DEFENDING THE HEIGHTS

Life on the Heights in 1812 – An Augmented Reality Experience

Wander among life-sized recreations of Burlington Heights (Dundurn Heights) during the War of 1812 using Augmented Reality technology. See the defenders and survivors in action on the grounds using your mobile phone or tablet and a QR code.  

Information about various people who may have been at Burlington Heights in 1813

• About 88% of married soldiers in England left behind their families when they were sent to North America, leaving their families with little financial support. Up to 12 of every 100 married soldiers did bring their wives and children and this was decided by lottery.
• Soldiers' wives were unpaid labourers who cooked, cleaned, did laundry, etc., in return for half rations of food compared to a soldier's daily ration.
• Widows of soldiers killed in battle had two weeks to remarry. They could stay if deemed "useful" as an unpaid laundress or cook but had no legal status or permanency.
• Children of soldiers were given one-third of rations until the age of 14.
• Women and girls couldn't join the Army, so to stay under its protection, they would marry a soldier when they came of age. Quite often, a girl's father would choose a husband for her. They could also stay and be "helpful" and not marry, which would mean having no status and or guarantee of permanence.
• If his father were a soldier, a boy could join the Army at age 14 to continue receiving food rations and a place with a regiment. Usually, you could only join at the age of 16.
• To become a foot soldier, you had to be 5'6 "tall. If you were shorter than that, you could be a drummer at age 14.
• Often, soldiers could not hear an officer's command on the battlefield. Instead, they relied on specific drumbeats called tattoos for commands such as 'Fix Bayonet,' 'Hold Position,' or 'Advance.
• Drummers were kept at the rear of the Army in battle to protect them from enemy attacks aimed at cutting off communication with the troops.
• Officers fired pistols and slashed using swords, foot soldiers fired muskets and stabbed with bayonets. The only non-officer permitted to carry a sword was a drummer just in case he needed a weapon besides drumsticks to defend himself.
• For over 10,000 years, the land known in 1812 as Burlington Heights was the summer fishing grounds for Indigenous people.
• Peter Jones was born at Burlington Heights on January 1, 1802. His Indigenous name was Kahkewāquonāby, which means "Sacred Waving Feathers." He was the second child of his mother, Tuhbenahneequay / Sarah, and his father, Augustus Jones.
• Richard Beasley took possession of the land in the 1790s. The British Army chose this site as the perfect base to defend the area from American advancements.
• The Army built structures on the site, including barracks and a gunpowder storage room, which is still in Dundurn Castle's basement.
• The Coloured Corps (also known as Runchey's Company of Coloured Men or Black Corps) was a militia company of Black men that fought in the War of 1812.
• The Coloured Corps fought in the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Fort George before it was attached to the Royal Engineers as a construction company.
• Black Canadians also enlisted in the regular British forces and served in Upper Canada, including the 104th Regiment of Foot.
• The Michigan Territory governor Lewis Cass advocated for the complete devastation of Upper Canada to create "a desert between them and us" that could not feed or support British troops and their Indigenous allies. The American Army actively burned both Indigenous and European communities who fled to Burlington Heights as refugees.

Beasley’s Trading Business

Richard Beasley, who hailed from Albany, New York, first came to Burlington Heights in 1790, making him one of Hamilton’s earliest settlers. The pioneer merchant had a store in Burlington Heights and sold or traded to white settlers, First Nations and fur suppliers in the Detroit area. He also operated a saw and grist mill, was a local magistrate and was elected member of the legislative assembly from 1791 to 1804. He also became colonel of the 2nd Regiment of the York Militia in 1809. He lived with his wife and eight children.

Burlington Heights Becomes Dundurn Castle

Richard Beasley’s first home was a log cabin at the base of the cliff at the Dundurn Castle grounds. He later built a substantial Georgian-style brick house, barns and farm at the top of the hill. A storehouse and wharf below functioned for his trading business. Financial difficulties forced him to sell his land in Burlington Heights. In 1832, Sir Allan MacNab purchased the 600-acre lot and built the picturesque Dundurn Castle around the shell of Beasley’s original building. Construction concluded in 1835.

The Hill is Like a Park …

Elizabeth Gwillam Simcoe -- the wife of the first Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe -- described Richard Beasley’s estate during a visit on June 11, 1795, as “a very pretty object … [with] a beautiful view of the lake, with wooded points breaking the line of the shore. The hills are like a park, fine turf with large oak trees disposed but no underwood.”  What was once Beasley’s estate now forms Dundurn and Harvey parks.

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