Alex Rough - 1991

‘some quailed at home, some fought for Rome,
and others ran away;
while yeomen brave, the land to save,
fought on, and gained the day.’

Orangeism, which was introduced into England, Scotland and Australia by soldiers serving in the British Army was to enter Canada by the same route. There were Orange Lodges in many of the British regiments, in Ireland there were 32 regiments with military Orange warrants and the Grand Lodge of England issued another 37 warrants to various regiments. When one realizes that 69 Orange warrants were in the British Army at one time or another during the early part of the nineteenth century it becomes apparent just how widespread the movement was among the military.

Orangemen had been a part of the British military since their inception and indeed a large number of Orangemen fought at the Battle of Waterloo with many of them serving in the 17th Light Dragoons. Every Orangeman in the regiment but one was killed and the survivor brought the warrant back to England with him. The first Orangemen in Canada were the soldiers that served in many of these British regiments. When their regiments were posted to the British North American colonies they took their Orange warrants with them. Life in early nineteenth century Canada would have been hard for them and it’s quite probable that Orange Lodge meetings were a welcome and sought after diversion, a change from the day to day drudgery of pioneer life.

One group of British soldiers who settled in the Province of Quebec on their release from the military were members of the Irish Yeomanry who settled at Shawville and the surrounding area. One of the former soldiers was named John Murphy and the Orange Lodge that the Murphys and their fellow soldiers formed was No. 27. It is a puzzling number because of the date thay they settled in the area. The year was 1804 and one would suppose that the lodge would have had an earlier number. The reason for the number becomes clear when it’s realized that the regiment that this group of ex-yeomanry were attached to was the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 27th Foot. These Orangemen simply took the number of their regiment and attached it to the Orange Lodge that they formed.

The name of the Lodge that they formed was ‘Royal Enniskillen L.O.L.’ and indeed the name of the Orange Hall that this Lodge meets in today is the Royal Enniskillen Memorial Orange Hall. Shawville is located in the Township of Clarendon, named after the commanding officer of the Yeomanry infantry that settled in the area.

There is a great deal of confusion over the official starting dates of lodges of that time because of the different bodies that issued warrants. Many of the earliest Canadian Orange Lodges were started under warrants issued by the Grand Lodge of Ireland and new warrants were later issued to these lodges by the Grand Lodge of British America which was instituted in 1830. To further add to the confusion, many Provincial jurisdictions also issued warrants. One example of this confusion was the above mentioned lodge, L.O.L. No. 27. The warrant for this lodge was issued to Thomas Corrigan on October 24, 1843 although the lodge had been in operation for many years.

Many of the original Quebec lodges were started under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Ireland. In 1804, Albert Hopper, a native of Roscrea, County Tipperary, arrived in Montreal with a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Ireland, which met in the year 1803 in Dublin, authorizing him to form Orange Lodges on behalf of that Grand Lodge in the British North American colonies.

Hopper wasted no time, forming a lodge in Montreal in 1804. An Orange Lodge, in all probability a military one, had existed in Montreal from at least 1800. That year a letter to Lieutenant-Governor Hunter made mention of "a subversive secret society which met in Montreal called the Orange Society" and the writer claimed that its aim was "to oppress Roman Catholics, and whose leaders were aiming at the destruction of the government in conjunction with the United Irishmen".

During the War of 1812 many British regiments containing Orange Lodges were sent to British North America to defend the colonies against the United States. It was from these soldiers that Orangeism took its hold in the New World. The earliest record of an Orange Lodge in the British North American colonies was in New Brunswick in 1783.

This lodge met under a charter issued in 1694 in London, England, the name on the charter being ‘Colonial, Patent No. 6’, and it was issued from Guild Hall, London, signed by Robert Ware. It was sealed with the Hestercomb Arms and certified under seal by the Goldsmiths of Lombard Street. It was brought to Parrtown [Saint John] by Lieutenant Andrew Hunter Stockton, the first man to be married in the city of Saint John. This lodge met in Saint John until 1815 under the authority of this warrant which granted the bearer the right to hold an Orange Lodge anywhere in British America. This is perhaps the first example of how Orangeism spread to North America via military personnel.

WAR OF 1812 AND THE EARLY YEARS

‘so let the drums rattle, the summons to battle,
the Protestant boys will carry the day.’

In 1788 Prince William Henry, later to become King William IV, visited Halifax. While there he was initiated into the "Orange and Blew Society". On September 1, 1788 he hosted a dinner in the mess hall of the 4th Regiment of Foot in honour of the society. Colonel Edward Cornwallis, the commanding officer of the regiment was a member of the society. This society was one of the strongest links between the Battle of the Boyne and the Orange Lodge system as we know it when it came into existence in 1795. It existed in the 4th Regiment of Foot for over a century and among its members were members of the nobility, and of course the officers of the regiment which originated the society.

