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HalfPay_Officers_Panel Half Pay Officers In the early years of the 19th Century, the Emperor Napoleon sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution throughout all of continental Europe. In a series of wars involving every major European power he established himself as one of the greatest military commanders of all time. However, in 1812 and 1813 he su�ered defeats which led to his abdication and exile on the Island of Elba. Less than a year later he escaped and returned to the battle�eld. In 1815 he was defeated in battle for the last time, at the Battle of Waterloo. The Cause The Problem The end of the Napoleonic Wars produced a glut of returning English servicemen who found upon their return home that England was in the midst of an economic depression with very few prospects. The solution To alleviate the situation the British government o�ered retiring servicemen land in the colonies in lieu of half their pay/pension. The amount of land you received depended on your rank. The opportunity Many took this o�er as a means to maintain their social or class standing. The opening of over two million acres of land north of Rice Lake for settlement in 1818 coincided with the �rst waves of "half-pay o�cers". As much of the land in the southern part of Upper Canada had already been settled, many half-pay o�cers received land grants to the north of Rice Lake. However some preferred the more settled areas and bought farms along the lakeshore. Many chose Cobourg because of its proximity to their lands and its society. Two of the half-pay o�cers to arrive here were Walter Boswell and Archibald Macdonald. Lower Canada USA U p p e r C a n a d a Lake Ontario Rice Lake Purchase 1818 A L G O N Q U I A N I R O Q U O I A N Newcastle Rice L. Rice Lake (Mississauga)