Loyalist Trails UELAC Newsletter, 2004 Archive
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"Loyalist Trails" 2004-06: June 8, 2004
Articles
2004 UELAC Conference in Peterborough
Fraser Carr UE, Col. Edward Jessup Branch, has placed a number of photos taken at the Peterborough Conference June 3, 4 & 5 on their web site - check them out here.
It was a wonderful Conference from the opening evening visit to the Canoe Museum through the Church Service which noted the parallels between D-Day being observed that same day and the Loyalists, and everything in between. Hats off to co-chairs Grietje and Bob McBride, and their great team. Also to all others who participated in some way, or even just attended.
Now is a good time to start planning for the Annual Conference next year in Regina which will run from Wed. evening June 1 through Sunday June 5 - a day longer than usual.
Many thanks to Peter Johnson who has edited the Gazette for six years, and has now retired from that job, to become our new Sr. Vice President. More on the new members of the UELAC Executive and Committees over the next few weeks.
Welcome to new Gazette Editor Bob McBride, Kawartha Branch. Bob has held many of the executive positions in that branch, including a term of editing their newsletter.
If you have submissions for Bob, please note his mailing address here. He would like as much as possible in softcopy please but is currently arranging a new email address specifically for that purpose. That will be distributed later. Bob's preferred word processor is Microsoft WORD.
Celebrating Our History & Traditions
By Ted Jones (posted at communitylens.com)
As Saint John sets course for an exciting and promising new future, a sizable crowd remembered the hard work and sacrifices of the past as they commemorated the 221st anniversary of the landing of the Loyalists May 18th. Although the weather was cold and rainy, it didn't dampen the spirits of those who came to celebrate the occasion. In fact it seemed an appropriate backdrop to remember the hardships the loyalists faced when they first landed here.
The celebrations officially began with the arrival of New Brunswick Lieutenant Governor Hermenegilde Chiasson who arrived at City Hall Plaza and reviewed the Royal Canadian Sea and the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Later the cadets would impress the crowd with a series of flawless demonstrations. Dressed in period costume, Town Crier Dennis Knibb read the Loyalist Day Proclamation. Like the cadets, Mr. Knibb was a hit with the crowd as he engaged individuals in conversation and gave them a true sense of what it would have been like to have lived back in the time of the loyalists.
Later, the Lieutenant Governor along with MP Elsie Wayne and Frances Morrisey,New Brunswick Branch President of the United Empire Loyalist Association, raised the Provincial, City and Loyalist Flags. Following the flag raisings, the celebration moved to the Loyalist Plaza for remarks by various dignitaries including Frances Morrisey, MP Elise Wayne, and Lieutenant Governor Hermenegilde Chiasson and Eric Teed.
The Lieutenant Governor said the Loyalist Landing is incredibly significant to the history of Saint John and to the history, present and future of the province. "And I believe that with this ceremony marking the 221st anniversary of the arrival of the spring fleet, you are providing a significant contribution to the life of this province and to those that live here," Mr. Chiasson said. Lieutenant Governor Chiasson said the re-enactment is symbolic of the arrival of the Loyalists in 1783, and believes it is also a reference to the arrival 400 years ago of Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dumonts and their group of men who established the first European Settlement, St. Croix Island in 1604.
"It also emphasizes the arrival of people of every colour and heritage who have arrived here an added to the rich tapestry and fabric of this province", Mr. Chiasson said. The day concluded with a 21-gun salute at Forte Howe and a coffee party and open house at the Loyalist House hosted by the New Brunswick Historical Society.
For anyone who likes Canadian History, CBC pulls items from their archives and posts both radio and TV clips on their online archives. Last week they posted information about our Queen, when she was a new Queen.
More on Royalty: Princess Anne has just visited Saskatchewan for three days and then stopped in Toronto for a day on her way home. We managed tickets from the Monarchist League for the noon reception they hosted - she spent an hour going round the room and spoke to most of us - to some longer than others.
Query: Czech RCAF navigator F/O Vladimir Havlicek
I would like to ask you for help with my research project. I am researching life of Czech RCAF navigator F/O Vladimir Havlicek who was killed on 23/12/1941 in Wales.
I have a letter from his CO to Mr. Horrace H. Van Wart who was mentioned as next of kin of F/O Havlicek. I have found following information on your website: Van Wart, Horace Hume. The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada (Toronto, 1962).
May I ask you if you are able to provide me any more information about this man? Only thing I know that he was probably a barrister.
Thank you very much for your kindness.
...Ing. Pavel Vancata, Postgradual student, Department of Telecommunication (K332), Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague
Query: Judith Simpson, aged 74 in 1848
I was wondering if you have any information about this person?
The Story: I've had this photograph in my possession for over 21 years. Four years ago I found an Indenture (land deed) from Hamilton dated 1851. The Indenture was printed by Henry Rowsell, printer, bookseller, and stationer, Toronto. When I held the paper to the light I discovered it has the same watermark crest as my photograph paper mount. This could be the clue to the mystery of this photograph? I have read that early amateurs favoured the photographic calotype process(1841-55) over the daguerreotype. However, there seems to be almost no record of anybody's using one of the paper negative processes in Canada or of any Canadian calotypes having surviving to this day. In it's April 15, 1839 edition, the Quebec Gazette published a brief description of Fox Talbot's, the inventor's process. Many of the immigrant photographers working in Montreal or Quebec City between 1840 and 1860 had come from England and Scotland. A nu mber of artists working in the St. Lawernce Valley also used calotypes only to a limited extent.
The photograph is a portrait of "Judith Simpson Aged 74 A.D. 1848 (written in brown ink on mount)" It has a warm brown and grayish-green hue, and slightly tinted red cheeks. The calotype is marked by a noticeable lack of detail and vagueness of image due to the coarse fibers present in the drawing papers used to create both the print and negative. The question is? Was this lady in the photo living in Upper or Lower Canada, or even here in Hamilton or surrounding area? I have been trying to find a record of her existence from old cemeteries without positive results yet, but it seems to point in the right direction of a North American example. A researcher told me that "several Loyalist families were Simpsons, and the early date on the photo would seem to give me some strength to belief she was from a Loyalist family" Would you know how to get some information to find her tombstone or record of being here in Canada? She was born in 1774, and would be the oldest portrait known from a photographic process in Canada. The only photographic process on paper in the 1840's were direct positives, salt prints, and calotypes. I hope you to hear from you soon. It would make an extremely important addition to a Canadian photographic and/or Loyalist heritage. Your information would complete this mysterious photograph.
...George Pek, Hamilton, ON