Papers : 1775-1861.

            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.            

            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.
 Reel 1. Includes: despatches; correspondence; printed military regulations; appointments; commissions; instructions in coded letters; speeches; addresses; lists of officers; lists of officers recommended for promotions and lists of promotions; memorials; petitions; reports; extracts of documents; maps; journals; troop returns; general orders; and returns relating to the military and political career of John Graves Simcoe in Upper Canada and in Santo Domingo, 1775-1806, 1861. Material concerning relations with the Six Nations and with Joseph Brant is included on this reel.
 Reel 2. Contains  poems; reports; monthly returns; extracts from speeches and published sources; drawings of native people; correspondence; an extract from Simcoe's journal during the American Revolution; 1779; Mrs. Simcoe's journal of her voyage to Quebec, 1791; and another of the return voyage to England, 1796; Mrs. Simcoe's journal recording life in Upper Canada and describing the interaction with the native peoples; letters from England relating to the Simcoe daughters while their parents are in Canada; and correspondence of Mrs. Simcoe with her eldest daughter, Eliza, n.d., 1775-1806, 1836.
 Reel 3. Consists of family correspondence, including letters from Simcoe's daughters  Eliza, Charlotte, Henrietta (Harriet), Caroline, Katherine (the second Katherine) n.d., and Sophia, 1797-1858.
 Reel 4. Contains letters, fragments of letters, and envelopes of family correspondence, 1808-1842.             

            The National Archives of Canada Finding Aid No. 139, Series 5, which provides an inventory description and microfilm shelf list of the Papers, is available in print.
The NAC Finding Aid No. 139, which contains a table of contents, an author index to the correspondence in Series 1, 3 and 4, and a Subject Index to Papers and Reports in Series 3 and 4, is available in print.            

The John Graves Simcoe Letter Book: 1791-1793, is available in the Loyalist Collection and is shelved at MIC-Loyalist FC LFR .S5J6L4.