History of the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario,): with special reference to the Bay QuintéCanniff, William
History
History of the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario,): with special reference to the Bay Quinté
Canniff, William
Ontario -- History; Quinte, Bay of (Ont.)
The following is from the Kingston _Chronicle_: “Died at the Carrying
Place, 27th February, 1836, Robert Wilkins, Esq., in the ninety-fourth
year of his age. He entered the army at the early age of seventeen, in
the 17th Light Dragoons, then commanded by the late Colonel Hale. Soon
after he joined the regiment it was ordered to Scotland. There it did
not long remain; the “Whiteboy” conspiracy had been formed in Ireland.
From Ireland he sailed with the same distinguished regiment for the
British American Colonies, then raising the standard of revolt, landed
at Boston, and a few days after bore a conspicuous part in the battle of
Bunker’s Hill, on which occasion he had two horses shot under him. He
was present at most of the engagements in the northern colonies. At the
battle of White Plains, he was one of the forlorn hope, where he
received a severe contusion on the breast, and lost the thumb of his
right hand. After recovering from his wounds, he retired from the army,
and entered into mercantile pursuits in the city of New York. There he
carried on a prosperous business until peace was concluded; but when
that city was evacuated by the British troops (in 1783) he was too
strongly attached to his king to remain behind. He then accompanied them
to Shelburne, Nova Scotia. In the improvements of that luckless place,
he expended a large sum of money, but finding that the place would not
succeed, he left, and in 1789, returned to his native country, from
which, three years after, he was induced to follow Governor Simcoe to
this colony, just after it had received its constitution, and became a
distinct government. From that time he remained in Upper Canada, and
most of the time at this place. Of Christian doctrine and Christian
duty, he had a much deeper sense than was obvious to occasional
visitors. His hospitality was proverbial, and never under his roof was
the poor refused food or shelter. His remains were followed to the
church, and thence to the house appointed for all living, by not less
than 300 of his friends and neighbors.”
For an account of the son of the above, see notices of U. E. Loyalists.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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