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"The National Archives of Canada holds originals, and in some cases copies, of Rolls of names of those who qualified as Loyalists compiled in the four Districts into which Upper Canada (Ontario) was divided in 1788. These Rolls were made by local Justices of the Peace upon orders of Lt. Gov. Simcoe - the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. In all there are just short of 8,000 entries in Files 1 to 15... There are duplications of each entry at least once in the various Files; thus, there are less than 4,000 individual names/entries."--Overview. These files are a result of a proclamation issued on 6 April 1796 which required Loyalists "to surrender their [land] certificates in exchange for title deeds and to make a statement under oath in the district court as to their right to hold them."--Introd.