| During the 1837-38 rebellion in Lower Canada, on the night of November 4, 1838, some Patriot rebels attacked Beauharnois and captured the wife and son of Seigneur Edward Ellice, and about 60 other Loyalists. While she was held hostage, Jane Ellice (1814-1864) sketched her captors and the room in the presbytery where she was held. A week later, the captives were freed by British troops. The village of Beauharnois was set aflame, and the next day, Ellice recorded in her diary: "... the village was still burning; women and children flying in all directions. Such are the melancholy consequences of civil war." Watercolour on pencil
C-013392 |