Beasley, now living in Simcoe, recently released From Bloody Beginnings: Richard Beasley’s Upper Canada, which he describes as creative non-fiction. “The characters are true and the events are what happened except they’re presented in a novelistic style,” he said, as he talked about his latest book launched earlier this month at Joseph Brant Museum in Burlington.

The book relates in narrative style the varied experiences of Richard Beasley (1761-1842), a fur trader, soldier, political figure, farmer and businessman in Upper Canada. A United Empire Loyalist, Beasley left New York in 1777 to settle in Quebec. In 1788, he moved to the Hamilton area, where he remained until his death.

Beasley lived during volatile times and the book covers many of the events that impacted his life, including the tenant rebellions in New York State, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812. It also tells of Beasley’s many accomplishments, such as his stints as a magistrate, organizer of the militia in West York, and leader of the Legislative Assembly.

There are Flamborough references in the book as well. Beasley owned several parcels of land in the area, some in both west and east Flamborough. Before the War of 1812, he provided goods to Tecumseh, the famous leader of the Shawnee who joined British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock to force the surrender of Detroit in August 1812, a major victory for the British.

While doing research for his book, Beasley learned that Tecumseh also lived in Flamborough for a short time after his brother was defeated in the United States at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. The native leader lived in the Greensville area, Beasley said.

Also, there were accounts that Beasley’s two sons went on a hunt for gold in the area north of Beverly Swamp in Flamborough but there were no reports that they ever found any.

Beasley feels that local residents, especially those in Burlington and Hamilton, will enjoy reading his book because it presents “a side of history that they don’t know much about.” Also, for those who carry the Beasley name, it offers a personal and dramatic look at their ancestral history.

Dismissing claims often heard that Canadian history is much less exciting than American, he said, “We haven’t exaggerated our history the way that they (the Americans) have.” Even so, he insists that there are plenty of interesting events that have shaped Canadian history and many are recounted in his book.

Beasley said he has been researching his new book “on and off” since 1960, concentrating more deeply on it for the last two to three years. He is currently working on a historical novel about Burma, set at the beginning of the Second World War when it was invaded by the Japanese.

Beasley was born and schooled in Hamilton, graduating from McMaster University with a bachelor of arts degree in literature and history. He lived in many European countries for close to 40 years, working, studying and writing for several years and also earned a master’s degree in library science and a PHD in social economics from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan.

His first published novel, a biography entitled The Canadian Don Quixote: the Life and Works of Major John Richardson, Canada’s First Novelist, appeared in the 1970s to much acclaim.

In 2004, his historical novel, Sarah’s Journey, about a slave who escaped from Virginia to Upper Canada in 1820, won the best novel award presented by the Hamilton and Region Arts Council.

A full listing of Beasley’s books, which cover genres from detective stories to a political economic history of the automobile, is available online at www.kwic.com/davus . Copies of From Bloody Beginnings: Richard Beasley’s Upper Canada can be obtained locally at Pickwick Books, Waterdown; Bryan Prince Bookseller, Westdale and Tim Dockstadter Books, Hamilton.