Reflecting on my ancestors

As I am an avid family researcher, I often reflect on the path of my ancestors and in February I celebrate their brilliance, strength, and perseverance without which I would not exist.??

As a young girl I always considered myself Canadian. It was simple, I was born in Montreal, Quebec so I am Canadian. Like many other Canadians, I learned about Christopher Columbus, the British monarchy and our prime ministers. For some reason I always had an interest in the monarchy. With the last name “Stewart” there was always the question of a possible connection to the “Royal Stewarts”.??

In 1993 after volunteering with Black History Ottawa, I was introduced to a whole new part of Canadian history that I never learned at school, Canadian Black History. I learned of Mathieu Da Costa, Marie-Joseph Angélique, the Klu Klux Klan in Canada, the Black Loyalists, Jamaican Maroon settlers in Nova Scotia and so much more! I could now relate to being “African Canadian.”

As my parents are both born in Jamaica, I am a 1st generation Canadian. In 2010 after having some conversations with my father, I started to trace my family history. This further broadened my knowledge of Jamaica's history and culture and gave me insight into the fact that most Black people outside of Africa will never know their origins. After over 12 years of research which includes DNA testing, I have been able to uncover a great deal yet so much remains a mystery.??

I have traced my Stewart family line back to a 4x Great Grandfather, Rev. William Stewart (1778-1854). Family records, oral history and DNA results indicate that we are descendants of the Royal Stewarts. I have also been able to identify an African woman enslaved in the parish of Saint Ann, Jamaica named “Grace” (1747-1823), as a 4x Great Grandmother. She was enslaved by the family of Henry Redwar, a British descendant born in Barbados and resident plantation-owner in Jamaica.??

When did “Grace” arrive in Jamaica? Where in Africa was she from? I may never know the answers to these questions, and this is the struggle that many people of African descent have when trying to trace our family history. DNA evidence support the fact that my African ancestors were separated from their families, enslaved, treated like objects, and dispersed around the world. I have connected with blood relatives whose families trace back to parts of the U.S., Barbados, Haiti, Costa Rica and some even have hundreds of years of history in Nova Scotia. Am I also a descendant of a Jamaican Maroon who was exiled to Nova Scotia???

Black people played instrumental roles through history worldwide.?It is important that we tell “our stories” which have not yet been heard and/or documented so that others can get a full perspective of history.??

This and every Black History month I celebrate those who came before me.?

Jacquie Stewart, Senior HR Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat