UE Loyalist History

Since 1983, a replica painting of James Moody , UE  has hung in  St. Peter's Anglican Church  in Weymouth North, Nova Scotia. Moody was an officer with the New Jersey Volunteers during the American Revolution who, after the conflict, settled near where the church stands and donated the land for the first place of worship there.  The original painting done while Moody was visiting England passed down in his family before being given to the church and placed on a wall in 1979.  Two years later,  in June, 1981, it disappeared.  James Moody replica painting   A plaque on the wall beside the painting reads: James Moody  1744 - 1809 A New Jersey farmer, who, believing that the unwritten British constitution best guaranteed individual civil rights and that rebellion was constitutional anarchy,  supported the British in the American Revolutionary War.   His daring military exploits made him famous in his time. In England, from 1782 - 1...

To respect your history includes recognizing the difficult parts.  By visiting   United Empire Loyalist cemeteries and reseaching many of those buried there I have gained a greater understanding of the past. Some made enormous contributions, others owned and mistreated Black Loyalists. It has encouraged me to respect history and to share it with others by preparing 45 videos of  cemeteries in the Maritimes and Ontario.  The largest of these cemeteries contained several hundred headstones. This week, while in the Netherlands, I visited   Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery  where over 31,000 soldiers who died mainly during WWII were buried.  It is the biggest cemetery by area with German casualties from war in the world.  Soldiers' graves are marked by individual stone monuments with their name, service occupation,  and dates of birth and death, when known.  Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery   It was a very moving experience ...

Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery in the Netherlands contains the graves of over 2500 soldiers from across Canada killed in action during World War II, including   Gerald Austin Ellis , UE. He was a native of Digby, Nova Scotia, and descended from United Empire Loyalist Adam Bower, who arrived at Shelburne in 1783. Gerald Ellis appears listed on an Honour Roll that hangs in Grace United Church in Digby which he attended.   Honour Roll The Canadians buried in the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery died during the advance from the River Seine to Germany. Three centuries after Adam Bower, UE, the ancestor of Gerald Ellis, was born in Germany and moved to America, his descendant returned with the Canadian Army and died from fighting in 1942. Johann Adam Bauer, later known as Adam Bower, was born 13 November 1724 in Hottenbach, Rheinland,  Germany.  He settled in South Carolina in 1764, and when the American Revolution began, he joined the British forces with his two...

A significant number of United Empire Loyalists originated from the  Palatine  region of Germany or were descendants of earlier Palatine immigrants. Many of these German-speaking families had settled in the Hudson, Mohawk, and Schoharie River valleys of New York.  During the American Revolution, they largely sided with the British Crown, subsequently migrating to Canada. Families with roots in the German Palatinate, such as the Dillenbach, Chrysler, Casselman, Empey, Bowman, Loucks, and Shaver families, became prominent Loyalists. A large number of persons from the Palatine also settled in Upper Canada in the early 1800s, including the family Brethour.  Grave of Michael Julius Brethour During my family research, I learned that.  Ann Brethour , whose father arrived in Upper Canada in the early 1800s, was part of a group of immigrants originally from the Palatine who, after leaving, lived in Ireland before settling in Canada.  Ann married  James Hamilton...

Sometimes encouragement to research a subject can come in unexpected ways. After a presentation to a local historical society, one of the attendees told me she had an old drawing she would like to present to me.   We arranged to meet again when she gave me a print that mentioned Waldeckers with Hessians and Loyalists. Waldeckers at Old St. Edward's Church   The Waldeckers who settled in Annapolis County, Nova Scotia had served in the Waldeck Regiment created in the Principality of Waldeck, Germany. In the summer and fall of 1783 these soldiers settled on the  Waldeck Line on lots of land varying between 100 and 300 acres.  This settlement was in the western part of the Township of Clements and neighbouring it was a settlement of Hessian soldiers who had also been disbanded.  The largest group of Germans fighting along with the British in the American Revolution were Hessians, primarily from Hesse - Kassel and Hesse - Hanau in modern day Germany. These two ...

I attended my first national conference of the United Empire Loyalists' Association in 2015 which was held in Victoria , British Columbia. It was also my first time visiting the west coast of Canada and very memorable.  I am pictured below at left with fellow UELAC member Peter Milliken, a former Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, at top right with then B.C. Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon, and below boarding a bus to tour the beautiful city of Victoria. Victoria 2015 Conference   Attending the 2015 Conference was an opportunity to experience a new place as well as interact with other members of the UELAC and learn from the organized program of presentations, and activities.  The conference included presentations on topics related to Loyalist history and genealogy as well as the Annual General Meeting.  In 2016 the national conference was hosted by the three Atlantic Branches of the UELAC,  being Abeguit,  Nova Scotia,  and New Brunswick....

On July 10, 2006, Lady Dione Digby, DBE, DL, visited the Admiral Digby Museum .  She made a presentation and gave to the Museum copies of Admiral Robert Digby's Naval Order Books. These were books into which his secretary copied each official letter made by him.  Within these records is fascinating information related to the settlement and treatment of the Loyalists who were transported as refugees by ship from New York in 1783 to Nova Scotia.  Lady Dione Digby   In 1991, Lady Dione Digby was appointed a Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contributions to the arts and a Deputy Lieutenant (DL).  She was the founder of the Summer Music Society of Dorset and served as president of several organizations including Dorset Opera.  In 2006, she was appointed the Chancellor of Bournemouth University. Admiral Robert Digby was a distant ancestor of Edward Kenholm Digby, the 12th Baron Digby, husband of Lady Dione Digby.  He joined the...