Scottish Emigration History
- Leslie Ryan
- Apr 9
- 3 min read
The emigration history of the Scottish people began in the 1600's. Freedom of Religion was one of the major reasons people left Scotland (thank you, Henry VIII and descendant Charles I). The Presbyterians were among the first to leave for Ulster, in Ireland (now Northern Ireland).
Beginning in 1606, 20-30,000 Scots moved mainly to County Down and some to Antrim of their own volition. In 1610, in an effort to further increase the distance between the unruly Irish and England (the North Channel is only about 12 miles wide) begun under Queen Mary, England granted 81,000 acres of land in Northern Ireland to some Scots, middle ranking English lords, and other "deserving" Irish people and institutions.
![Colonization of Ireland by England beginning in 1556. Colorful map and key showing dates. By User:Asarlaí - Based on [1], [2], [3]., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7045094](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/202248_7aecf81f04b34076bddba801d5b6b686~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_700,h_879,al_c,q_90,enc_avif,quality_auto/202248_7aecf81f04b34076bddba801d5b6b686~mv2.png)
James I of England (also James VI of Scotland), after founding colonies in Virginia, founded the colony of Nova Scotia (aka "New Scotland") in 1629. It lasted until 1632.
Other colonies in America followed later in 1683-1686, mostly settled by Quakers and Presbyterians looking to escape religious persecution. The Quakers settled in East Jersey which joined with West Jersey in 1702 to become New Jersey.
A trading center was set up at Darién, near Panama, but it was wiped out by 1700 as a result of disease and attacks by the Spanish.
Darien was reincarnated in the American colony of Georgia in 1736. Most of the settlers were from Inverness, and called it "New Inverness." In 1739 several of these settlers moved to South Carolina.
Cape Fear, North Carolina was one of the most successful settlements, as the Royal Governor there gave immigrants a 10 year tax exemption. Lowlanders preferred the Lower Cape Fear Region, Highlanders were given land grants to come and settle the Upper Cape Fear Region.
Emigration to North America accelerated after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The British government sought to punish rebellious Highlanders, and lands were seized for the production of sheep in the period known as "The Clearances" (1750 - 1860). The Clan system was destroyed, bagpipes and tartans were banned. You'll note this also occurs at the same time as the Great Famine in Ireland, which did spread to Scotland! From 1846-1856, the Famine years, some 11,000 Scots were given "assisted passage" from their landlords to America and Canada (which was the cheaper destination of the two). Another 5,000 were given assistance to move to Australia.
Scotland's history is complicated! Several historians there feel that Ireland was not the only country to lose millions of citizens to a "Diaspora." There are several sites on the internet to go through more extensive chronicles of Scottish Emigration History, some are included below. If you can trace your family back to a place in the American Colonies, you may be able to figure out just exactly where they came from in Scotland! Argyll? Inverness?
Research BOTH sides when looking for Revolutionary War veterans. Several key battles took place in North and South Carolina, and the Scots were divided in their loyalties!
Don't overlook articles about "Scots-Irish!" These will include information which may help you determine whether or not your family was forced to move to Ireland to make room for sheep, for example! My blog from 2023, Distilling Scotch - Irish US Migration
covers the migration paths our Scots-Irish ancestors took while helping to form America you may wish to review that!
We just missed National Tartan Day last week! Here is a link to the history of the tartan just for fun! https://scottishtartansmuseum.org/education/brief-history-of-tartan/
How's your Spring research going? DNA sales abound at all your favorite sites in anticipation of DNA Day, April 25! Check them out!
Let me know if you would like a free, no obligation review of your research for brick wall help by emailing WhoIComeFromInfo@gmail.com
Thanks for stopping by again,
Leslie Ryan
No compensation is received for any links or referrals herein. No copyright infringement is intended.
Links for further research besides the usual FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindMyPast, etc:
Scotland's People (censuses, civil registrations, church records, images)
Must pay to view the documents
Scottish Indexes (indexes only to some church records and more)
Your Scottish Archives (finding aid for church records not online and more)
Scot=Irish immigration history:
Ulster Scots
The Clearances in Scotland
The Ulster Historical Foundation Northern Ireland (Ulster) and Scotland
