The Postwar Land Offer in Canada

By 1815, the hostilities which had lasted for three years drew to a close. In March, the prisoners of war were released from their camp in Pittsfield Massachusetts. The regiment sailed to Sorel, northeast of Montreal, to wait for them. From Sorel, they returned to Kingston to be mustered out of the army.  Their fighting days at last were over.

But the British government still had a need for the old soldiers. The United States could not be trusted not to invade again. A capable force of soldiers was necessary to keep the peace. The foreign soldiers were still in British North America but there was not enough money to pay or repatriate them. The wars had seen the national debt rise to an alarming £1 million and the British economy plunged into a depression.

Orders appointing Alexander McDonnell to supervise distribution of and to military settlers. Digital Archive of the Toronto Public Library.

The solution to both problems was to grant land to the soldiers to farm. The British government selected the Perth military settlement north of Kingston, and the St. Francis settlement in the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada for the de Watteville regiment.

The de Watteville Regiment disbanded in June 1816. Each regular soldier was offered 100 acres, provisions for up to a year, and agricultural implements to cultivate the land. If after three years the land had been adequately farmed and a house built, ownership of the land was to be transferred to the soldier and his family.

Lands comprising the Perth Military Settlement. Library and Archives Canada.

140 land grants were issued in the Perth area to veterans from the de Watteville Regiment. None were taken up by Grand Duchy Lithuanians.

Some, while prisoners of war, were paroled into the community of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Many had laboured on farms and found other opportunities the local communities.  Some of the soldiers may have returned there upon discharge.

Ontario bush lot, similar to those surveyed for military settlers. Ted Douglas.

Those who did take up the land grants found themselves dealing with impenetrable bush and swampland. Despite this many pressed on, produced crops and eventually owned land. Others gave up in discouragement and migrated to the United States.