U.E. Loyalist History

While researching the grave locations of United Empire Loyalists in Hants County, Nova Scotia, I discovered an interesting one that led me to learn about the so - called Death Penny ,  given to the parents of a relative of mine.  The Death Penny was  a circular bronze commemorative disk issued to the families of British and Commonwealth service personnel who died as a result of service during the First World War.   Over one million of these were produced, including 600 to women.  Headstone for Private Arthur E. Brison The headstone had a space at the top on which it appeared something had been removed.  It was the memorial to  Private Arthur E. Brison is located in the Center Burlington Cemetery in Hants County.  He was a descendant of Christopher Wilson, a United Empire Loyalist, who received a land grant in Annapolis County in 1784.   The petition for the land was submitted by Major John Milledge who was a prominent officer ...

One of the largest cemeteries with surviving gravestones of Loyalists in Canada is  Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery   in Digby, Nova Scotia.   The oldest viewable stone there is dated from 1785.   There are over 200 marked graves of United Empire Loyalists, and descendants,  who arrived in 1783, or shortly later, as refugees at the close of the American Revolution. In 1990, the Cemetery and adjacent Church were designated a National Historic Site for the deep ties to Loyalist settlement of Digby County.  Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery in Digby, NS Among those buried there with gravestones and an interesting story are: George Armstrong , born in Digby about 1789, died February  2, 1863.  His father was United Empire Loyalist Francis Armstrong, who was contracted to build first roads about Digby. Dr. Azor Betts ,  died September 15, 1811, who was locked up by General Israel Putnam in an action supported by George Washington for in...

As a young boy I was familiar with the story told by my mom of our ancestor James Humphrey who served as a Private with Jessup's Rangers in the American Revolution. However, that was in the distant past.  My dad's parents and his relatives in Canada came from Ireland and they were people I had met.   Consequently, this had a greater impact on me and how I thought of myself.   I learned I had grandparents called Ulster - Scots.  This referred to the fact they were born in Ulster, one of the four provinces of Ireland, along with Connacht, Leinster, and Munster, and were descended from persons who originally lived in Scotland.      My second book which I authored, entitled   Canada's Ulster - Scots  , includes a chapter on well known United Empire Loyalist, Bishop   Charles Inglis  (1734 - 1816).   He was born in County Donegal in Ulster and an Ulster - Scot.  As explained by James Barclay Woodburn in...

Do you have a United Empire Loyalist cultural origin?  Statistics Canada defines cultural origin as the ethnic, ancestral, or societal background and heritage from which a person's family or heritage descends. In the 2021 Census of Canada carried out as a national census by Statistics Canada, United Empire Loyalist was added as a distinct category for ethnic or cultural origin.  Prior to that, in censuses dating back to 1871, they tracked broad origins like English, French, Irish or Scottish . The 2021 Census included United Empire Loyalist as one of the specific ethnic or cultural choices on its 25% long form questionnaire. It was sent to a randam sample of 25% of private households across Canada.  United Empire Loyalist Monument in Hamilton, Ontario  on old postcard The 2021 Census profile showed, as it appears below, that 10,015 residents identified with the specific cultural heritage of United Empire Loyalist . People could report up to six different ethnic or...