Don Gutteridge's latest book in the Marc Edwards Mystery series is Death of a Patriot. Here, he fills us in on the book's historical background.

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My fiction series, The Marc Edwards Mysteries, tells the story of Upper Canada in the 1830s and settlers’ struggles to make their lives there. The books depict settlers’ threats from not only annexationists in the United States, but also from within Upper Canada’s own governing party, the Family Compact.

Upper Canada’s Family Compact was composed of a handful of would-be aristocrats who controlled the Upper Chamber of the Legislature and were in thick with the Governor of the day (appointed from Britain). The Upper Chamber (Legislative Council) was appointed by the Compact-friendly Governor and held veto power over bills passed by the freely elected Assembly. This power was routinely abused to stop the Assembly’s reform legislation that would benefit the farmers and ordinary citizens of the province. In this way the Compact kept all the best appointments and sinecures for themselves and controlled the banking system, to the detriment of debt-ridden farmers.

Meanwhile, below the border, many American politicians were calling for the annexation of Upper and Lower Canada, and some of those in the Assembly were accused of colluding with them, especially their leader, William Lyon Mackenzie. Finally in 1837, frustrated by their lack of progress, many farmers decided to follow Mackenzie and revolt. The ensuing conflict was disastrous for the rebels and many fled to the United States. But the thirst for Responsible Government (that is, the pre-eminence of the elected Assembly and a cabinet appointed from it to challenge the governor’s power) was too strong, even for the Tories in the Compact.

After the Rebellions of 1837, Britain sent an envoy, Lord Durham, a liberal sympathizer who recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be joined as one Canada with responsible government to hold sway. The latter took another eight years, but the new Canada eventually achieved its goal.

Though there was one more time, a year following the putdown of the Rebellions, when the new country had a fight on its hands. A group of exiled Canadians and annexationist Americans joined forces to wage war on Upper Canada. In what was known as the Patriot Wars, the so-called “patriots” invaded on three different occasions—the Battle of the Short Hills, the Battle of Pelee Island and the Battle of Windsor—and were defeated each time by a combination of British regulars and hardy militia, determined to fight for the survival of their land.

The survival instinct was strong among our early forbears, who had to struggle mightily to thrive. And thrive they did.

Don Gutteridge is the author of forty books: fiction, poetry and scholarly works. He taught high school for seven years and then joined the Faculty of Education at Western University in the Department of English Methods. He is now professor emeritus and lives in London, Ontario.