Hope Restored

Born in Montreal in 1935, Robert Leonard Dallison attended both the Royal Roads Military College and the Royal Military College of Canada and, following graduation in 1958, was commissioned into the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He received a BA (history) from RMC and a BA (history and international studies) from the University of British Columbia. He served for thirty-five years with the Canadian Army, obtaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and ending his career as chief of staff of the Combat Arms School at CFB Gagetown. After retiring, he maintained his life-long interest in history and heritage, including serving as the President of Fredericton Heritage Trust and as the New Brunswick representative on the Board of Governors for Heritage Canada. From 1992 to 2002, he was director of Kings Landing Historical Settlement. Retired again, he is currently living with his wife Sharon in Fredericton.

In April 1775, the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired. They reverberated in what later became New Brunswick, when recent immigrants from New England rose in rebellion. The British moved quickly to crush these rebels, and after the war they made the new frontier with the United States secure by settling Loyalist regiments throughout the area. The result of this wave of British American settlers was the establishment of New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The motto of the Loyalists, Spem reduxit -- Latin for "hope restored" -- became the motto of the province they founded.