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Who were the Loyalists?

6 Aug By Leave a Comment

 

Flag for the Little Forks Branch

Part of Revolutionary War (1775-83) genealogy is the Loyalists. They were those who did not side with the Americans during the war but with Great Britain. They either left en mass during the war or were rooted out of their communities fleeing as exiles to Canada and the Caribbean.

It’s sometimes surprising to hear people talk about how the Irish and Scots-Irish all sided with the Americans. However, as with all history, it’s more complex. It’s more common than you think for families to be split during the 1770s and 1780s.

Loyalists are the subject of much documentation which is helpful from a genealogical perspective. Most Loyalists resettled in what is today Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This marked the beginning of a predominantly English speaking population in the future Canada. The honorific title given to these individuals and families is United Empire Loyalist.

It is estimated that an estimated 70,000 left the thirteen newly independent American states for British territory elsewhere. Of these about 62,000 were white (with 17,000 slaves) and 8,000 Blacks. Of these about 40,000 went to what is now Canada, 7,000 to Britain and 17,000 to the Caribbean. Some would later return to the United States from the Caribbean and Nova Scotia.

Badge for the United Empire Loyalists

If you cannot find out where your American branch of the family was from in Ireland during this period; then look for a Loyalist branch. An excellent place so start is the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada: www.uelac.orgTheir website has a “Directory of Loyalist” which lists name, rank, where resettled, status as Loyalist, and the source. To be descended from a Loyalists is as important in Canadian genealogy as being descended from an American Patriot is to Americans. Each has generated records which help us all in genealogy.

 

 

Professional Links

Dwight Radford, visit me at: www.thejourneyhomegenealogy.com

Leland Meitzler Publisher of genealogy products and books: www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com

Irish Genealogical Society International: www.irishgenealogical.org  I write articles for their journal The Septs

Kelowna & District Genealogical Society located in beautiful British Columbia: www.kdgs.ca I will be speaking at their conference in September

Mike O’Laughlin author of Irish family history books: www.irishroots.com

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, MFA, CG professional book editing: www.nonfictionHelp.com  

Come enjoy the December research tour: www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com I am one of the consultant’s at this wonderful event

 

 

PICS: GO TO THE UELAC.ORG SITE AND FIND SOMETHING COOL.

Who Were the Wild Geese?

1 Jun By Leave a Comment

The conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland began in the 1530s. As Protestantism would emerge as the ruling group, many Catholics left for sympathetic Catholic countries on the Continent. Those who fled were termed “Wild Geese.” However, Protestants also followed.

Many date this immigration to 1607 and the “Flight of the Earls” after the Irish defeat at Kinsale. However, out migration was already under way. Estimates are that between 1585-1625, some 10,000 Irish Catholics fled to the Continent. Another wave occurred after the Protestant Cromwellian victory of 1649-1651. A particularly high period of out migration occurred between the Treaty of Limerick (1691) and the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), with an estimated 50,000 left. Most would go what is now Austria, France, Portugal and Spain. Others would go to a lesser degree to Eastern and Central Europe and the Papal States (now Italy).

Both rich and common people left, in a strange mix of Catholics and Protestants. They would live and intermarrying with each other on the Continent; doing what they could not do back in Ireland. They can be divided into four groups: 1) soldiers and officers in continental armies, both Catholic and Protestant; 2) Catholic gentry and nobles who fled Protestant Ireland; 3) merchants both Catholic and Protestant, and 4) Catholic priests and seminarians studying in colleges.

Many works document these migrations. A classic text is Matthew J. Culligan and Peter Cherici’s The Wandering Irish in Europe: Their Influence from the Dark Ages to Modern Times (1999). The “Irish in Europe Project”: www.irishineurope.com seeks to document this fascinating piece of Irish history. 

Due to the early migrations of these families, don’t be surprised if your nineteenth century French or Spanish immigrant to North America were actually Irish!

The Scots-Irish in The Netherlands

7 May By Leave a Comment

We usually don’t think of Holland as a place for immigration from Ireland. However, if you consider the historical context, it makes sense. I’ve had the chance to trace several cases, most Scots-Irish from Ulster, which connected into The Netherlands.

In 1568, the war of independence for The Netherlands against Catholic Spain was begun. Scottish regiments arrived serving under the Protestant Prince of Orange. The Netherlands became a solid Protestant county with the Reformed Church as the main faith. From 1572 to 1782 there were always Scottish regiments and their descendants in The Netherlands. The key to this piece of history is that many of the Scottish regiments were actually Protestants from Ulster. These Scottish regiments eventually were transformed into Dutch regiments, officially ending the Scots and Protestant Irish presence. Their descendants can still be found in The Netherlands today.

Records of marriage for these families, taken from Reformed records have been published in Dr. IR. J. MacLean’s De Huwelijksintekeningen Van Schotse Militairen in Nederland 1574-1665 (Zutphen: De Walburg Pers, 1976). Some baptisms can be found in James Ferguson’s Papers Illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in the Service of the United Netherlands 1572-1782, 3 Vols.  (Edinburgh: University Press, 1899, 1901). Other works also exist. A lineage society for the Scots regiments is the Caledonian Society: www.caledonian.nl/

Do not be surprised if your Dutch immigrant ancestor named Visser is really Fisher, Verbaas is really Forbes, de Jong is really Young and Kroeders is really a Crowther.

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