Papers : 1775-1861.
Call Number: | HIL-MICL FC LFR .S5J6P3 |
Category: | Family |
Creator: | Simcoe, John Graves, 1752-1806. |
Description: | 4 microfilm textual records () ; 35 mm |
Background: | John Graves Simcoe was the son of a British naval officer, Captain John Simcoe, RN, who died on the Quebec expedition in 1759. He was educated at Exeter Grammar School, Eton College, Oxford, and later at Lincoln's Inn, before spending a year with a military tutor at Exeter. His career began with a commission in the 35th Regiment of Foot and he arrived with that regiment in Boston after the battle of Bunker Hill. He exchanged into the 40th Foot, took part in several campaigns, and was wounded three times before assuming command of the Queen's Rangers in 1777. In 1779 he was captured in an ambush and spent six months in prison. The exploits of his Loyalist Corps soon became well known and he was acknowledged as one of the most successful British commanders. However, because of failing health he returned to England shortly before the defeat of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781, and remained in England for ten years before being appointed the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1791. He and his wife Elizabeth Posthuma (Gwillim) Simcoe (1762-1850) lived in the new Loyalist province for the next five years, returning to England in 1796 when Simcoe's health again began to fail. For additional biographical details concerning the life of John Graves Simcoe, researchers may wish to consult the Loyalist Collection Inventory entry for a second collection of Simcoe Papers on microfilm i.e. Simcoe Family Papers: 1762-1798. |
Contents: | The National Archives of Canada holds 6 Series of the Simcoe Papers. Series 5 is the only series that has been microfilmed, and it consists of four microfilm reels. The following summary of the contents of each reel provides an overview of the material. |
Originals: |
The original records are held by the Devon Heritage Centre, Exeter, Devon, England. Library and Archives Canada holds a microfilm copy of the John Graves Simcoe Papers, Series 5, 1775-1861, on microfilm reels A605 - A608. A note at the end ofthe NAC Finding Aid indicates that maps were not microfilmed. |
Archival Ref. No.: | Library and Archives Canada MG 23, H I 1, Series 5. Devon Heritage Centre, 1038M. |
Finding Aids: | The Library and Archives Finding Aid No. 139, Series 5, which provides an inventory description and microfilm shelf list of the Papers, is available in print. |
Electronic Finding Aid Record: |
Simcoe, John Graves Shelf List.pdf Inventory-Description-Simcoe-Papers.pdf Finding Aid No. 139 Simcoe Papers.pdf |
Notes: |
Researchers are advised that a second series of Simcoe Papers is available in the Loyalist Collection and is shelved at MIC-Loyalist FC LFR .S5F3P3. The John Graves Simcoe Letter Book: 1791-1793, is available in the Loyalist Collection and is shelved at MIC-Loyalist FC LFR .S5J6L4. |
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