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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.

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Veteran

Daniel Young
5th Regiment Lincoln Militia

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Captain Daniel Young, 5th Lincoln Militia Regiment
By William (Bill) Young, UE (January 20 2015)

Captain Daniel Young was my 4th great-grandfather.

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Veteran

Mahlon Burwell
1st Regiment Middlesex Militia

Lieutenant-Colonel Mahlon Burwell 1783-1846

“Monday, 21st May 1827. Surveyed the line towards Lake Huron, Six Miles and thirty chains — were as industrious as possible, but were not able to make our way through a cedar, Black Ash, Pine and Hemlock Swamp, in the centre of which we encamped without shelter, and it rained in the night. One of the men caught a fever to day.”

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Veteran

Edward Lee
Royal Newfoundland Fencible

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This story is typical of a British soldier during the French Revolution & Napoleonic era. 1789-1815.

Edward Lee was born in Bridgenorth, Shropshire, England in 1766.  St. Leonard’s Church records show the he married a Elizabeth Jones on 5 April 1790, He first joined the British army 1792 in Pigot’s Regiment of Foot it would later be called the 130th (Loyal Staffordshire Volunteers) served in the West Indies, seeing action in what is now Jamaica during the Second Maroon War 1795-96.

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Royal Newfoundland Fencible →

Veteran

James Reekie
Royal Navy

The following is an excerpt from The Green Pastures of Old Brock by James Gordon.

Shortly after Brock Township was surveyed in the year 1817, settlers began to arrive as they wanted to take advantage of the free grants of land.  The practice of giving away land as a means of attracting newcomers ended in 1827. From  that  point  on settlers were  required to purchase land  outright, or alternatively they could  enter  into a lease  agreement either  with  private landowners or with the powerful church of England — holders of land referred to as Clergy Reserve.  By 1837, Brock had 305 adult men, 251 adult women and 684 children under sixteen years of age.

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Veteran

Gilman Willson
1st Regiment Middlesex Militia

Captain Gilman Willson (1771-1836)

At 39 years of age, Gilman Willson was described by Samuel Street, J.P. as “an honest, industrious man and — a respected inhabitant,” of Bertie Township, Niagara. More than 20 years earlier, in 1787, his Loyalist family had come from New Jersey and settled along the Niagara River, seven miles north of Fort Erie. Now, in 1811, Gilman was preparing for another move, this time to a wilderness settlement at Port Talbot on the north shore of Lake Erie, 150 miles further west.

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1st Regiment Middlesex Militia →