The rules of the society set forth that "the Society is to consist of a Superior, 11 Wardens, a Registrar, and as many as may from time to time be admitted." Admission had to be by unanimous consent of the members present and one of the regulations was that "the whole Society do wear a blue Ribbon in their shirt collar, and a Medal of Gold fastened by a blue and orange Ribbon….and that such Medal be never omitted to be worn by each member on every 4th day of November, every 5th day of August, and on the day of His Majesty’s Accession to the Crown; and at all public Meetings unless some sufficient reason to the contrary, and the 1st day of July and 16th April". These last two dates refer to the Battle of the Boyne and the Battle of Culloden. The society was officially formed in 1727 and ceased to exist in 1822 when Orange Lodges were being established in several army regiments. In other words the Orange Order absorbed the Blue and Orange society, continuing Orangeism’s long history with the military.

During the War of 1812 the invaders from the United States had noted that there were many Orangemen among the members of the Canadian militia and British forces. One Canadian prisoner had confessed his part in capturing twenty-three American troops, and a writer in the ‘Albany Argus’ wrote:

"With this fellow it will go hard and I hope a more rigorous course will be pursued with the inhabitants who are opposed to our course. This class are principally Scots and Orangemen, and many of them obtain all the information they can and forward it to the enemy, Great Britain."

Prior to the War of 1812 there were very few Orangemen in Canada, most of them being ex-British army personnel who had settled here. It was only natural that the Orangemen in the British regiments serving in Canada would want to continue their membership wherever their regiments were sent. As thousands of British troops arrived in Canada at the outbreak of the War of 1812, Orangeism grew rapidly in the British American colonies and soon after the war ended the first mentioned Orange Parade in Canada was held in 1818.

The first Orange Parade of record in Toronto was held on July 12, 1822, with military connections. The following is taken from the ‘York Weekly Register’ of July 18, 1822:

"The members of York Lodge assembled in their lodge rooms on the 12th instant to celebrate the anniversary of King William III, Prince of Orange, at 2 o’clock. They marched in procession to church accompanied by the band of the West York [Peel] Militia…"

An Orange Parade took place in Cavan, Ontario in 1826 in which three lieutenants of the 2nd Regiment of the Durham Militia took part, David Higgins, Edward McCammis, and Robert Graham. This fraternization of the militia with Orange Lodges was strongly protested by Bishop Alexander Macdonell in a letter to the government, in which he asked that the men be removed from the militia, however the government took no action on the issue.

Cavan Township, which was settled predominantly by Protestant Irish was to become an area strongly dominated by Orange influence well into the twentieth century. The warrant for one of Canadian Orangeism’s earliest lodges, L.O.L. No. 40, was issued to James Fallis of Cavan on September 14, 1830.

In the Anglican pioneer cemetery in Omemee, Ontario there is a lone tombstone with the following inscription:

"In memory of Matt. W. Hancock, Late Lieutenant in the 59th Regiment of the Line. A Native of Maryborough, Queen’s County, Ireland, he served with distinction in the War of 1812 and was present at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane and carried the King’s Colors the entire of that eventful day. He also served at the siege of Fort Erie, and died Feb. 26, 1858, age 74 years. Erected by the Orangemen of Emily."

Abraham Odlum had saw service as an ensign in the Royal Africa Corps and later served as a lieutenant in the Nova Scotia Fencibles during the War of 1812. He later became a captain and retired on half-pay in 1818, when he settled in The Gore of Toronto. Peter Servos served as an officer in the First Lincoln Militia under the command of Colonel Butler. He took part in the battles of Lundy’s Lane and Queenston Heights and later became the master of an Orange Lodge in Niagara Falls.

Even the warrant for the Grand Lodge of British America had a connection with the military. The warrant was issued by the Loyal Orange Institution of Great Briain, meeting in London, England, on April 23, 1832 and it was signed by Field Marshal, Ernest, Duke of Cumberland.

Private Robert Inglis of the 24th Regiment of Foot, stationed in Montreal, wrote in 1832 that their military lodge met every 2nd Monday at John Danes’ tavern and that their "chest is all exhausted from relieving distressed brothers in the spring of this year from Ireland and England." In that same year, L.O.L. No. 1637 of Montreal had a lengthy dispute with this Military Lodge over who held jurisdiction in the city.

