www.mcnishandweiss.co.uk
		John Weiss history writing in the field of history as John McNish Weiss in memory of his ancestors-in-law
	Introduction	Four thousand African Americans in slavery took their freedom in the course of the War of 1812, half a century before American Emancipation. Several hundred of them chose to fight with the British against their ex-masters, as members of a new CORPS OF COLONIAL MARINES, and settled in Trinidad with their families after the war. There they founded in 1816 a community that maintains its identity today as the 'Merikens', near Princes Town in the south of Trinidad. A book is in preparation. John Weiss trained as an architect and planner, was an educator in the design field for thirty years and continues work as a designer and craftsman. He has pursued historical projects since 1993, researching the Black refugees of the War of 1812, the Corps of Colonial Marines (including his adoptive ancestors) and related aspects of Trinidad history, and early British legislation on the Slave Trade in the period 1805-08, presenting papers on these topic to international conferences. He conducts archival research in UK repositories for historians around the world.
		article: Corps of Colonial Marines article: 'Averse to Any Controul': paper for Bermuda Dockyard & the War of 1812 papers and publications home email
		revn 30 June 2012