Since I am back in my home province for a few days to attend and speak at the Ontario Genealogical Society’s (OGS) annual conference in Toronto, it seems appropriate to write about a free new genealogy resource, Penitentiary Patriots: Upper Canada Rebellion, 1838, James Nickalls Report, by Brian Latham and Linda Corupe, U.E.
In a recent OGS eNewsletter, Mr. Latham and Ms. Corupe, both OGS members, wrote: “In the spirit of freely available genealogical information, we have produced a transcript of archival prisoner records for 18 men involved in the 1837 Rebellion. The transcript is free. … It includes the names of many ordinary people near now-Toronto who signed (often their first writing attempt) petitions for clemency, forming a mini-census of the area before any formal census was taken. All names are indexed.”
Their publication contains a transcription of the James Nickalls report of 1838. Mr. Nickalls was president of the Board of Inspectors for the Provincial Penitentiary. His report contains the results of 18 interviews conducted with rebels who were sent to the penitentiary in Kingston for the parts they played in the Upper Canada Rebellion.
These interview results contain not only details of the prisoners’ activities during the conflict, but also many personal details. Additional information has been added from various other sources. The book consists of 70 pages and is fully indexed. The publication, with the exception of the cover photograph, is copyright free, and may be used without permission from the authors, although an acknowledgement would be appreciated.
You will find the publication to download and print at www.lindacorupe.com. Make sure you look at the index of names at the back.
