Coat of arms of 'Upper Canada' on a memorial plaque to Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.
The text of the plaque reads -
ELIZABETH POSTHUMA SIMCOE
1766 - 1850
The wife of John Graves Simcoe, first Lieutenant-Governor
of Upper Canada, Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim was born at
Whitchurch, Herefordshire. Her diaries and sketches, compiled
1791 - 96 while in Canada, privide a valuable record of
pioneer life in that colony. Lieutanant-General Simcoe, who
claimed direct descendence from Lord William de Brewer, the
founder, in the twelth century, of the Abbey of St. Mary,
Dunkeswell, died in 1806, and thereafter Mrs. Simcoe devoted
herself to charitable work. She and her daughters were
responsible for the erection and decoration of this church,
Holy Trinity, which was built on the site of the Abbey
Church in 1842. Mrs. Simcoe is buried beside her husband
at Wolford Chapel, near Honiton, Devon.
Erected by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board, Archives of Ontario. |
The top of the plaque bears the arms of the Province of Ontario (Canada). Above the plaque are small cloth flags of the united Kingdom and of Ontario.
WM4MNP - Lady Elizabeth Simcoe statue, Bradford, Ontario
"The Province of Upper Canada (French: 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 Province of Quebec since 1763. Upper Canada included all of modern-day Southern Ontario and all those areas of Northern Ontario in the Pays d'en Haut which had formed part of New France, essentially the watersheds of the Ottawa River or Lakes Huron and Superior, excluding any lands within the watershed of Hudson Bay. The "upper" prefix in the name reflects its geographic position along the Great Lakes, mostly above the headwaters of the Saint Lawrence River, contrasted with Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) to the northeast.
Upper Canada was the primary destination of Loyalist refugees and settlers from the United States after the American Revolution, who often were granted land to settle in Upper Canada. Already populated by Indigenous peoples, land for settlement in Upper Canada was made by treaties between the new British government and the Indigenous, exchanging land for one-time payments or annuities. The new province was characterized by its British way of life, including bicameral parliament and separate civil and criminal law, rather than mixed as in Lower Canada or elsewhere in the British Empire.[4] The division was created to ensure the exercise of the same rights and privileges enjoyed by loyal subjects elsewhere in the North American colonies.[5] In 1812, war broke out between Great Britain and the United States, leading to several battles in Upper Canada. The United States attempted to capture Upper Canada, but the war ended with the situation unchanged.
The government of the colony came to be dominated by a small group of persons, known as the "Family Compact", who held most of the top positions in the Legislative Council and appointed officials. In 1837, an unsuccessful rebellion attempted to overthrow the undemocratic system. Representative government would be established in the 1840s. Upper Canada existed from its establishment on 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841, when it was united with adjacent Lower Canada to form the Province of Canada."
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"The coat of arms of Ontario is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian province of Ontario. The arms contains symbols reflecting Ontario's British heritage along with local symbols. At the upper part of the shield is the red cross of St. George, representing England. The lower portion of the shield features three golden maple leaves on a green background.
The original arms, consisting of only the shield, were granted by royal warrant of Queen Victoria on May 26, 1868. The arms were further augmented with supporters, a crest, and motto, by royal warrant of King Edward VII on February 27, 1909.
The shield, on a Red Ensign, features in Ontario's provincial flag.
The year following Confederation, arms were granted by royal warrant from Queen Victoria on May 26, 1868 to Ontario, along with the three other provinces of the new Dominion of Canada, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Dominion Arms were simple and lacked supporters. The Arms of Ontario comprised what is now the escutcheon or shield of the current Arms of Ontario. This original arms can be seen on the Flag of Ontario, which consists of a defaced Red Ensign, with the Royal Union Flag in the canton and the arms in the fly. Also seen on the Arms used by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario surrounded by a wreath of gold maple leaves.
In the warrant, Queen Victoria authorized the four arms of the first provinces to be quartered for use on the Great Seal of Canada, and while this was not done for the first Great Seal, it is through this reference it became the de facto Arms of Canada until 1921.[2] That arms was then also used in the first Canadian Red Ensign, which was flown at the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The supporters, crest, and motto, designed by Toronto barrister Edward Marion Chadwick, were added on February 27, 1909, by warrant of King Edward VII.
The province's arms stand out for being without royal symbols, namely a crown—although the motto of Ontario, which translates from the Latin "Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet" as "Loyal She Began, Thus She Remains" references perpetual loyalty to the Crown.
Symbolism -
Crest
The crest is a black bear, native to Canada, passant sable, on a gold and green wreath.
Shield
The shield of arms consists of three gold maple leaves, representative of Canada, on a green background, above which on the upper third is a wide white band with a red St. George's cross, which recalls the historic connection with Britain in Upper Canada and pays tribute to the namesake, King George III.
Supporters
A moose dexter and deer sinister are native to Canada.
Motto
The motto is "Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet", Latin for "Loyal she began, loyal she remains". It refers to the Loyalist refugees from the American Revolution, who settled in the Province of Canada, and for whom the area was separated as Upper Canada."
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