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About the Loyalist Claims Commission Records
The records of the Loyalist Claims Commission are held in the National Archives of the United Kingdom at Kew (London) and are, for the most part, divided into two series within the Audit Office (AO) papers. The first series, AO 12, is the official record of the Loyalist Claims Commission in 146 volumes composed between 1776 and 1831. The majority of the records in the series were created while the commission was in session between 1783 and 1788. Volumes consist of collated copies of original material submitted to the commissioners. Types of information and sources found within AO 12 include loyalist memorials, evidence given by both witnesses attesting to the validity of loyalist claims and character references in support of individual claimants, and commission notes of the hearings held before the commission in either London or Halifax, Nova Scotia. The second series, AO 13, is not currently featured on the Maryland Loyalism Project. It does, however, contain information relevant to the project that may feature on the site in the future, including original documents collected under the aegis of the Claims Commission, as well as other sources including correspondence and loyalist pension submissions.
The Maryland Loyalist Project makes available dozens of memorials, or testimonials, submitted to the Loyalist Claims Commission by loyalist refugees seeking financial restitution from Parliament after the Treaty of Paris established American independence in 1783. The majority of these memorials are divided into three distinct sections: the claimant’s memorial, the schedule of losses, and evidence.
The memorial: The memorial, or the loyalist claimant’s testimony, is a narrative crafted by the claimant in order to attest to the validity of financial losses accrued in the colonies due to their decision to remain loyal during the War for American Independence. Since parliamentary compensation was based upon active loyalty during the war, each claimant used the opportunity of the memorial to prove that they had suffered as a result of their decision to support the Crown. Claimants often presented their wartime experience as a victimization narrative in order to increase the chances that they would receive a favorable hearing from the commission.
The schedule of losses: A schedule of losses is found in each of the loyalist claims and is a list of lost property and/or revenue accrued in America as a result of the claimant’s decision to remain loyal to the Crown. The schedule was the most important section of the claim for both the claimant seeking restitution and the parliamentary commissioners charged with establishing the value of successful claims. The lists of lost property and revenue often included items such as:
- property confiscated by Maryland’s state government, including real estate and, in a majority of cases, enslaved people living on the seized states.
- revenue lost from terminated government appointments and offices, including the salaries of tax collectors, Church of England ministers, and other government employees.
- Many claims include list of items lost during the conflict. As such, the loyalist claims often provide an intriguing glimpse into the material culture of late eighteenth-century America.
Evidence: The final section of each claim listed witnesses or character references attesting to the loyalty of the claimant and/or the validity of their schedule of losses. Often refugees living in London while the commission was in session agreed to serve as witnesses for one another and often attended commission hearings. [Example] Other sources included in the evidence section included letters of support from American residents or British military Personnel, and documents attesting to the validity of the claim (property deeds, certificates of military service, etc.).
Beyond loyalist memorials, the Maryland Loyalism Project also makes available the Decision Volumes compiled by the Claims Commission. These volumes, including AO 12/60, list the total amount of claimed by each memorialist and the amount actually allowed by the Claims Commission