A local historian and descendant of United Empire Loyalists will share the stories of seven settlers who came to Niagara following the American Revolution during an upcoming lecture at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum.

Janet Hodgkins will speak June 18 about the experiences of Loyalists who fled the newly independent United States after the Revolutionary War and eventually settled in the Niagara region.

The lecture, which begins at 7:30 p.m., will explore the challenges faced by Loyalists after the war, including persecution, imprisonment and violence directed at those who remained loyal to King George III. More than 60,000 Loyalists left the United States following the conflict, settling throughout British North America, including in what is now Niagara.

“These were refugees from a civil war,” Hodgkins said in a release. “They were multi-ethnic, multi-racial, soldiers, ordinary colonial militia, Indigenous loyalists, free Blacks as well as enslaved Blacks brought here by soldiers and their enslavers. They were everybody.”

Hodgkins said the presentation will focus on seven Loyalists, including some of her own ancestors, whose journeys helped shape the region’s early history.

The lecture will also examine the significance of the letters “UE,” an honour granted to Loyalists and their descendants.

A graduate of McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario, Hodgkins worked as a children’s librarian with the Welland Public Library. She also serves as program chair and a board director with the Colonel John Butler (Niagara) Branch of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada and has been president of the Wainfleet Historical Society since 2009.

Hodgkins said she hopes the event will encourage attendees to explore their own family histories.

“This is an invitation to explore your own roots,” she said. “Who knows? You may have a Loyalist in your family.”