In 1835, Inglis, who was still the Master of L.O.L. No. 33, 24th Regiment of Foot, wrote to the Grand Lodge of Great Britain regarding a duplicate warrant that he had issued to civilians in the area. This practice seems to have been a thorn in the side of the Canadian Grand Lodge which rightly felt that it was the only constituted authority to issue warrants in British America.

One Canadian Orangeman who served in the military in 1812, though not in Canada, was Vincent Philip Mayerhoffer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He later emigrated to the United States before coming to Upper Canada and eventually held the office of Grand Chaplain of the Grand Orange Lodge of British America.

John Huston J.P., of Cavan, Ontario was adjutant of the 2nd Durham Militia Volunteers during the late 1820’s and early 1830’s. He was one of the leading Orangemen in the area and on July 09, 1828, W. Henry, a member of the Court House in Cobourg, wrote to him asking him to use his influence to quell any Orange outbreak during the coming County of Durham election. On July 6, 1830, Mayor J. Hutchinson of Peterborough wrote to Huston begging him to "keep his damn Cavan Blazers out of Peterborough during the 12th of July parade that year".

The Blazers were younger members of the local Orange community and for many years were a strong influence in Cavan Township. Historians have generally been critical of them, ignoring the fact that the majority of their acts were of a practical joke nature and that they were known on more that one occasion to harvest the crops of Roman Catholic farmers who were unable to do so because of illness.

In September, 1835 Huston was ordered to assemble the Cavan militia on October 26, and the Emily Township militia on October 27, "armed and equipped as the law directs for training at Williamstown in Emily". On January 9, 1838 Huston ordered Captain Thomas Mitchell of Emily to form a volunteer company "to take the command of them as their Captain and with them this day march for Toronto."

In the Maritimes the first Orange Lodge in New Brunswick met in the city of Saint John in 1818 under a warrant brought from Ireland by the 74th Regiment, and the first officially warranted lodge was instituted in 1824 by British soldiers serving in the same city. Tradition gives credit to the 60th Rifles with having been responsible for forming Verner Orange Lodge No. 1 in 1836.

An Orange Lodge meeting had been held in Halifax as early as 1799, the members being British troops stationed in the city. In September, 1851 the Grand Lodge of Nova Scotia issued a warrant to Alex Blackwell, authorizing him to hold a lodge in the Province of Charlotte to be known as Boyne Lodge No. 14. This lodge, the first in Prince Edward Island, was in existence for at least three years and meetings were held in the military barracks on Pownal Street in Charlottetown, with the troops quartered there being the first members.

In 1839 when the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, Sir George Arthur, tried to persuade Toronto not to hold an Orange Parade on July 12, Mayor Powell threatened to hand in his resignation as Justice of the Peace and Captain of the Militia if Orange Parades were interfered with.

One interesting footnote to the War of 1812 that Orangemen played the major role in was in recognizing the part played in the defence of Canada by the Six Nations Indians. At a meeting in the Six Nations Orange Hall in 1940, the members asked the Grand Master of Ontario West, C. W. Armstong, to use his influence in having a plaque placed at the monument at Queenston Heights in memory of the Six Nations Indians who had served and fought under General Brock.

At the 1941 Grand Lodge sessions, Armstrong reported that he had contacted the controller of the National Parks Bureau and requested that they rectify this oversight. As a result of his request a bronze tablet was affixed to the General Brock monument, and in Armstong’s words:

"Our Orange brethren on the Six Nations Reserve are proud of this recognition of the part played by their brave ancestors, and we all join in paying tribute to the Indians who fought and died that Canada may remain as an integral part of the Empire we belong to."

One Orangeman who settled in Canada after serving in the British military was John Quin of County Armagh. He had joined the Royal Horse Artillery in 1798 and had fought with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War. In all he fought in thirteen battles, including the Battle of Waterloo.

By 1840 it had become obvious that military personnel were well entrenched in the British American Orange scene. In that year it was reported that Captain Graham of the Royal Navy was the County Master of Oxford and Colonel O’Brien was the County Master of Simcoe.

The military character of the Orange Association was noted in the minutes of the Grand Orange Lodge of Eastern Canada [Quebec] in 1857 by the following statement contained in the minutes:

"On account of the Militia demonstration in the city occurring at the time, many Officers and Members were unable to attend and the sessions were confined to the evenings".

This was not the last time that a Grand Lodge meeting would have to change its time of meeting or postpone it altogether on account of its membership’s involvement with the military.

‘the Protestant boys are loyal and true,
stout-hearted in battle, and stout-handed too.’

