(Submitted to Quinte News)
At 2 p.m., on June 15th, 2025 the Landing of the United Empire Loyalists at Adolphustown will be remembered and celebrated for the 241st time. A social Tea will be served on the St. Alban’s Centre Rectory lawn following the event, which will include a service led by Rev. Canon Donald A. Bailey. A highlight of the day will be the world premiere of John Brebner’s documentary The Mary Ruttan Story, filmed locally, featuring local student Madeline Gaudet.
“We honour that it was here Ontario’s first roots were established in the west of the Colony of Quebec,” said Diane Berlet, a founder of the Friends of St. Alban’s, Adolphustown (FOSAA). “It’s why Ontario’s motto is ‘Loyal She Began, and Loyal She Remains’; June 19th is officially United Empire Loyalist Day.”
“It became Upper Canada only 7 years later, and was renamed as Canada West in 1841 and in 1867, with Confederation into the Dominion of Canada, as Ontario. Led by Major Peter Van Alstine, the Loyalists had left New York City in the Fall of 1783 escorted by the British brigantine ‘Hope’.”
Mary Ruttan and family were among the 250-strong Van Alstine Loyalist party, having travelled up the St. Lawrence to Sorel, where they over-wintered, and then up through rapids, shoals and islands to the headwaters of the St. Lawrence at Kingston. They rowed west a further 30 miles and arrived on June 16th, 1784, at what is today’s UEL Heritage Centre and Park, across from St. Alban’s Centre.
By the 1790s, courts of Upper Canada were conducted in only two places, Adolphustown and Kingston, and by 1802, the Main Street of Adolphustown was part of the road connecting Kingston to Toronto (then York, there called Kingston Road), the first long-distance road in the province. In 1984, Queen Elizabeth II cut the ribbon at Amherstview which officially named Hwy 33 as The Loyalist Parkway.
Since surveys in mid-1783, Adolphustown had existed only on paper, ready for Loyalists to come as the American Revolution ended. It was named for Adolphus (1774-1850), 10th child of King George III. Since 1763, Adolphustown’s future lands and waters had been part of the British Colony of Quebec; in 1792 Adolphustown hosted the first town hall meeting held in Upper Canada.
Loyalists came from 27 national origins, all loyal to the British Crown because it had promised and delivered the religious freedom lacking in a Europe riven by sectarian violence and wars.
St. Alban’s Centre is located at 10419 Loyalist Parkway (Hwy 33) in Adolphustown village, now part of Greater Napanee. Friends of St. Alban’s was formed by local volunteers to preserve the historic former church, creating a community centre. It was built as a tribute in 1884, 100 years after Loyalists’ arrival.
St. Alban’s Centre recognizes and celebrates the achievements of the local pioneers who helped create and shape Canada’s largest province, and the country itself.
