JACOBITES-L Archives

From: "Mark Sutherland-Fisher" <>
Subject: Re: Government Systems and the Jacobites
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 23:38:38 -0000

Hi folks,
One small point, it was the Scots who had the greatest influence on Canada,
not the English. Scots Law being from the same "family" as French Law, the
removal of French rule in 1760 was swiftly followed by the Colonisation of
much of Upper Canada by the soldiers from the newly formed Highland
Regiments, most of whom were Jacobite soldiers pardoned on re-enlistment.
Yet others who had fled to the Southern States and fought in the Loyal
Regiments against the Colonial Army and lost after Yorktown, found their way
up to Canada and settled. Nova Scotia and P.E.I. seem more Scottish than
Scotland, Ontario is heavily dominated by Scots, Quebec still by the French
and of course Canadian politics by ex-Scots and their descendants.
Certainly the creation of written Constitutions suggests a move away from
the Roman-Dutch group but remember many of the Codified Legal Systems, like
France and Germany are in large part updated forms of the Roman
Institutional writers who started the entire thing off. Had the Jacobites
won, Scots Law would have been dealt a severe blow. A King who believed in
Divine Rights, the plague of the Stewarts, could not sit happily with laws
not handed out by him, but by ancient habits and the independent
interpretation of these laws by the courts. That was something which the
Hanoverians quickly learned not to interfere with, hence one reason for
their popularity in Lowland Scotland and among the Protestant Clans, apart
from religion of course.
Regards,
Mark,
Genealogist: Clan Sutherland
Co-Genealogist: Clan Mackenzie
Professional Genealogist specialising in the Highlands and 18th century
see my web-site: http://www.highland-family-heritage.co.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Wright and Rona Drennan <>
To: <>
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2000 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: Official French Language


> As a non expert I was surprised to see Canada included in the
'Roman/Dutch'
> group, since it was my impression that Canada's system followed from
English
> law, except in Quebec, where provincial laws evolved from the French Civil
> Code.
> And the US, which had a lot of French influence in its birth, would seem
to
> have been closer to the Roman system than English Canada. But as Bill's
> message points out, laws in many places seem to be evolving away from the
> English system, and that would seem to include Canada, which adopted a
> formal constitution a few years ago.
>
> This is an interesting thread. Is there a way to connect it back to the
> Jacobite focus of the list? I'll illustrate my extreme ignorance and ask
how
> the success of the Jacobite cause might have influenced the development of
> laws, parliaments, etc
>
> Jim
>
>
>

This thread:

• Re: Government Systems and the Jacobites by "Mark Sutherland-Fisher" <>