UE Loyalist History

David George was a Black Loyalist and Baptist Preacher who arrived with the British in Halifax, Nova Scotia in December, 1782.  He went to  Shelburne in June, 1783 to preach to Black Loyalists there and was conveyed land in the town.  The Deed to him dated 6 April 1785 may be the first Deed made to a Black person in Nova Scotia.      1785 Deed It was recorded on 7 May 1785 in the Land Registry in Book 2 at Page 183 as Document No. 54 and as appears below stated:  Know all men by these presents that I James and Ann Masimore of Shelburne, Queens County and Province of Nova Scotia, doth with and for the consideration hereafter mentioned, agree with bargain and sell unto David George of the aforesaid Town, County and Province a certain town lot situated in the said Town of Shelburne being lot No. 6 letter M in Parr's Division, which said lot I forever acquit claim and deliver over to the said David George with all the buildings timber firewood and all oth...

While researching Loyalists in Nova Scotia,  I came across this unique obituary for a 106 year old Black Woman who was born into slavery in Tusket, Yarmouth County. It appeared in The Halifax Herald on   2 Feb. 1898 at page 8. 106 YEARS OLD Death of one born in slavery in Yarmouth County – Her father came Over with Loyalists  - And her mother was Purchased Here (Special Correspondent Yarmouth Times) TUSKET, Jan. 30 – Passed peacefully away at her own home on Starr's Road on the evening of the 29th January 1893, Hester McKinnon, aged 106 years. Hester was the daughter of William and Dinah Berry from whom sprang the entire race of Berrys at present residing on the back road leading to Hebron. William Berry, Hester's father, was a slave belonging to James Lent, Sr., who was one of the first settlers of Tusket Village and was also known as Judge Lent as he administered the rights of justice in those olden times. Mr. Lent was one of the Loyalists who came here or to Shelburne ...

On 29 July 1785, Governor John Parr of Nova Scotia granted 76 one acre lots to Black Loyalists outside of Digby. This land became inhabited by about 100 families.  It was named  Brinley Town   (also spelled Brindley Town) for  George Brinley, who served as Commissary - General for British forces based  in Halifax. He gave assistance to the Black Loyalists who went to Brinley Town.  He died in 1809, and when his Will was probated it left his Estate to his "coloured wife Mary Brinley" as appears from the  Prerogative Court of Canterbury, PROB 11/1503, 3 Oct. 1809. Will of George Brinley After researching and writing about Loyalist cemeteries in Digby I was asked by a descendant of a resident of Brinley Town about a cemetery for blacks located on the former site.  I visited the cemetery, investigated the names of people buried there, and in 2018 added information about some 70 persons to the Black Cemetery  on  Find a Grave . Article a...

Abraham Van Buskirk has been called the first Mayor of Shelburne , Nova Scotia, in the 1780s when, with the arrival of thousands of United Empire Loyalists, it became the third largest community in North America. His ancestors came from the Netherlands to settle in New York when the Dutch called it New Amsterdam.  The oldest house in New York is the  Van Cortlandt House Museum  which was built in 1748 by Frederick Van Cortlandt, grandson of Oloff Stevense Van Cortlandt, who arrived from the Netherlands in 1637, twelve years after the Dutch established the settlement of New Amsterdam on the tip of Manhattan Island in 1625.  The British changed the name to New York in 1664 when they seized control of the colony.   Some of the Dutch Loyalists who arrived in Shelburne, like the Van Nordens, moved to nearby Tusket to settle.    Van Norden Road  is a reminder of them. So, as well, is the impressive monument to the United Empire Loyalists in Tusket ...

The Black Loyalist Heritage Site in Birchtown , Nova Scotia, including the Old Schoolhouse Museum and St. Paul's Anglican Church began  in 1989, and a larger Centre opened in 2015. In July that year, I visited while participating in the Founders' Days Festival in Shelburne as a re-enactor with the 84th Regiment.  I photographed plaques on a wall inside  the Church. They were placed in recognition of monies donated by the United Empire Loyalists' Association (UELAC) for new windows. Below plaques to UELAC and windows in St. Paul's Anglican Church   Birchtown is important as the site of the largest free Black settlement in North America during the late 18th century.  It was established in 1783–1784 and  named after British Brigadier General Samuel Birch. He  helped oversee the evacuation of Black Loyalists from New York to Nova Scotia  and  signed the certificates of freedom—known as "General Birch Certificates"—for many of the formerly enslave...

