A plaque on site was missing when I took the photo of the bust. The plaque has since been replaced with content as follows:
"Major-général Frederick Heriot, 1786-1843, né à l'Île Jersey, commandant en second des Voltigeurs canadiens durant la guerre de 1812, surintendant de la colonisation pour le Bas-Canada, fondateur de Drummondville en 1815.
Major General Frederick Heriot, 1786-1843, born in the Island of Jersey. Was second in command of the Canadian Voltigeurs during the war of 1812. Superintendant of the colonisation for Lower Canada. Founder of Drummondville 1815."
Source: (
visit link)
"Frederick George Heriot, army and militia officer, landowner, jp, office holder, and politician; b. 11 Jan. 1786, baptized at home on 14 January, and presented in the Anglican church in St Helier, Jersey, on 11 August, third son of Roger Heriot, an army surgeon, and Anne Susanne Nugent; d. unmarried 30 Dec. 1843 in Drummondville, Lower Canada, where he was buried on 1 Jan. 1844.
Frederick George Heriot was a descendant on his father’s side of an old and quite prominent Scottish family, the Heriots of Trabroun. On his mother’s side he was related to the ancient Irish aristocracy through the Nugents of Westmeath. He has often been confused with his cousin George Heriot, the deputy postmaster general of Lower Canada from 1800 to 1816.
In the summer of 1801 Heriot, then 15, went into the army as an ensign in the 49th Foot. The following year he arrived in Lower Canada under Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Brock*’s command, and subsequently his advance was rapid; promoted captain in 1808, he was appointed brigade major, under Major-General Francis de Rottenburg*, in 1811. For some years he lived at Quebec, where garrison life was considered pleasant; in his spare time he turned to horse-racing, with some success.
After the United States declared war on 18 June 1812 Heriot was posted on 26 March 1813 to the Voltigeurs Canadiens as acting major under Lieutenant-Colonel Charles-Michel d’Irumberry* de Salaberry; he would become brevet major on 10 June. On 1 April he set off from the camp at Saint-Philippe-de-Laprairie for Upper Canada at the head of four companies of Voltigeurs and on 13 April he reached Kingston. With his men he shared in the changing fortunes of the British army. After the raid on Sackets Harbor, N.Y., on 28–29 May [see Sir James Lucas Yeo*], he was mentioned in dispatches. The risk of invasion increased, and on 26 Oct. 1813 the battle of Châteauguay against the advancing Americans immortalized Salaberry and his Voltigeurs. Heriot and three of his companies were then at Prescott, but they left around 6 November to pursue other American forces moving down the St Lawrence towards Montreal. The battle of Crysler’s Farm took place on 11 November [see Joseph Wanton Morrison*]. Heriot narrowly escaped capture by dint of his skill as a horseman; his conduct earned him another mention in dispatches and a gold medal. The corps of Voltigeurs was subsequently increased and reorganized in Lower Canada; Salaberry, who was thinking of relinquishing the command, offered Heriot the opportunity to purchase it. Heriot, with the backing of Sir George Prevost*, took over as commanding officer on 11 April 1814 and held the rank of militia lieutenant-colonel until the end of hostilities. Once the war was over, the Voltigeurs were disbanded, on 1 March 1815. Heriot himself was given the option of resuming his previous rank in the 49th Foot, with the prospect of a prompt return to England and a slim chance of promotion in peacetime. For this 29-year-old officer an unexpected career was to open up, however.
While the British government was developing a new colonization policy, the Lower Canadian House of Assembly recommended that lands not yet granted be given to disbanded soldiers. A semi-military settlement thus came into being in the valley of the Rivière Saint-François, and on 1 May 1815 Heriot was appointed to administer it, with the assistance of Pierre-Amable Boucher de Boucherville and several officers from various regiments. The post assured him an income of £300 and £100 for travelling expenses, exclusive of his half pay. He set to work immediately, inspected the area, and on 8 June asked for a grant of 1,200 acres in Grantham and Wickham townships on which to build a village. That summer saw the birth of Drummondville, and its beginnings seemed promising in the opinion of Administrator Sir Gordon Drummond*, who visited the settlement in the autumn. By 1816 houses, a hospital, school, and barracks were being laid out; a post office had already been built. Heriot had prepared a spacious home, Comfort Cottage, some distance away on a hillside, and was having his farm cleared and mills built. But there were serious set-backs: crop failure in 1815 and 1816; desertions; a reduction in military aid and a threat to shut down the operation in 1819; an epidemic in 1820; and in 1826 a fire that devastated the countryside and the village, with only Heriot’s house and the two chapels spared. Despite the many disasters, through untiring efforts Heriot managed to maintain the small community, which was totally dependent upon him. He served, in fact, at one and the same time as justice of the peace, trustee and visitor of schools, and commissioner for the building of roads; he was attentive to his fellow citizens’ needs and came to their aid. By donating lots he ensured that there would be a Catholic mission and a Church of England parish. He would have liked to dedicate both to St George, but even at the risk of offending him, the Catholic bishop, Joseph-Octave Plessis*, chose the name of Saint-Frédéric for the mission."
Source: (
visit link)