United Empire Loyalists: Encyclopedia - United Empire Loyalists

United Empire Loyalists

United Empire Loyalists is the name given to the portion of British Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War. This group of Loyalists settled in the two colonies of Quebec (including the Eastern Townships), modern-day Ontario and Nova Scotia (including modern-day New Brunswick). Their arrival marked the beginning of a predominantly English population in the future Canada west of the Quebec border.

Modern-day descendants of those original refugees sometimes apply the term United Empire Loyalist to themselves, using "UE" as postnominal letters; the honorific is the only hereditary title of Canada. The practice is rare, even in the original Loyalist strongholds like southeastern Ontario. However, it is used extensively by historians and genealogists.

The word "Loyalist" appears frequently in school, street, and business names in loyalist-settled communities such as Belleville, Ontario. The nearby city of Kingston, Ontario was established as a loyalist stronghold, named in honour of King George III.

United Empire Loyalists - List of Loyalist settlements in present-day Canada

18th-century names are listed first, alongside their present-day equivalents.

• Port Roseway → Shelburne, Nova Scotia
• Antigonish, Nova Scotia
• Saint John, New Brunswick
• Fredericton, New Brunswick
• Eastern Townships, Québec
• Cornwall, Ontario
• Buell's Bay → Brockville, Ontario
• Cataraqui → Kingston, Ontario
• Marysburgh in Prince Edward County, Ontario
• Belleville, Ontario
• Six Nations and Brantford, Ontario
• Butlersbury → Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

See also

• Loyalist (American Revolution)
• Canadian honorifics

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "United Empire Loyalists", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki