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News - Ancestors in the Canadian Fencibles Regiment?

We periodically receive an email asking for information regarding a soldier of the original regiment. The sender is looking to obtain information on the member such as age, where they're from, family members, service records, where they settled, in which company they served, etc.

Unfortunately for those requesting information, we have no records of any original soldiers. We only know about for those names found in books and on-line articles which anyone can search.

As someone making a request, our not holding any information should not deter you from searching further. There are multiple sources that identify names of soldiers and families. In this article we identify several of these sources along with some articles that include references to Canadian Fencible soldiers and officers. And we hope this will help you along your genealogical journey.

1. You can find articles about the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, along with other regiments, at the web site of Access Heritage Inc. (formerly the Discriminating General). Access Heritage is a business that supplies items of interest to historical reenactors, museums, history fanatics, movie companies, etc. In addition to items, the site contains articles written when the owner worked at the Canadian Archives. We are fortunate and appreciate that he applied his spare time for our benefit. Robert Henderson wrote the articles. He was one of our regiment's first members. There are also articles of interest from a few other authors on this web site.
Access Heritage Inc. (formerly the Discriminating General)

War of 1812 Website

His Majesty's Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry 1803-1816

Another example is this article with a mention of Captain Reuben Sherwood

Below are some more articles specific to the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry, but do poke around the Discriminating General web site for other articles. Members of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry are found in articles of a more general nature as well as articles on specific topics.

Field Officers of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry in 1812

Canadians Know How to Fight - The Canadian Regiment at the Battle of the Chateauguay

Captains of the Canadian Fencibles in 1812

Field Officers of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry in 1812

Regiments



Another source for records and information about the regiment and soldiers is Library and Archives Canada. They have an on-line presence which includes a
Genealogy and Family Centre

I have seen that page has a category for Military with a number of articles and microfilm web pages of books of enlisted soldiers from some regiments. I have found with those pages it is a brute force method to plough through the pages.

If you find something, a visit to there might yield some original sources such as letters, mention in reports, regimental soldier list, death record, etc. There must be a fair number of original documents available because I know author Donald Graves has read many of them researching his books.



Another possibility is a visit the National Archives of Britain or to have someone perform research there. They have all the records over there for the regiment lists, etc. because our regiment was a full strength regiment on the British lists. A request for research would be at your expense. These types of researchers are typically experts in those exact records.


Not all soldiers of the Canadian Regiment of Fencible Infantry settled in the Perth, ON area when the regiment was disbanded. Some settled in Montreal and others farther afield. Do not restrict your search to Perth or Ontario. Sources in other locations might provide valuable information to help you.



Something I came across recently when searching for some information about a particular event in Perth, ON might be of interest and very helpful to people researching ancestors, including soldiers of our original regiment. Each page displays 60 property entries. Also, if you do not know the lot and concession numbers in a township, you'll have to go through each entry on each of the 51 pages. Mind you this might be of interest to you because it might reveal names of neighbours who are also ancestors.

These pages give details of settlers in the Township name, concession, and lot number in Bathurst, Beckwith, Burgess, Drummond, Elmsley, and South Sherbrooke Townships and noted islands in Townships.

Settlers/Landowners by Township, Concessions, and Lot

Each entry opens a pop-up window that presents a fairly comprehensive set of information. Not all fields are completed.
Original Applicant:
- Name,
- Regiment,
- Rank,
- Years of Service,
- Country of Origin,
- Transport Ship, and
- Locatee SNDP
- Type of Free Grant (e.g. Military Emigrant, Military, Clergy, Commission, Son of a United Empire Loyalist, Land Board, Crown Reserve)
- Issue Date,
- Date of Arrival,
- Oral History,
- Religion,
- Number in Family, and
- Total Family
Crown Patent Holder:
- Name, and
- Transaction Code
Original Applicant:
- Name,
- Purchase Date, and
- Type of Free Grant
Subsequent Owner:
- Name,
- Purchase Date, and
- Transaction Code

Two interesting links at found in the lower right of the pop-up window. They are:
1. View on Google Map
This flips the pop-up window contents to a view of the location of the property.
2. Interactive Map (be aware the map pages loaded and updated slowly for me)
A new window is opened showing the Townships around Perth over to Carleton Place and Ashton. The legend allows one to display/hide Perth Depot, Land Parcels, and Perth Military Settlement. The latter displays the lots with colour coded Types of Free Grant designations: Clergy, Commission, Crown Reserve, Daughter of a United Empire Loyalist, Full Fee, Land Board, Military/Militia, Peter Robinson, Scotch Emigrants (sons), Son of a United Empire Loyalist, United Empire Loyalist, Veteran.


It is our hope that this information will not only assist you with your genealogy but encourage you to perform more research.

 

 

 

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