This week Marinus and Peter Meyler, local historian from Orangeville Ontario, discuss the remarkable life of Richard Pierpoint (1744–1838), a black slave who was abducted from his home in Senegal at the age of 16.  He fought with the British in Butler's Rangers during the American Revolutionary War and then in the War of 1812 in Upper Canada.  When Butler’s Rangers were disbanded at Niagara, he received a land grant and settled in the area.  At the outbreak of the War of 1812 at the age of 68 he helped form the Coloured Corps.  After the War the aged Pierpoint was granted land in present-day Fergus, Ontario.  Remarkably he fulfilled the required settlement duties while over the age of 80.

Peter Meyler is an author and historian and is the co-author of A Stolen Life: Searching for Richard Pierpoint, which tells the story of one of Ontario's first African settlers.  He has written numerous articles about Ontario's Black History, which have appeared in such publications as The Beaver and the Toronto Star.  Peter operates his own business providing forms management, graphic design and writing services and studied graphic design at Sheridan College in Oakville.