During the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, Ogle Robert Gowan, the first Canadian Orange Grand Master, formed his own militia unit, the 9th Provincial Battalion, also known as the Brockville Invincibles and later renamed the Queens Royal Borderers, and helped to defeat American invaders at the Battle of the Windmill. Every man in his battalion was an Orangeman. Gowan also claimed that 317 Orangemen were sworn into the militia for the defence of Toronto by the mayor of the city, George Gurnett, on December 4 and 5, 1837.

One prominent Toronto Orangeman who served in the militia during the uprising was George Duggan, who for many years was to be involved in Ontario politics. Duggan, who had ran for mayor of Toronto in the mid 1820’s, served as a captain in the volunteer artillery and was captured by the rebels when they were advancing on the city by way of Yonge Street. His single barrel pistol was taken by Mackenzie and this was the firearm that he was to use during his escape to the United States.

Duggan had also been one of two men, Sheriff Jarvis being the other, who had approached Dr. John Rolph and asked him to be a government mediator with the rebels. Duggan at this time suspected Rolph of being a rebel and stated this to Jarvis but the sheriff declined to take the matter any further. Duggan later became the District Master of Toronto in 1840 and served as an alderman from 1838 - 1840 and from 1843 - 1850. In 1841 and 1842 he was elected as the member of parliament for the second riding of York, defeating no less an opponent than Robert Baldwin. Duggan seems to have been quite an unprincipled character always using his Orange connections in seeking one patronage job after another.

In 1845 and 1847 he stated under oath that he was no longer a member of the Orange Order in order to secure political appointments. However, he later served as the Junior Deputy Grand Master of British America in the years 1849 - 1850. In 1858 he used his Orange Lodge connections to secure an appointment to the Toronto Police Commission and then quickly turned on his former mentors. He was one of the most adamant of the commission members in upholding the Secret Societies Act which forbade Orangemen from becoming members of the police force.

A future Grand Master of Canada, George Benjamin, was in active service during the rebellion, serving as a private in the Rifle Corps. During the period immediately preceding the outbreak of the rebellion in 1837 he commanded a company of militia in the Township of Sydney. He was granted a commission as a captain of the 4th Regiment of Hastings Militia on February 16, 1838.

Only four days later, when a chance came for the 1st Regiment to join the action against the rebels, he enlisted as a private in that regiment and marched off to Gananoque and helped capture a band of rebels who had gathered at Hickory Island in the St. Lawrence River. Another Orangeman who was present at the battle at Hickory Island was Ogle Gowan. He was given command of a company of Queens Own Rifles which participated in the attack. It was at this time that Gowan established his military credentials. The battle took place on February 22 and 23, 1838.

The majority of the members of the Canadian militia units that defeated the Mackenzie rebels and preserved Canada from being annexed by the United States were Orangemen. One Orangeman who came to Toronto to defend it from the rebels in 1837 was Edward ‘TWO TUNE’ Floody of Enniskillen, Ontario, who led his militia unit composed of Darlington Orangemen into the city to the music of ‘Boyne Water’ and ‘The Protestant Boys’, "the only tunes worth playing" he told Mayor Gurnett.

His nephew was Edward Floody who became the Grand Director of Ceremonies of the Grand Orange Lodge of Canada and he was a signer of the petition which in 1890 secured Orange Incorporation in Canada. One of the Orangemen who marched with Floody into Toronto in 1837 was James Spinks, who had come to Canada in 1828, from County Cavan, Ireland. He had been a sergeant in the ‘Cavan Black Reds’, an Irish militia unit which eventually became the 4th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers.

When the Orangemen of Derry West in Peel County heard of the suspected attack on Toronto they sent runners to all of the local Orange Lodges asking for volunteers to march to Toronto. They thought that Dundas Street would be held by the rebels so they asked all volunteers to gather at Port Credit where a schooner would be waiting to take them to Toronto, avoiding the expected rebel blockade on Dundas Street.

That night was spent in making bullets from any lead that was available and by dawn they were on their way to Port Credit where they found that the schooner had not arrived. Instead of waiting for another one they marched by way of Dundas Street to the outskirts of Toronto where they found that the local garrison had barricaded the street in expectation of a rebel attack. As the Orange volunteers approached they were nearly fired upon by the city’s defenders who at first mistook them for rebels.

William Irvine of Orangedale was a captain of militia during the rebellion while his brother Charles was a rebel reformer. Orangemen continued to serve until Mackenzie was completely defeated and many of them served at Navy Island and Chippewa including George Rutledge and James Graham who stated that he had been the only man with an overcoat in his battalion and that he had lent it in turn to each man who was on picket duty. Both men served with the 2nd Regiment of West York Militia.

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