In a message dated 10/3/2002 11:18:19 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
garymair(a)comcast.net writes:
<< Hello, we recently discovered a listing for my Great Great Grand Father,
Patrick Purcell who was a member of the Patriots in 1838 in St. Columban,
Deux Montagnes, Quebec and am wondering if any one on the list has further
information.,
>
Yes, Gary! If you run the search words "patriots" "Quebec" and
"1838" on
google.com - you will be rewarded with lots of information about this
intrepid band of (mostly) French farmers who were fed up having their rights
and liberties infringed (and sometimes denied altogether) under British rule.
There is in fact a website called "Les Patriotes" (has an English
version, I think), that you will want to consult. Somewhere there is a list
of the names of those who participated in this conflict and its two
or three engagements in Quebec. Google may be able to help you find your
GGGrandfather's name, if you search for it directly after you get information
about the war overall. (Patrick Purcell may have been in a British
regiment, though - gotta consider that! But, I digress.)
Of course, the squirrel rifles and pitchforks wielded by the Patriots in
Quebec didn't count for much against the trained British troops. There were
a couple of engagements, one in St. Denis (?) on the Richelieu River - you
know who carried the day! Some of the Patriot leaders were hanged, many of
the rank & file were simply sent home, and about 40 were given death
sentences which were then commuted to transportation to the penal colony in
Australia for a term of years.
The 40 French prisoners from Quebec were then combined with a number of
Canadian English prisioners AND several American prisoners who had been taken
by the British in the battles that were fought almost contemporaneously in
Ontario - essentially the same issues. Off they all went as convicts to
Australia . On the internet you will find accounts they wrote about the
journey and what they found in the prison camps.
Of the 40 French, two died and one stayed in Australia - the others all
managed to return after about five years. The Canadians and Americans were
not so lucky - many of them suffered greatly and few returned, as I
(imperfectly) recall.
Writing from memory here, Listers, so please be forgiving! I'm so glad to
greet another relative of the French patriot combatants - welcome to this
excellent list - full of information and populated entirely, it seems, by
Very Interesting People. . .
Salut!
Ginny Crawford
whose great, great grand-uncle, Francois Guertin, was one of those sent to
Australia and who did return.