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by Chris Laverton Recent research in the British military records held by Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has revealed one of the many British officers who once strode the barrack yard, paraded his troops, and otherwise lived and breathed a year of his life at the garrison of York–one Captain Robert Stephens, of the 37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot. The file pertaining to this particular corps is a scattered collection of correspondence, mostly by–and about– its various officers during the regiment’s long tour of the Canadas between 1814 and 1825. The Letter Books contain only a scant few respecting Captain Stephens, but nevertheless allow a glimpse into the frail humanity of one man (LAC, RG8 “C” Series, vol. 899, pp.36-41). When his company was posted to York, Stephens was already a veteran officer who had, by 1816, served for fourteen years, twelve of these with the 37th Regiment, “continually on active & arduous foreign Service with this Corps in the West Indies, Gibraltar, the Peninsula, France, Africa and America.” The Army List reveals that Stephens had held rank in the army from 16 January 1802; at the height of the wars in which his country was involved–on 10 June 1813–Stephens purchased promotion to Captain in the regiment. Stephens had embarked for Canada with the 1st Battalion 37th Regiment, from Boulogne, France, and arrived at Quebec on 3 August 1814. The battalion was soon under orders for Kingston where its ten Companies–of which Stephens commanded one–were split into two Divisions. The 1st proceeded to Burlington Heights, where it established regimental Head Quarters, while the 2nd Division spent its first Canadian winter on detached service at the Lake Erie posts.
The regiment had arrived in Upper Canada to find a military landscape devastated by the ferocious fighting of the year before, and spent much of this period assisting in the reconstruction of military posts in the province. News of peace arrived in Upper Canada the following spring, denying the 37th the opportunity of distinguishing itself in action and its officers any chance of quick promotion. However, the regiment was retained for garrison duty in Upper Canada and continued the work of rebuilding the military defences (eventually moving to Lower Canada, and ordered home to England in 1825). Head Quarters and 1st Division was moved from Burlington to Amherstburg, on the Detroit Frontier, that summer of 1815, then to Fort George in July 1816, and Kingston that September. At this point, two companies were detached for service at York–of which Stephens’ was one. By the time the detachment of the 37th Regiment arrived at the capital, the rebuilding of the garrison had been substantially completed and Stephens and his men would have been amongst the first troops to occupy the newlycompleted barrack accommodations at the post, along with a detachment of the 70th. Up to this point, the 37th had been living rough for two years–many of its men having been engaged in assisting the Royal Engineers in the construction/reconstruction of barracks and defences at other posts. Here at York, at last, some of its men could enjoy the fruits of others’ labours. finally There is only one document in the LAC Letter Books that mentions the presence of the 37th Regiment at York at this period, and it concerns Captain Stephens. Evidently, while still with Head Quarters at Amherstburg–or possibly Fort George, Stephens had been nominated as Acting Deputy Judge Advocate to preside over any future regimental Courts-Martial. His official deputation arrived in November upon the desk of Major General Sir John Wilson, District commander at Kingston, who soon discovered that the Captain was in fact no longer with the regimental H.Q., but at York. Given Stephens’ absence, Wilson decided to temporarily appoint a local regimental officer in his place. The next–and final–series in which Captain Stephens’ name appears in the 37th Letter Books, is dated 1819. Sadly–and ironically–it concerns Stephens’ own Court-Martial. At some date that spring, he had been placed under arrest at Montreal for “Drunkenness and irregularity when on duty.”A flurry of letters was written on the 10th May beginning with a letter by Stephens himself to his commanding officer, Lt. Colonel Gabriel Burer, by which he tendered his resignation and requested retirement to Half-pay. Burer’s duty had compelled him to notify the Commander of the Forces and recommend the removal of this officer from the service but he clearly known Stephens personally, and generally respected his abilities at command of an infantry company. That day, he urged Stephens to compose a memorial to the Commander of the Forces, the Duke of Richmond, reiterating the request and highlighting his long service. Burer supported Stephens with a strong recommendation tempered by the irrefutable fact that Stephens had, by his “long habits of drinking rendered himself unfit for the important duties of an Officer.” In the end, the Duke recommended Stephens’ retirement based on Burer’s
comments and the Captain’s “general good Character.” Mercifully, as well, the Duke decided to forego a trial by Court-Martial, permitting him to be released from arrest and return home to England. Upon arrival, Stephens was to report himself to the Adjutant General of the Forces at Horse Guards, London. Some unknown factor had compelled him to return to England, for he might well have opted to remain in Canada. Various “military settlements” had been set up in Upper Canada–notably at Perth, Lanark, and Richmond–at which an officer such as himself might easily have been awarded 400 acres, and a chance at a promising new life. The date of Stephens’ embarkation for England is unknown but, within a short time of his arrival, there is evidence to suggest that he was not settling comfortably into retired civil life. Besides which, he was clearly having difficulty in attracting a candidate willing to assume his Full-pay Commission. Usually the most popular commissions–due to the opportunity for brevet promotion–a Full-pay Captaincy in the army was then valued at a regulated price of £1,500. In order to retire on the Half-pay list, Stephens was required to find a subaltern seeking to purchase a promotion and willing to pay the regulated difference in value between the two commissions. By the end of August 1819, residing at a less-thanfashionable address in East London, he had apparently given up and had sent a letter to Horse Guards requesting permission to rejoin his regiment. He was informed by letter the following day that the Commander in Chief could not permit him to rejoin, and that unless some interested party came forward within three months, Stephens would either have to sell his Commission outright, or retire on Half-pay without benefit of receiving that sum. Britain was then still in the grips of a deep recession brought on by the peace of 1815. Suddenly thousands of British soldiers found themselves discharged, and hundreds of officers relegated to straitened circumstances by being placed on the Half-pay list. For example, the Canadian establishment in 1815 was estimated at some 17,266 men; by 1819 it numbered no more than 3,805.
by David O’Hara, Site Administrator In early September the design development component of the Visitor Centre design process was completed. The working drawing stage is now underway with the calling of construction tenders scheduled for early January 2011.
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