Loyalists and Land Settlement in Nova Scotia

Compiled by Marion Gilroy under the direction of D. C. Harvey, Archivist

The list of United Empire Loyalists who appear in this book, was compiled by Miss Marion Gilroy, from the land papers in the Public Archives of Nova Scotia and checked with the land papers in the Department of Lands and Forests of the province. The records in the Archives comprise petitions, surveyors' warrants, descriptions and certificates and draft grants; but in few instances are all these papers found complete. This is particularly true of draft grants and for that reason it was necessary to use the files of the Department of Lands and Forests to supplement sources of information.

The records in the Archives frequently give personal information as to the origin and status of the Loyalists, while the papers in the De­partment of Lands and Forests are official as to warrants and escheats; but in many instances it has not been possible from both sources to discover more than the name, general location, date of grant and number of acres granted. Though these names have been compared with those in census returns of Pre-Loyalists and other records, it is not possible to assert that every Loyalist has been located or every Pre-Loyalist eliminated; but the list of Loyalists is  complete and as accurate as it can be from available material. Broadly speaking, Loyalist grants are assumed to have ceased by 1800 but in a few instances after this date, such as that of the regranting of Digby township in 1801, grants of considerable proportion were made and have been included in this list. No notice bas been taken of individual claimants who petitioned during the first quarter of the nineteenth century; and the most diligent search has not been able to discover the names of the second battalion of the 84th Regiment, Royal Highland Emigrants, for which Col. John Small re­ceived in trust 105,000 acres in Hants County; but those who were still there in 1816 and received a grant of the lands then occupied by them have been included. Moreover the Island of Cape Breton, because of the lack of available records, has been reserved for a separate study.

The list has been arranged under three headings: grants, warrants and escheats.

Grants: Those in this group are shown by the records to have received legal title to the lands specified.

Warrants: Those listed under warrants applied for land, and survey of that land was authorized, but no evidence could be found that they completed the transaction, although there is reason to believe that many of them remained in Nova Scotia.

Escheats: Those listed under escheats-the legal process by which lands granted were forfeited to the Crown for non-fulfilment of conditions specified in the grant were included to throw light upon the number of Loyalists who received grants of land and either chose to forfeit them or to accept other grants in exchange.

Browse Table of Contents for lists by Nova Scotia County

The general purpose of this publication was to collect in as compact a form as possible all the information that has survived on Loyalist settlements in Nova Scotia and to make this accessible to the descendants who are interested. 

Details

156 pages
6.25 X 9.25"
Information is organized alphabetically by surname - no Index necessary
Originally published by Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 1937
This edition published by Global Heritage Press, Milton, 2006
ISBN 1-897210-95-7 (Hardcover)