Loyalists

British military and naval records (RG 8, C series)

This series covers the period from 1757 to 1896. It includes a wide range of records relating to the British Army in Canada, the War of 1812, the Canadian militia, and specifically Loyalist regiments and some muster rolls. A name/subject card index and the actual documents have been digitized and can be viewed online.

Ward Chipman (senior and junior) fonds (MG 23 D1)

These records refer mostly to Loyalists who eventually settled in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island. They include references to wives and children of Loyalists, some soldiers of British regiments, and Black Loyalist regiments.

Some names have been indexed in the following collection: Maritime Loyalists - Muster Master’s Office, 1777 to 1785.

Audit Office 12 and 13 (MG14-AO12, MG14-AO13)

Some Loyalists, like those who settled in the Maritime provinces, submitted claims for losses to the British government. The claims have details about former places of residence, property, military service, etc. An index is available on microfilm reel C-9821. These claims have been digitized and indexed by name on Ancestry.ca under “UK, American Loyalist Claims, 1776–1835.” That subscription website is available free at LAC and many public libraries.

War Office 28: Headquarters records (MG 13 WO28)

This series includes correspondence and nominal rolls (volumes 2 to 10, microfilm reels B-2862 to B-2868). Volume 9 contains petitions submitted by officers and men in British, German, and Loyalist regiments. Most relate to promotions, leave, appointments, or requests for assistance. Consult Finding Aid 87 (found in the Finding Aid section of the above record) for a list of contents. Appendix B of the finding aid contains an index of the names in Volume 9.

Haldimand papers (MG21-Add.MSS.-21661-21892)

These records include some provision lists and muster rolls relating mostly to Loyalists, disbanded soldiers, and their families in the province of Quebec. The records can be found in volumes B105, B166, B167, and B168. These records and a nominal index are on microfilm reel C-1475.

Finding Aid 599 includes a copy of the typed index. It is available in our Reference Services room in Ottawa.

The book Loyalist Lists: Over 2000 Loyalist Names and Families from the Haldimand Papers, by Keith E. Fitzgerald (OCLC 12668413), contains transcriptions of some of the lists.

British Headquarters Papers (MG23 B1)

Also known as the Carleton Papers or the American Manuscripts, these records contain lists of refugees in New York (1776 to 1783), including people who were evacuated from New York in 1783, refugees from Massachusetts and Rhode Island who were evacuated through the port of New York, and numerous references to Port Roseway and Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

Names of Loyalists and British soldiers have been indexed in the following collection: Carleton Papers - Loyalists and British Soldiers, 1772 to 1784.

Book of Negroes

The Book of Negroes, part of the British Headquarters Papers, gives information such as names of Black Loyalists, detailed descriptions, and names of ships used to carry them.

Names of Black Loyalists have been indexed in the following collection: Book of Negroes, 1783.

Shelburne historical records collection (MG9 B9 14)

This collection lists 1,498 references to the Muster Book of Free Black Settlement of Birchtown, Port Roseway, 1784 (original title).

The muster book is part of the Port Roseway Associates series in the Shelburne historical records collection (MG 9 B9-14). For more information on this series, see the scope and content section of the Port Roseway Associates [textual record] archival description. Or search the collection:

Black Loyalist refugees - Port Roseway Associates, 1782 to 1807

Two lists of Loyalists exist for the province of Ontario:

• United Empire Loyalist List from the Executive Council Office (RG 1 L7, vol. 52A, microfilm reel C-2222). This list contains annotations.
• Crown Lands Department Loyalist List (MG 9 D4, vol. 9, microfilm reel C-1476). It was published in 1885 as two lists in Appendix B (pages 129–280 and pages 281–332) in The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada by the United Empire Loyalists, 1784–1884.

Land petitions

Loyalists and their descendants submitted petitions for land that sometimes indicated the regiment in which the Loyalist served.

Use Collection search to find other sources on Loyalists—for example, if a Loyalist, or their descendants, donated their personal papers to LAC, the collection will be described in Collection search.

Published sources

Many books have indexed names of Loyalists. This is helpful if you do not know the name of the regiment in which someone served.

You can search Aurora to find these publications. Try keywords like:

• Loyalists
• United Empire Loyalists
• Loyalists plus
  • genealogy
  • history
  • biography
  • the name of a place

We've prepared lists to give you an idea of the types of books you might find:

• Loyalists—All regions
• Loyalists—Ontario
• Loyalists—Quebec and Maritimes

Each title in these lists includes the author and the LAC call number:

• Click on a title in the list to open the full catalogue entry. If you scroll down, you'll see a list of other libraries that hold copies. You can also check your local library’s online catalogue.
• If the call number includes the word genealogy, the book is in the genealogy room at our Ottawa location.