Thomas Welch or Walsh (November 5, 1742 – July 2, 1816) was a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and judge in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

. He was born in the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an English and later British colony in North America that existed from 1632 until 1776, when it joined the other twelve of the Thirteen Colonies in rebellion against Great Britain and became the U.S. state of Maryland ...

in 1742, the son of Irish immigrants with roots in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. He studied in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and served with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

. He was appointed surveyor in

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware Ri ...

; in 1769, he moved to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. In 1778, he joined the

Maryland Loyalists Battalion The Maryland Loyalists Battalion, referred to in Captain Caleb Jones's orderly book as the First Battalion of Maryland Loyalists, was a British provincial regiment of colonial American Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. American Re ...

. He was taken prisoner by the Spanish at

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

and later released in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He led a group of loyalists to

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

; after five years, he returned to Maryland. Unable to recover his property in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, he left for Upper Canada where land was available and settled in Lincoln County, where he was appointed deputy surveyor. In 1796, he was named the first land registrar in Norfolk County. He settled on a farm in

Charlotteville Township Charlotteville is a village lying on the northeastern tip of Tobago on Man-o-War Bay. History The first European settlement on Man-o-War Bay was part of the colony of Nieuw Walcheren established by Jan de Moor, the burgomaster of Vlissingen in ...

. Welch served as a captain in the local militia. In 1800, he was named a district commissioner for the Court of King's Bench. In 1810, he was named judge in the district and surrogate courts. In the same year, his son, Francis Leigh Walsh, succeeded him as land registrar for Norfolk. Welch was also a member of the

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s. He died in Charlotteville Township in 1816. His grandson, Aquila Walsh, later became a member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

and Welch's great-grandson,

William L. Walsh William Legh Walsh (January 28, 1857 – January 13, 1938) was a Canadian lawyer and judge. He served as the List of lieutenant governors of Alberta, fourth lieutenant governor of Alberta from 1931 to 1936. Walsh was born in that portion of th ...

, served as

Lieutenant Governor of Alberta The lieutenant governor of Alberta () is the viceregal representative in Alberta of the . The lieutenant governor is appointed in the same manner as the other provincial viceroys in Canada and is similarly tasked with carrying out most of the m ...

References

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Thomas 1742 births 1816 deaths American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Spain Upper Canada judges American Loyalists from Maryland