Monday, July 28, 2008

Nova Scotia Celebrates Loyalists

Nova Scotia celebrates the 225th anniversary of the arrival of Loyalists this summer. The majority came from other cities and areas to the city of New York, and then left in the spring and summer of 1783 to settle in such places as Shelburne, Digby, and Guysborough. They were given the choice of going or staying in the U.S., but many found it difficult because they supported the British Crown during the American Revolution.

I just received the newsletter from the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society Newsletter <http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne>
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The newsletter reports that people at the Society has written two books which will be of interest to Loyalists. They are "Founders of Shelburne Nova Scotia Who Came, 1783-1793", and "Remarks and Rough Memorandums: Captains William Both Royal Corps of Engineers, Shelburne, Nova Scotia 1785, 1787, 1789".

In this newsletter, from page 4 to page 5, is the preface to the first book mentioned in the above paragraph, and it is very interesting. Did you know that at the beginnings of the town, it was the fourth largest city in North America!

On page 6 to page 7 are excerpts from the Shelburne Budget from 10 January, 1901 to 15 September, 1901.

Not only is it my hometown, but I am Loyalist on both sides of my family (Barclay & Blades), as is true of a lot of people from Shelburne and area.

Although I was unable to go to Shelburne myself to help with the celebrations, I encourage you to go to their website and see what is available. They have oodles of resource materials, and the centre of the town is a heritage section where you can see the town as it looked in 1783.

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