McNabb, Colin

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Peter N. Moogk, “McNABB, COLIN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mcnabb_colin_5E.html#citations
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Army and militia officer and office holder; b. c. 1764, possibly in Virginia, son of James McNabb; m. Elizabeth –, “the daughter of an old Servant of the Crown,” and they had at least six children; d. 7 April 1810 at Four Mile Creek, Niagara Township, Upper Canada.
    • At the outbreak of the American revolution his family, including his brother James, resided in Virginia. His father enlisted in a loyalist corps and served during John Burgoyne’s campaign of 1777. By 1780 James Sr and probably his family were in Quebec. Some time after, Colin enlisted in Francis Legge’s Loyal Nova Scotia Volunteers, a unit used primarily for garrison duty at Halifax. When the regiment was disbanded on 20 Oct. 1783, McNabb went on half pay as an ensign.
    • He first appears in the Niagara area of western Quebec on the return of loyalists and disbanded troops compiled by Robert Hamilton in 1787. He was married with one daughter and had cleared 60 acres of land, 30 of which were sown with wheat.
    • McNabb’s 25-year career as a minor local office holder stemmed from the 1787 decision of the Privy Council committee for trade to lift the prohibition on trade between the British North American colonies and the United States. Jurisdiction devolved on the colonies and the following year an ordinance was issued in the province of Quebec regulating inland commerce. To enforce the measure, superintendents of inland navigation were appointed between May 1788 and January 1789 for seven ports. McNabb’s status as a reduced loyalist officer may have gained him the Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake) post, which he received on 23 June 1788. His responsibilities were to collect duties, to prevent smuggling, and to register vessels.
  • Son of Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=5668