Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1809 - 1812 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
5 folders of textual material (5 cm)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Francis Gwillim Simcoe was born in 1791, accompanying his parents—John Graves Simcoe and Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe—to Upper Canada, where he spent his infancy and early childhood. In 1793, John Graves Simcoe purchased a tract of land east of the town of York, and built a summer residence, naming it Castle Frank in his son’s honour. At age 17, he entered the British army as an Ensign, and in 1809, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and assigned to Wellington’s army in Iberian Peninsula. He took an active part in the campaigns in Portugal and Spain and was fatally wounded during the assault on the Portuguese town of Adajos in 1812.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This series consists of correspondence from Francis Gwillim Simcoe to his mother, Elizabeth Posthuma (Gwillim) Simcoe and a journal on the Spanish Campaign in the Peninsular War.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Maps 108 to 110, now found in Series 5, “Maps and Plans” were initially included in this series upon transfer from the AO. These are all maps of Francis Simcoe’s campaign in Spain. They have been moved to Series 5 so that their intellectual arrangement corresponds to their physical arrangement.