Colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors (known as Field Officers), captains, lieutenants, ensigns and adjutants (known as Regimental Officers) of the militia were commissioned by the Crown “to hold and exercise the responsibilities of their respect ranks,” with the date of commission determining seniority among officers of the same rank.
A typical militia regiment was composed of all eligible men between the ages of 16 and 60 years and drawn from a defined boundary. For those residing in the Flamboroughs, this was the Home District and almost all the residents were assigned to the 2nd York Regiment.
Among the identified members of the regiment from Flamborough area are the following, with the dates they were commissioned:
• Applegarth, William, Captain, May 8, 1811.
• Applegarth, John, Lieutenant, June 6, 1809.
• Atkinson, Thomas, Lieutenant, May10, 1811.
• Chisholm, John, Captain, May 10, 1811.
• Chisholm, George Jr., Ensign, 1812.
• Chisholm, William, Ensign, 1812.
• King, George, Lieutenant, May 9, 1811.
• Morden, James, Captain, May 9, 1811.
• Overfeld/Overfield, Manuel, Lieutenant, May 11, 1811.
• Rose, Hugh Michael, Ensign, May 10, 1811.
• Ryckman, Samuel, Captain, May 29, 1806.
• Simons, John K., Adjutant, September 1813.
• Simons, Titus Geer, Major, June 4, 1811.
• Van Every, David, Lieutenant, March 1, 1804.
Of this list of officers, only Lieutenant George King is known to have died, probably from wounds suffered during the Battle of Queenston Heights. He returned to his wife and children in East Flamborough, together with his brothers-in-law, the Chisholms, and died December 1812.
Hugh Michael Rose, an Ensign, was taken prisoner and removed to the United States, but returned after the hostilities were over and settled on the 4th Concession of East Flamborough.
Sylvia Wray is the former archivist with the Flamborough Archives. She can be reached through the Archives at archives@flamboroughhistory.com.
This article was originally published in the Flamborough Review, 12 April 2012.
