Shaw, Aeneas

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: S. R. Mealing, “SHAW, ÆNEAS,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/shaw_aeneas_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Army officer, politician, office holder, and militia officer; b. at Tordarroch House, Scotland, second son of Angus Shaw, chief of Clan Ay, and Anne Dallas of Cantray; m. first Ann Gosline, and they had ten children; m. secondly Margaret Hickman; d. 6 Feb. 1814 in York (Toronto), Upper Canada.
    • Æneas Shaw emigrated to Staten Island, N.Y., about 1770. Soon after the outbreak of the American revolution he joined the Queen’s Rangers as an ensign, and ended the war as a captain, his promotions beginning in November 1777 when a new commander, John Graves Simcoe, formed a Highland company.
    • After surrendering at Yorktown, Va, in 1781, he was evacuated to New York City, and he subsequently joined the loyalist migration to Nova Scotia. He settled on the Nashwaak River (N.B.), where by the fall of 1791 he was an established farmer.
    • Later moved to Upper Canada and promoted major-general in 1811, Shaw was responsible for training the militia. It was the largest military force in the province, with about a tenth of the total white population enrolled, but it was not subject to training in units larger than local companies nor to fixed periods of service in case of war.
    • He led them in action once, at the unsuccessful defence of York on 27 April 1813. Nearing his final illness and 32 years away from combat, he moved them too slowly to be of use and unnecessarily withdrew a critically placed company of regulars to their support.
  • Proven United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=7512
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