Five Questions with historian and author Stuart Lyall Manson

Interview by Jason Setnyk | Submitted Photo

Cornwall, Ontario – Stuart Lyall Manson is a professional historian who co-owns Public History Inc., a research firm in Ottawa specializing in Indigenous history projects. He resides in the City of Cornwall. Stuart is also a published local historian: His book series Sacred Ground: Loyalist Cemeteries of Eastern Ontario is published by Global Heritage Press. Volume 1 of the series was released in 2021; Volume 2 is slated for late 2023.

Five Questions with The Seeker

1 – Tell us about your latest book and what readers can expect.

“In my Sacred Ground book series, I profile our oldest cemeteries. Each chapter is a site history combined with biographies of the loyalists buried there. The loyalists were our first non-Indigenous, permanent settlers, who supported the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The first volume covered cemeteries scattered throughout Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry; the upcoming second volume focuses largely on Glengarry. Readers can expect solid, professional historical content written in a breezy, accessible style.”

2 – What inspired you to become a historian and author?

“My late father, Lyall Manson, had a huge impact on my life in history. His fascination with the distant past influenced my decision to study history academically and to pursue a professional career as an historian. He also inspired me to focus my spare time on producing local history for public consumption. Not just in blog posts or articles, but also in the format which is the Holy Grail of every historian: published books.”

3 – How do you choose the topics you write about?

“The history of the loyalists intrigues me. They were a transitory people, living and thriving in the American Thirteen Colonies, but uprooted by the American Revolutionary War and consequently resettled here in Canada. The early history of Upper Canada, the foundation upon which Ontario was built, is also interesting to me. My focus on heritage cemeteries has the benefit of being “tangible” history: The work is connected to real landscapes and objects in our communities.”

4 – How do you balance historical accuracy with storytelling?

“History must be written in an interesting way; otherwise, it’s practically irrelevant. I work hard to assemble the facts extracted from original sources (letters, petitions, deeds, etc.) and to weave them into a cohesive narrative to grip the reader. History is like storytelling with guard rails. There is a great responsibility of getting the interpretations right, staying true to the facts, and being honest about when we speculate about a certain event or person.”

5 – Who are some historians or authors that you admire?

“As a local historian, I tip my hat to the trailblazer Jacob Farrand Pringle. He wrote the first history of Cornwall and area in 1890 (Lunenburgh or the Old Eastern District). My interest in early military history means my bookshelves are stocked with books by Donald E. Graves (War of 1812), and Gavin Watt (American Revolutionary War). On the light fiction side of the ledger, I’m a fan of P.G. Wodehouse and Edgar Rice Burroughs.”

Visit Stuart Lyall Manson’s blog about history on his website.