The real outlanders? The Christie Family, United Empire Loyalists and Highland Clearances

I’ve been watching a lot of Outlander recently and what’s not to like? Nothing like forgetting the cares of the working day with the swashbuckling Jamie McKenzie Fraser, the strong minded and independent Claire Randall, beautiful, haunting landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and a patriotic battle for freedom against the English during the Jacobite Wars. I often wished I could trace my own roots back to that era, but sadly, my own Scottish relatives seem to be fairly sedate by comparison being a bunch of farmers, tax collectors and linen weavers from the area around Dundee…

However, recent genealogical research has revealed that Levi has apparent connections with the Highlands from his Dad’s side via Canada and so this post is about his own links with the region, mass emigration to Eastern Canada as a result of the Highland Clearances and strong links to United Empire Loyalists making the family legend that the Roach Family were part of that particular happy band of early Canadians (almost) true.

Painting of the Highland Clearances - which was the mass eviction of scottish tenants during the 18th and 19th centuries

Not a Roach Connection

First of all, I should like to make clear Roach Family were neither Scottish nor Empire Loyalists as far as I can work out. Hailing from Ireland, they are likely the descendants of John Roach from Cork, who was part of the Peter Robinson Settlers who arrived in Canada in the 1830s (and this is indeed  a story for another day).

However, Levi’s great grandfather, Alfred Ambrose Roach (b. 1888 Aberfoyle, ON) was married to Ethel Yates (b. 1889 Wentworth, ON) and it is regarding her ancestors that this post pertains.

The Yates Family and the American Civil War

The Yates Family itself were fairly new to Canada in the second half of the nineteenth century. Ethel’s grandfather, George Henry Yates (b. 1840) was born in Albany, USA and he and his father, Peter Yates (b. 1817) both fought in the American Civil War. By this point, the Yates Family were based in Hillsdale Michigan and were part of the Michigan cavalry and infantry there, respectively, for the Unionist cause. Post the Civil War, George Henry moved up over the border to Canada. I initially assumed the family legend about United Empire Loyalists was a garbled memory of the American connection, because a move north to Canada in the 1870s would be too late in that regard.

Michigan Calvalryman

United Empire Loyalists

For those of you not familiar with Canadian History, the term ‘United Empire Loyalist’ refers to American Loyalists who resettled north of the border during or after the American Revolution. These men were given land grants (often of 200 acres or so) in order to secure it for the British against potential future territory disputes with the United States. The land in question was around Quebec and Ontario (where Levi’s family were from).

United Empire Loyalists arriving in Canada

However, new research has now revealed a case for Levi having United Empire Loyalist ancestry after all (which is hardly surprising, given 1 in 10 Canadians are believed to be descended from them). Ethel’s maternal family were the Christies and McDermids, both of which names are to be found in large numbers in the UEL databases for Glengarry, ON and Cornwall, ON (where they were based) as well as in the Land Petitions for Upper Canada from the period when the UEL were active in the region. This on its own, would make the link purely speculative, however.

Yet, some interesting research regarding Ethel’s 3x great grandfather, Peter Christie, has improved the connection somewhat. Born in 1802 to Hugh and Margaret Christie, in Williamstown, Glengarry, Peter was christened at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Though I cannot find any concrete evidence that Hugh himself was a UEL at present, there are a number of other Christies using this same small church in the same period who were Empire Loyalists. In particular, Abijah Christie (b. 1761) whose unusual Christian name makes him easy to trace, was a corporal and known American loyalist who was granted land by the British in Cornwall, ON in 1783. It is hard not to imagine that Hugh was some relation of Abijah and the other UEL Christies using St Andrews Church at the turn of the 19th century.

St Andrew's Church as it is today. The current building replaced the original 1787 church in 1812

Following the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 and the ensuing Highland Clearances, a number of families including the Christies left the area around the Glengarry Estate near Inverness for America in 1773 and granted land following the American War of Independence in and around Glengarry, Ontario in 1783/4.  Those loyalists who settled there arranged for friends and relatives to join them, organising (an impressive) five sailings from Scotland in the period 1784 and 1793. I strongly suspect that Peter’s father, Hugh Christie, if not an empire loyalist himself was one of those who came to Canada on one of those voyages.

Statue commemorating the United Empire Loyalists in Hamilton, Ontario

And so there you have it, though not conclusively Empire Loyalists (yet, at least), there is almost certainly a Roach/Yates connection and seemingly a grain of truth in the family lore. Now back to lesson planning....