June 19 is United Empire Loyalist Day in Ontario. The day was formally established in 1997 (Bill 150) by the Ontario Legislative Assembly to commemorate and celebrate our province’s Loyalist heritage. Ontario’s provincial motto, “Loyal She Began, Loyal She Remains” pays respect to that history.

The day is a reminder of the sacrifices and journey of Loyalist refugees and immigrants who fled their homes following the American Revolution. Many Loyalist families came to Canada to continue living under the institutions of the British Crown, for safety, for freedom, and for new beginnings. Many came to settle in what would become Ontario and helped to develop the province we know today.

Following the end of the American Revolutionary War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, many Loyalist soldiers and civilians were evacuated from New York City, with many coming to Canada – settling both in the Maritime provinces and in what would become Quebec and Ontario.

In 1789, Lord Dorchester, the Governor General of British North America, declared “that it was his Wish to put the mark of Honour upon the Families who had adhered to the Unity of the Empire”:

Those Loyalists who have adhered to the Unity of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783, and all their Children and their Descendants by either sex, are to be distinguished by the following Capitals, affixed to their names: UE or U.E. Alluding to their great principle The Unity of the Empire.

But why is June 19 recognized as United Empire Loyalist Day in Ontario? United Empire Loyalists, so named because of their loyalty to the British Crown during the American Revolution, were one of the largest collective groups of settlers in historic Ontario. The Constitutional Act of 1791 that created the Province of Upper Canada (Ontario) received Royal Assent on June 19, 1791. As such, United Empire Loyalist Day recognizes the contributions Loyalists have made, and that their descendants continue to make, to the development and general welfare of Ontario.

In terms of Mississauga connections, they are numerous. Many early settling families had Loyalist roots, including the Bradley, Greeniaus, Jarvis, Merigold, Monger, Oliphant, Robinett and Thompson families, amongst countless others. You can find many gravestones in Springcreek Cemetery in Clarkson, as well as in other historic cemeteries here in Mississauga, that refer to UEL origins. Sir John Beverley Robinson, builder of The Grange (now home to Heritage Mississauga), was also a Loyalist. His son, the Honourable John Beverley Robinson, served as the founding president of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Ontario in 1896 (which became the Toronto Branch of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada in 1933). We have flown a Loyalist Flag (or the Queen Anne Union Flag) here at The Grange, the predecessor to the more commonly known Union Jack of the UK, in honour of our Loyalist heritage.

Another early Mississauga connection happened on July 16, 1934. Grace Cawthra-Elliot hosted a grand garden party at her Cawthra Lotten home here in Mississauga and celebrated the 150th Anniversary of the United Empire Loyalists. UEL descendants and other members of Toronto’s social elite attended, dressed in historic costumes for the lavish affair.

To mark the occaision of UEL Day here in Mississauga, City of Mississauga Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Dasko, together with the Toronto (GTA) Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada, raised the Loyalist Flag at the Mississauga Civic Centre.

To learn more about the United Empire Loyalist story, please visit: https://uelac.ca/