William Jarvis (September 11, 1756 – August 13, 1817) was an office holder, militia officer, and the

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

-born head of the Jarvis family in what is now

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Ontario, Canada.

Life and career

Jarvis was born in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, to

Samuel Jarvis Samuel Peters Jarvis (November 15, 1792 – September 6, 1857) was a Canadian government official in the nineteenth century. He was the Chief Superintendent for the Indian Department in Upper Canada (1837–1845), and he was a member of the ...

, who was the town's clerk, and

Martha Seymour Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

. William Jarvis joined

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...

’s

Queen's Rangers The Queen's Rangers, also known as the Queen's American Rangers, and later Simcoe's Rangers, were a Loyalist military unit of the American Revolutionary War. Formed in 1776, they were named for Queen Charlotte, consort of George III. The Queen' ...

in 1777. He was wounded at the

Battle of Spencer's Ordinary The Battle of Spencer's Ordinary was an inconclusive skirmish that took place on 26 June 1781, late in the American Revolutionary War. British forces under Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe and American forces under Colonel Richard Butler, ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1781 and was commissioned

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

in late 1782. At the cessation of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

he went on half-pay and attempted to return to Connecticut, however, hostility to the Loyalists remained strong, and after an encounter with angry Patriots, fled to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1791, Simcoe, who had been appointed as the first Lieutenant Governor of

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 ...

, recommended Jarvis in 1791 to the Home Secretary,

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, PC, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Prime Minister William Pitt and the most powerful politician in Scotland in the late 18t ...

, for the positions of Provincial Secretary and Clerk of the Executive Council of the newly established province. Jarvis was instead given the positions of Provincial Secretary and Registrar. Jarvis arrived in Canada with his wife and three children in 1792 and settled in Newark (now

Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of On ...

). When Simcoe moved the capital from Newark to

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, Jarvis reluctantly followed. In York, he was granted a town lot and a 100 acre park lot. Jarvis built his home on the town lot, while the park lot was left largely undeveloped. Jarvis was appointed deputy lieutenant of the county of York in 1794 and a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

in 1800. He was not successful in these positions or as Provincial Secretary and Registrar, losing half his income and the power to appoint local land registrars. A plaque for a stained-glass window honouring William Jarvis at the Cathedral Church of St. James (Toronto) states "First Provincial Grand Master of the Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons". Jarvis had become a mason while in England, and before leaving for Canada, had been appointed Provincial Grand Master of Masons in Upper Canada. William and Hannah Jarvis were slave-owners who opposed Simcoe's desire to abolish slavery in Upper Canada. One of their slaves, Henry Lewis made his way to

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

, where he wrote Jarvis, offering to buy his freedom.

Personal life

Jarvis was married to

Hannah Owen Peters Hannah or Hanna may refer to: People, biblical figures, and fictional characters * Hannah (name), a female given name of Hebrew origin * Hanna (Arabic name), a family and a male given name of Christian Arab origin * Hanna (Irish surname), a fa ...

, daughter of the Reverend

Samuel Peters Reverend Samuel Andrew Peters (1735–1826) was a Connecticut Anglican clergyman and historian. A nephew, John Samuel Peters (1772–1858), served as Governor of Connecticut 1831–33. Another nephew, John Thompson Peters (1765–1834) served as ...

Hebron, Connecticut Hebron is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,098 at the 2020 census. Hebron was incorporated May 26, 1708. In 2010, Hebron was rated #6 in Top Towns in Connecticut with population between 6,500 and 10,000, ...

. They had seven children. Their oldest son, Samuel, died in 1792 at the age of five. Their next born son,

, was named for his brother and became a prominent member of the

Family Compact The Family Compact was a small closed group of men who exercised most of the political, economic and judicial power in Upper Canada (today’s Ontario) from the 1810s to the 1840s. It was the Upper Canadian equivalent of the Château Clique in L ...

. His other children were Maria, Augusta, William, Hannah, and Eliza.

References

Bibliography

* Allen, Robert. "Mr. Secretary Jarvis: William Jarvis of Connecticut and York" ''Eleven Exiles: Accounts of Loyalists of the American Revolution'', edited by Phyllis R. Blakeley and John Grant. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1982, pp. 289–317.
Henry, Natasha. "Brought in Bondage"
* Scadding, Henry. ''Toronto of Old''. Toronto: Adam, Stevenson & Co., 1873.
Schreiber, David. "William and Samuel Jarvis"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, William 1756 births 1817 deaths Loyalists in the American Revolution from Connecticut Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut People from York, Upper Canada Immigrants to Upper Canada Canadian slave owners