had ever seen.  image
    • 1 Nov 1765 In the face of widespread opposition in the American colonies, Parliament enacts the Stamp Act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America.  image
    • 8 Nov 1770 Benjamin Franklin writes an OP-Ed piece “To the PRINTER of the LONDON CHRONICLE” on “The Rise and Present State of Our Misunderstanding.” He declares Americans are Loyal Britons … mistreated by policy & mischaracterized by rhetoric in England.  image
    • 2 Nov 1773 Boston, MA A 21-member Committee of Correspondence is organized with three co-chairmen: Samuel Adams, James Otis & Dr. Joseph Warren. The committee communicated with the town and county governments on coordinating resistance to British policies. image
    • 4 Nov 1775, the Continental Congress reorganizes the Continental Army near Boston into a force of 20,372 officers and men, the majority of whom remained in service only through 1776. image
    • 4 Nov   1775, Boston. Samuel Adams to James Warren “For no people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. … image
      4 Nov  1775, Boston. Samuel Adams to James Warren “On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders.” image
    • 5 Nov 1775 Struggling with rain and mud, American Gen Richard Montgomery’s forces march on Montreal as part of a two-pronged invasion to bring Canada over to the cause for independence.  image
    • 5 Nov 1775 Pope’s Night in Boston: Gen. Washington admonishes his troops against the anti-Catholic celebration, as it is offensive to the French Canadians with whom he hoped to make common cause against the British. image
    • 7 Nov 1775 London, House of Commons summarily rejects the Olive Branch Petition, the last attempt by moderate political forces in America to stop the growing split and emerging  image
    • 7 Nov 1775 In an unsuccessful attempt to save the British Colony of Virginia from going over to the rebels, Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation calling for martial law because traitorous colonials were raising an army and marching to attack British troops. image
    • 1 Nov 1776 – North Carolina’s Independent Company of Carteret County attacked and captured the foundered HMS Aurora, along with the entire crew and all supplies. This took place at Ocracoke Inlet, NC.  image
    • 1 Nov 1776 Capt. John Paul Jones begins his cruise on the 24-gun sloop Alfred, which will yield nine captured vessels, including HMS Active. image
    • 8 Nov 1776 Gen Washington writes Gen Greene, complaining of the inability of Ft Washington’s guns to stop British vessels sailing up the North R. & suggests abandoning it. Greene cautions patience. image
    • 3 Nov 1777 Gen William Alexander (Lord Stirling) wrote to Gen Washington recounting Gen Thomas Conway’s criticisms of Washington & of Conway’s encouragement of Horatio Gates to replace Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army. image
    • 6 Nov 1777 The Continental Congress appoints Gen Thomas Mifflin, Col Timothy Pickering & Col Robert H. Harrison to the Board of War, which was just instantiated to help oversee military affairs. image
    • 7 Nov 1777 A desperate Gen Washington wrote to anyone who could possibly respond, from state leaders to his own officers, requesting they gather direly needed supplies for the army, which was about to winter in Valley Forge. image
    • 4 Nov 1778 Without informing Gen Washington, the French fleet under Adm d’Estaing sails from Boston to the West Indies. image
    • 7 Nov 1779 Col Charles Armand, marquis de Rouerie, succeeds fallen Kazimierz Pulaski as head of the Pulaski Legion. He leads it in the capture of a Loyalist Detachment under Maj. Mansfield Bearmore at Jeffords Neck, NY. image
    • 5 Nov 1780, De la Balme’s Defeat or De la Balme’s Massacre occurs when retired French cavalry officer & ex-Continental Army Inspector of Cavalry Augustin de la Balme is killed near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana, in a battle with Miami Indians. image
    • 6 Nov 1781 Col Elijah Clarke & his militia ambush a party of pro-British Indians in Wilkes Co, GA, killing 40 & capturing 40 image
    • 6 Nov 1781 Spartanburg, SC Settlers @ Gowan’s fort surrendered to Capt Wm Bates’s Loyalist militia & Chickamauga warriors after Bates promised safety. But when they opened the gates, Bates ordered his men to kill every man, woman, and child. image
    • 2 Nov 1783 Gen George Washington issues farewell orders to the Continental Army, which is disbanding. He commends them to transition into virtuous and useful citizens of the new nation. image
    • 3 Nov 1783 After 8 years of struggle, privation, and service, the Continental Army was officially disbanded by order of Congress.  image
    • 6 Nov 1789, Pope Pius VI appointed Fr. John Carroll of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the first Catholic bishop in the United States and selected Baltimore as the seat of the first diocese. Carroll & his family played a prominent role in #RevWar image

 

 

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