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Northumbria Research Link Northumbria Research Link Citation: Smith, Shane (2018) Forgotten Settlers: The Migration, Society and Legacies of British Military Veterans to Upper Canada (Ontario), from 1815-1855. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/39625/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html Forgotten Settlers: The Migration, Society and Legacies of British Military Veterans to Upper Canada (Ontario), from 1815-1855 Shane Smith PhD 2018 Forgotten Settlers: The Migration, Society and Legacies of British Military Veterans to Upper Canada (Ontario), from 1815-1855 Shane Smith A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research undertaken in the Faculty of Arts, Design & Social Sciences May 2018 Abstract This thesis examines the settlement of British military veterans in Upper Canada (modern- day Ontario) in the period between 1815 and 1855. It presents five settlement schemes which were introduced by successive British governments to facilitate the migration of the veterans and the women and children who accompanied them to the colony. This thesis uses petitions for land, appointments and assistance to discover how the veterans presented themselves as potential settlers to the colonial authorities. It also reveals networks of patronage and connections which linked the veterans with the military men who administered the colony. This research builds on existing works which detail the process of petitioning in the colonies. It also expands on the historiography to demonstrate that support networks encompassed officers as well as the rank-and-file. When the veterans interacted with the colonial authorities through their petitions, they highlighted their military past and their status as a former soldier or sailor. However, a contradiction emerges between the way they presented themselves in the closed world of petitioning and the way the men behaved in public in their day-to-day lives. Veterans became influential figures in agriculture, business and local government; yet their prominence was based on their status as leading civic figures, rather than military men. In addition, we will see that anniversaries of Waterloo or battles of the Peninsular War passed without the veterans commemorating them. This contradiction in behaviour reveals details about the nature of colonial society. In private, the veterans benefited from a society based around patronage, connections and hierarchy. Yet this power was publicly challenged by civilians, and the early Canadian scholars who emerged in the later part of the nineteenth-century overlooked the veterans as they did not fit their narrative that the colony was built on hard work, individual effort, and a pioneer spirit. Contents Acknowledgements 2 Introduction 4 Sources 21 Chapter One. The settlement schemes which facilitated military migration 1815-1855 24 Settlement before 1815 27 Settlement schemes after 1815 32 Naval settlement 40 Veteran settlement and civilian emigration 42 The 1830s: The Commutation of Pensions Scheme 51 A shift in position: the end of free land granting 1834-1843 55 Later schemes 1845-1855 59 Conclusion 65 Chapter Two. Veterans and their interaction with the colonial government 68 The administration of petitioning 71 Declarations of loyalty and service to the crown 77 The condition of the migrants 84 Petitions for assistance 87 Patronage, connections and land 88 Conclusion 102 Chapter Three. Local government, business and agriculture in the military 105 settlements The settlement patterns of veterans 109 The distribution of land to veterans 112 Military ties in practice 116 The ‘leading men of the place’ 123 The different experience of Commuted Pensioners 143 Conclusion 149 Chapter Four. Women and children in colonial society 152 Family Settlement 156 Creating dynasties, creating legacies 159 Women as part of support and patronage networks 162 Conclusion 174 Chapter Five. Problems of Commemoration 177 The absence of military commemoration 181 Campaigns for the creation of monuments 188 The Orange Order and the Freemasons 199 Conclusion 212 Chapter Six. The absence of the veterans in early Canadian historiography 216 Home Days and local history 219 The work of early historical societies 223 The Centenary celebrations of the arrival of the Loyalists 226 The Loyalists and early Canadian historical monographs 231 Conclusion 238 Conclusion 241 Bibliography 248 1 Acknowledgements First of all I would like to thank my principal supervisor, Dr Joseph Hardwick. Joe has provided support and encouragement throughout the PhD and also previously during my MRes. I am grateful for his feedback and ideas, and his readiness to read over my chapters. Joe has always been patient and supportive, particularly during challenging times. My thanks also go to my second supervisor, Dr James McConnel. His constructive feedback and insight has been invaluable. I am grateful for the support provided by Northumbria University. Without the fee waiver and studentship I would not have been able to undertake this work in the first place. Northumbria has also provided me the funds to attend conferences and undertake a number of research trips including to Derbyshire, Ottawa and several visits to London. Once again, without this financial support, these visits would not have been possible. My time at Northumbria has been immensely enjoyable and intellectually stimulating, and I have been provided with numerous opportunities for personal and professional development. I would also like to thank Dr Michael Vance of Saint Mary’s University, Nova Scotia. He made me aware of the Upper Canada Sundries collection, which proved a vital source of material; and he provided valuable assistance during my research trip to Ottawa. My thanks also go to the Canada-UK foundation for their generous grant which helped fund my research trip. 2 Declaration I declare that the work contained in this thesis has not been submitted for any other award and that it is all my own work. I also confirm that this work fully acknowledges opinion, ideas and contributions from the work of others. Any ethical clearance for the research presented in this thesis has been approved. Approval has been sought and granted by the Research Ethics Committee on 21/07/2015. I declare the word count of this thesis is 72,642 Name: Shane Smith Signature: Date: 12/05/2018 3 Introduction In 1824 James C. Morgan published a guide to advise prospective emigrants about life in British North America. His book – a travel diary – documented his journey through the Canadian colonies and provided descriptions of the towns he visited, the geographical features of the land, and the inhabitants he came across. Wherever Morgan went he encountered former British army soldiers. While staying in the town of Matilda in Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario) he noted that there were ‘a great many’ former soldiers living in the area.1 Former soldiers were found farming their land grants in the Rideau military settlements or working in a variety of different businesses in large towns and cities. A visitor to York (today’s Toronto) could have called in at the Royal Mortar Inn whose proprietor, James Barclay, was a veteran of the Royal Artillery.2 A resident of Montreal who wished to learn a musical instrument could have called on John Follenus, formerly of the 73rd Regiment of Foot, who worked as a professor of music.3 Finally, Robert Goodfellow of Kingston was available as an engineer.4 Military men also occupied prominent local government positions, commanded local militia regiments, were present in leading positions in the Orange Order and Freemasons, and were frequent petitioners to the colonial authorities. Despite the important presence of former soldiers and their involvement and contribution to the development of Upper Canada, it seems that by the 1850s colonial society was beginning to forget them. Early studies of Canadian history, whether by individuals or newly emerged historical associations, looked to the Loyalist settlers (who arrived in the colonies fleeing the newly independent United States after the American Revolution) instead of military men as the founders of Canada and the most important contributors to 1 J. C. Morgan, The Emigrants Notebook and Guide (London: Longman, 1824), p. 214. 2 H. & W. Roswell, The Toronto Directory and Street Guide 1843-1844 (Toronto: H. & W. Roswell, 1843), p. 12. 3 W.S. McKay, Montreal City Directory 1842-1843 (Montreal: McKay, 1842), p. 52. 4 T. Flynn, Directory of the City of Kingston 1857-1858 (Kingston: T. W. Robinson, 1857), p. 124. 4 contemporary prosperity. The centenary celebrations held in Toronto in 1884 to mark the arrival of the Loyalists cemented the idea that these settlers were key to the development of the colonies. The head of the organising committee for the event declared that ‘it must not be forgotten that all of the advantages we have today we owe to our ancestors, the United Empire Loyalists’.5 This process of praising the Loyalists and tracing the origin and development of Canada to them, and them alone, continued into the twentieth-century.
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