On today’s date in 1783, the British Crown issued instructions for granting lands to U.S. Loyalists.
The Loyalists, who were supportive of Britain during the American Revolution, immigrated to present-day Canada, which was then known as British North America.
The 1783 announcement outlined all family heads would receive 100 acres of land; family members and single men would receive 50 acres; and non-commissioned officers would receive 200 acres.
Five years later, in November 1789, Governor Guy Carleton passed an order-in-council expanding the land grant, which gave every Loyalist’s son 200 acres while every daughter received 200 acres once they were married.
50,000 SETTLERS
Following a bloody battle between the Loyalists and U.S. Patriots, the 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the war.
About 100,000 Loyalists fled, and 50,000 of them chose to settle in what’s now Canada. About 35,000 people arrived in the Maritimes, and the remainder settled in the Eastern Townships of Québec and the Niagara peninsula.
Former U.S. president John Adams estimated about one-third of the population of the Thirteen Colonies were Loyalists, and at least 20,000 of them joined the army to defend Great Britain.
1984 LOYALIST STAMP
In 1984, to mark the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists to Canada, a 32-cent postage stamp (Scott #1028) was issued by Canada Post.
Designed by Toronto-based illustrator Will Davies and produced in five-colour photolithography by the British American Bank Note Company in Ottawa, the stamps feature a group of Loyalists in 18th-century attire and represents a cross-section of Loyalist society. In the background is the Grand Union flag, which was the British flag used from 1606-1801.
A total of 30 million stamps were printed of Clark paper with general tagging along opposite sides. Issued in panes of 50, each stamp is comb perforated 13.1 horizontally by 13.3 vertically and has an overall size of 40 millimetres by 24 millimetres.