Quakers in Canada

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: Quakers

This page will contain a bit of history about Quakerism in what is now Canada and links to spaces that will be more specific as they are created. Province and territory pages should contain Meetings, Burial Grounds, and perhaps later even sortable tables.

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After reading through three references^[1][2][3] regarding the immigration of Quakers into Canada, the following synopsis may be appropriate.

Quaker families had established a fleet of nearly one hundred vessels for fishing from the Island of Nantucket since 1659. The seven year war between the British and French destroyed properties and some were conscripted into the British Navy. These hardships led a group to move up the coast into Barrington, Nova Scotia in 1762. Unfortunately, starvation and assault during the War of Independence resulted in the group returning to Nantucket. Many have the misconception that some Quakers received concessions of property for loyalty to the United Empire Loyalists. The religion did not allow for support and the concessions gained were not for any loyalty; but, they were received only for agreement to clear, farm the land, and build roads. During the 1800s, the Underground Railroad had been established in Pennsylvania and many Quakers assisted in efforts to free people of color from slavery with the final stop being in Canada.

A notice to settlers of Yonge Street from 1798, indicating their duties once they settled land granted to them

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• Alberta

• British Columbia

• Manitoba

• New Brunswick

• Newfoundland and Labrador

• Northwest Territories

• Nova Scotia

• Nunavut

• Ontario

• Prince Edward Island

• Quebec

• Saskatchewan

• Yukon

Research Material

• The Canadian Quaker Genealogical Index

• Transcriptions by Canada Friends Historical Association

• Land Records

• ARCHIVES → RECORDS NEWS → FRIENDS IN THE NIAGARA PENINSULA, 1786-1802

Sources

1. ↑ The Quakers in Canada - A History by Arthur G. Dorland. The Ryerson Press, Toronto, cp. 1968
2. ↑ The Canadian Encyclopedia Year 2000 Edition, Editor in Chief: James H. Marsh, McClelland & Stewart Inc., The Canadian Publishers, Toronto, Ont. cp. 1999
3. ↑ Promised Land : The Final Stop on the Underground Railroad was Canada Canadian Geographic, July-August 1995, vol. 115, No. 4, by Don Gillmor