All posts by Seaghan Hancocks

News

The Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada

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This article was published in the Member’s Corner of the Simcoe County Historical Association’s Summer 2022 Newsletter and is reprinted here with their permission.

For a complete copy of their newsletter, click here. You will be redirected to their site and the specific newsletter.

By John Merritt,
Membership Chair, SCHA

For this edition of our Members’ Corner series, we will be featuring the Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada (HMEUC), a group of passionate historical re-enactors who have helped educate the public about Simcoe County’s role in the War of 1812 for over 30 years. The HMEUC has been a member organization of the SCHA for over thirteen years.
In 1990, the Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada (HMEUC) started modestly as a collection of a few historical  enthusiasts that met as volunteers at the Historic Naval and Military Establishments (later renamed Discovery Harbour) in Penetanguishene.
Members were united by a common interest in re-enacting the military history of the War of 1812. It was decided that the group would portray soldiers of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (RNR), circa 1795-1816.
For the founding members of the HMEUC, the choice to portray the
Royal Newfoundland Regiment was a simple one as this regiment
marched right through Simcoe County in 1814 on its way to relieve
the isolated British outpost on Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, establishing what is now known as Fort Willow on the way. Being natural sailors from Newfoundland, soldiers of the RNR also served on gunboats and ships during the War of 1812, which gave members of the HMEUC the opportunity to portray not just soldiers but also sailors and artillerymen.

Battle of Georgian Bay, 2001
Battle of Georgian Bay, 2001

To attract recruits, the newly founded HMEUC began offering costumed demonstrations at local Canada Day festivities, participating in re-enactments of War of 1812 battles, and providing  public education at local schools, museums and historic sites, including Discovery Harbour, Nancy Island and Fort Willow.
As time went on, the HMEUC took part in many events across Simcoe County and began hosting its own events locally in order to draw other re-enactors to the area and create large-scale, tourism-based War of 1812 heritage events right here in Simcoe County. One of these events grew in popularity, culminating in “the Battle of Georgian Bay” in 2001, which featured 1,800 re-enactors, tall ships, and a large grand encampment at Discovery Harbour that portrayed War of 1812 camp life. The event returned to the area in 2019 when Discovery Harbour hosted that year’s War of 1812 Grand Tactical for North America.

War of 1812 Graveside Marker Plaque
War of 1812 Graveside Marker Plaque

As part of bicentennial commemorations of the War of 1812, the HMEUC received grant funding from the federal government to create a legacy project commemorating veterans of the War of 1812.
The resulting website, www.gravesideproject.ca, lists individual  veterans and their biographies. Contributors can send in biographies of known War of 1812 veterans and, once approved, can receive a black granite plaque to mark the grave as being that of a War of 1812 veteran. To date, the project has compiled almost 400 biographies and distributed plaques across Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. The project marks the first time deceased War of 1812  veterans have been recognized for their service.
As the HMEUC has evolved over the years, it has continued to provide heritage programming across Simcoe County and the province of Ontario and as far away as Fort Meigs, Ohio. With the advent of Covid-19, this intrepid group of War of 1812 re-enactors has adapted to modern technology.
Their videos have been sent to events as far away as Sault Ste.  Marie in order to continue to provide programming to the public despite the travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
Although its members are united by a love of historical re-enacting, the theme of education lies behind all their activities, and the aim of
the HMEUC is to bring history to life in an informative and enjoyable
fashion.
For more information on the HMEUC, please visit their website,
www.hmeuc.com.
Courtesy, Simcoe County Historical Association, Member’s Corner: The Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada

 

Veteran

Crown Forces
2nd Battle
Sackets Harbor

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Marker for the 2nd Battle of Sackets HarborThe British Raid
on the
American Naval Base at
Sacket’s Harbor, 1813

When the campaign season opened in April 1813, the United States planned to exploit their control of Lake Ontario by attacking Kingston, York and Fort George in the Niagara, with a force assembled at Sackets Harbor. As American intelligence indicated the defences at Kingston were formidable, it was decided to first attack York and then hold it until a relief force was detached from Fort George to reclaim it. The Americans would then make a lightening move across Lake Ontario, reduce that fort and, aided by an army that would cross the river, secure the Canadian side of the Niagara. Afterwards, a blockade was to be established at Kingston to contain the British naval squadron. American Commodore Chauncey would then proceed direct to Lake Erie and then “destroy” British naval power, take Malden and Detroit, and then proceed into Lake Huron and attack Mackinac. Continue reading Crown Forces
2nd Battle
Sackets Harbor →

News

Video Review of the Project

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Recently the Historical Military Establishment of Upper Canada, home of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment re-enactors, held it’s 25th Anniversary.

The Midland Mirror ran a short article on the gathering that can be read here.

Among the many presentations, Lyn Downer and Seaghan Hancocks prepared this video review of the success of the Graveside Project honouring the War of 1812 veterans.

The music heard throughout is an original composition by Richard Rodwell who has kindly contributed his time and skills in support of this project. It may be downloaded from his website at www.RichardRodwell.com

We hope you enjoy it.

Sincerely, Graveside Project Team.

News

The New Graveside Project Site

Welcome to our new site. All the information that was on the old site is on this one. Anyone that had an account with an application, either in the works, or completed, has an account already set up here. You’ll shortly receive your new username and password, but it will take some time as this is not an automatic process. If you require immediate access, please email the web administrator.

This new site has some distinct advantages and we recommend you view the tutorials located on the left side menu under “Video Tutorials.”

We’re currently in the process of formatting each and every application to match style of the site INCLUDING GPS coordinates is taking some time and at this point there are 126 published, 172 pending formatting (that on this website were already published), and 7 drafts that various users are still working on. We’ll get them all up as fast as possible and if you have an urgent need, please email the web administrator.

The reason for this change is to create a system that is more robust, easier to read and use, and quite honestly, more interesting to visit and see what is new. Additionally, we’ve removed the word limit to biographies as well as the number of photos you can submit to the site. Please take the time to properly identify the folks in your photos as they will be captioned.

We hope you like the new look and feel. This change will make the site easier to find on google as well as make it available on every sized screen, including phones.

Regards,

Graveside Project Team

Tutorial

How to Create an Application

These two videos walk you through the process of filling in an Application for a War of 1812 Veteran. Some of the quirks of the form, such as selecting the Date of Death, and other elements that may not be obvious at first.

We hope you find it useful.

Creating Your Application – Part 1

Creating Your Application – Part 2

Tutorial

Creating a User Account

This video will demonstrate how to create a user account in order for you to be able to submit an application for a War of 1812 Veteran Graveside Plaque.

If you already have an account on the previous system, please email webadmin@1812veterans.ca and request your username and password. Your account has been created and your current applications attached to that account.

If you don’t have an account on the previous system, we hope you find this video tutorial useful and informative.

News

Obituary of Elizabeth Hancocks, U.E., A.O.C.A., C.G., C.G.R.S., C.A.L.S.

Elizabeth "Libby" Hancocks
Elizabeth “Libby” Hancocks

TORONTO, ONTARIO, FEB 13 2015 — Elizabeth Hancocks, for nearly a quarter of a century Dominion Genealogist of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, died at Grace Hospital in Scarborough on February 13, 2015, after a short illness. She was 87.

It’s well conceivable to say that her work has indirectly influenced many of the applicants on this website, including her son, who is the webmaster and designer of the site. Indeed, her own ancestor, William Johnson, is listed here as an 1812 Veteran.

Continue reading Obituary of Elizabeth Hancocks, U.E., A.O.C.A., C.G., C.G.R.S., C.A.L.S. →