Billop, Christopher

  • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Billop
  • Wiki profile notes:
    • Colonel Christopher Billopp (c. 1738 – March 29, 1827) was an American-born military officer and politician who served in the American Revolutionary War. During the conflict, he was nicknamed the “Tory Colonel” by Patriots. After the conflict ended in 1783, Billopp emigrated to New Brunswick along with other Loyalists and became a politician, representing Saint John in the 1st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly.
    • Billop was born on Staten Island in New York, the eldest of eight children born to Thomas and Sarah Farmar Billopp. Billopp served as a colonel in the Loyalist forces during the American Revolution, commanding the Billopp’s Corps of Staten Island Militia formed on July 6, 1776, at a meeting of 500 men in Richmondtown led by Governor William Tryon and General William Howe in reaction to the announcement of the Declaration of Independence. Col. Billopp’s brother, Thomas Farmar (he resumed the family name Farmar) fought as a private in an American unit.
    • Billopp was captured twice by American patriots, one occasion occurred on June 23, 1779, when they rowed across the Arthur Kill from Perth Amboy, New Jersey. He was held as a prisoner of war in the Burlington County, New Jersey jail, where he was chained down to the floor and fed a diet of bread and water.
    • Billopp along with his Loyalist father-in-law, Benjamin Seaman (who was also labeled a Loyalist felon) moved to Parrtown in New Brunswick in 1783. Parrtown and Carleton were two communities founded by Loyalists from America in the vicinity of Fort Howe. The two communities later merged to form the city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Benedict Arnold, the American revolutionary war loyalist, lived in Saint John from 1787 to 1791.
    • Billopp served in the New Brunswick Assembly and in 1796 was appointed to its council by King George III. In 1823, he was asked to become administrator for New Brunswick following the death of Lieutenant-Governor George Stracey Smyth but refused to come to Fredericton to take the oath of office. Ward Chipman took on this post instead although Billopp challenged this appointment.
  • Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=587
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/172581717/christopher-billopp