After arriving in Annapolis Royal , Nova Scotia, in his first letter dated October 14, 1782 the Reverend Jacob Bailey, a United Empire Loyalist preacher who had been forced to flee from Maine,  noted to William Morice, Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G.), that  the Town contained a population of 160 persons,  all except four belonging to the Church of England.  At nearby Granville, he estimated there were about 50 church families.  'View of gut of Annapolis Royal', by Joseph F.W. Des Barres Later in October, between five and six hundred refugees, United Empire Loyalists, arrived from New York .   More came, and by November 1783, Annapolis County, which had about 1500 persons when he arrived,  only a year later, counted more than double that amount. As described in the book by James S. Lemon entitled The Reverend Jacob Bailey - Maine Loyalist,  "When possible, local residents, including the Baileys, took refuge...

The United Empire Loyalists were defined by their loyalty to the British Crown during the American Revolution.  It has been the position of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada (UELAC) to be supportive of the Monarchy.  Under the Canadian form of government, being a constitutional monarchy, the current Monarch is Canada's Head of State. Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (1926 - 2022), as Canada's Head of State, appreciated the role played by United Empire Loyalists in Canada's history and both her and her husband, His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, showed this on visits to Canada.   Queen Elizabeth II   Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Loyalist Parkway in Ontario on September 27, 1984. It was  during a visit to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the United Empire Loyalists' arrival as refugees  after the  American Revolution. In a  communication to  the  Editor  of  The Loyali...

King George III had nine sons.  He and his wife Queen Charlotte had 16 children. His first born son, on 12 August 1762, was George IV, who succeeded him as King. The others were Frederick, William IV (who succeeded his brother George IV as King), Edward, Ernest Augustus, Augustus, Adolphus, Octavius, and Alfred.  Two of his sons, Frederick and Ernest Augustus, served as Grand Masters in the Orange Lodge.   Loyalty to the Monarch, the Protestant faith, and the unity of the Empire were then principles supported by many Britons which were also pillars of the Orange Lodge. Prince Frederick, Duke of York & Albany, Earl of Ulster The first son of King George III to become a Grand Master in the Orange Lodge,  Frederick, was born on 16 August 1763.  He was created Duke of York and Albany, Earl of Ulster in 1784 and oversaw the reorganization of the British Army as Commander - in - Chief during the Napoleanic Wars (1803 - 15).  In January 1821, on the sugge...

What do you say as a Loyalist historian and presenter about United Empire Loyalists to an audience of Americans? I was asked during the past summer to make a presentation this month, in January,  to a Genealogical Society in Washington State. The American Revolution was, in some ways, a Civil War.  At the start of the conflict, both sides were British subjects.  It divided not just communities, neighbours and friends in the American colonies but families.  In the  Battle of Kings Mountain  the forces on both sides were almost entirely American born.    Benjamin Franklin is known as a leading Patriot, however, his son  William Franklin  was an ardent Loyalist.  Benjamin signed the Declaration of Independence .  His son William was the last Royal Governor of New Jersey (1763 - 1776) and was imprisoned by Patriots.  Another prominent Patriot,  General  John Stark had an older brother, William, who was a Loyalist. ...

Two hundred and fifty years ago, in 1776, key events for Loyalists included the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, the  evacuation of British troops and Loyalists from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia, formation of King's Royal Regiment of New York, and the capture of New York by British followed by occupation. These and others are noted below.  Fort Edward, Nova Scotia  February 27 - force of Loyalists, including Highland Scots like Alan MacDonald, husband of Flora MacDonald, the reknowned savior of Bonnie Prince Charlie, defeated in North Carolina at  Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge  while on way to join up with British. He was taken prisoner, later to be released as part of an exchange, and Flora joined him in August 1778 at Fort Edward in present day Windsor, Nova Scotia where he was then a Captain in the 84th Regiment (first called the Royal Highland Emigrants). March 17 - following attack and siege on Boston the British evacuate troops and Loyalists to Halifax i...