UE Loyalist History

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...

When I made the decision to join the United Empire Loyalists' Association, I became a member of a local branch. I did that, as at the time, in April 2014, branch meetings were all held in person, and I wished to attend and participate. However, the branch I joined,  Nova Scotia , was not in the area settled by my United Empire Loyalist ancestor. Some members join the branch where their ancestor(s) settled.  It may be easier to work with a branch genealogist who is knowledgeable about local Loyalists in order to obtain a Certificate of Loyalist Descent.  Members can also join one branch as their main branch and others for a reduced fee as additional ones.  Nova Scotia Branch of UELAC At this time there are active branches of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada in ten provinces.  The branches with the largest number of members are in Ontario.   These are  Bay of Quinte Branch  and  Colonel John Butler , both of which have f...

The United Empire Loyalists who settled in parts of Canada included many who were Scots and some who had previously fought for Scottish independence. Tartan Day was first established in Nova Scotia on April 6, 1987 to coincide with the day of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320 which is widely regarded as Scotland's declaration of independence.  Among the more noteable Scottish Highlanders was Brigadier General Donald McDonald who fought at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 against the English and later as a Loyalist during the American Revolution.  In 1775 he was in North Carolina and appointed by the Royal Governor to lead the Loyalist troops.  At the  Battle of Moore's Creek  in 1776 he was captured and later exchanged. Another key figure present was Captain Alan MacDonald, husband of Flora MacDonald (saviour of Bonnie Prince Charlie after the Battle of Culloden).  He also fought for the Loyalists, was captured, exchanged, and later served w...

In 2022, the oldest substantially unaltered church in Canada built by United Empire Loyalists needed a costly new roof in order to remain open.  Old Holy Trinity Anglican Church  in Middleton was built by several well known Loyalists who had settled in Nova Scotia as refugees after the American Revolution.  They included   Timothy Ruggles ,  Samuel Vetch Bayard  , and  Reverend John Wiswall  .  The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada provided a substantial grant of $12,500 to assist in this vital work. It was the second time the UELAC or one of its' members helped to save the historic site. On 27 July 1998, it became a provincially registered property under the Heritage Property Act of Nova Scotia. Work at Old Holy Trinity Church to Repair Roof I attended the 225th anniversary service of Old Holy Trinity Church in 2016, marking the event when the first service was held in August, 1791.  Later, I was contacted by a member...