Emigration
Scots have been emigrating to other parts of Europe and beyond since the middle ages. Over two million people left Scotland for North America, Australia and other colonies in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Early Scottish Emigrants
Scots appear to have been among the earliest European travellers: the Norse saga of Leif Erikson recounts that on a voyage to what is now assumed to be North America around the year 1000AD, two Scots were the first to be sent ashore to explore the New World. Scots took part in the First Crusade in the 1090s and some may have survived to settle in Palestine. Throughout the Middle Ages, thousands of Scots emigrated, both temporarily and permanently, to England, Scandinavia, Poland and the low countries, as mercenary soldiers, pedlars, and merchants. In the 17th century the Scottish diaspora turned westward with the settlement of the Ulster plantation from 1609 and the opening up of the New World, especially after the Union of Parliaments in 1707. The Union also gave Scots improved access to opportunities in Africa and the East Indies, in the form of appointments to the civil administration, missionary churches and, not least, the army and navy. Not all emigrants were voluntary. In the 17th century many Covenanters were banished to the North American colonies. Their descendants were joined by Jacobites captured in the 1715 and 1745 rebellions. Transportation of convicted criminals to North America continued until 1776. Between 1787 and 1868 many Scottish criminals, including radicals from the 1820 uprising, were transported to Australia.
Mass emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries
The trickle of emigrants leaving Scotland became a flood from the middle of the 19th century until the third decade of the 20th century. It is estimated that over 44 million emigrants left Europe between 1821 and 1915, over two million of them Scots. The most important factor in the advent of mass emigration was the development of the steam engine. Steamships could cross the Atlantic in a week compared to a sailing ship crossing of six weeks. Rapidly expanding railway networks in Scotland and in North America allowed people to travel rapidly both to ports of departure and away from ports of arrival. Emigration was facilitated by specialist ‘passenger line’ steamship companies; newspaper advertising; the improvement in communications brought about by the creation of postal services and the telegraph; and British government encouragement via emigration societies.
Emigration from Scotland was actively encouraged in the 19th century by the British government, both in the form of government grant for emigration to certain colonies and by the publication of accurate information about the colonies and how to get there. In addition to government sponsored emigration societies, others were established by charitable societies. Individual landowners, especially in the Highlands, encouraged many of their tenants to emigrate (although others were concerned by population decrease caused by mass emigration). Poor relief authorities occasionally paid the passage of paupers, especially children, as an alternative to supporting them in the parish or sending them to the poorhouse. The Emigrants Information Office was established in 1886 for supplying intending emigrants with useful and trustworthy information respecting emigration, chiefly to the British Colonies. Its circulars, which were distributed to public libraries, included information about climate, travel, vaccinations required, and occupations especially desired in various colonies.
From Highlands and Lowlands
The popular image of the emigrant Scot is of a refugee from the Highland clearances, and in the first half of 19th century emigrants from the Highlands and Islands made up a disproportionate amount of the total number of people leaving Scotland. However, there were many reasons for emigration, and emigrants came from all areas of Scotland. In the later 19th century emigration to the USA was predominantly from towns, while Canada, Australia and New Zealand attracted tenant farmers and farm servants. Although poverty and land hunger account for a high proportion of emigrants, many skilled and semi-skilled urban tradesmen were inspired to emigrate for periods of a year or less to take advantage of high wages at certain times in growing American towns. Indeed, it is estimated that by the end of the 19th century around a third of emigrants returned to Scotland sooner or later. Among the most famous emigrants were the industrialist Andrew Carnegie and the author Robert Louis Stevenson. The latter emigrated to the United States in 1879, publishing an account of the crossing, The Amateur Emigrant, in 1883, and a moving account of an emigrant ship sailing from Lochaber in the mid-18th century appears in his novel Kidnapped.
Contributors: Rosemary Gibson, Alison Rosie, David Brown, Tristram Clarke, Alison Lindsay (all National Archives of Scotland, 2002); Fiona MacLeod (Highland Archive 2002); Robin Urquhart, Joanna Baird (both SCAN 2002). Editors: David Brown (NRS, 2021) and Elspeth Reid (2021)
Bibliography
Cage, R. A. ed., The Scots Abroad: labour, capital, enterprise, 1750-1914 (Croom Helm, 1985)
Devine, T. M. ed., Scottish Emigration and Scottish Society (Edinburgh, 1992)
Donnachie, Ian, ‘Scottish criminals and transportation to Australia, 1786-1852’ Scottish Social and Economic History 4 (1984) pp. 21-38
Donnachie, Ian, ‘The convicts of 1830: Scottish criminals transported to New South Wales’ The Scottish Historical Review LXV, 1, (179) (Apr 1986) pp. 34-47
McLeod, Mona, Leaving Scotland (National Museums of Scotland, 1996)
NRS have published a series of source lists (under previous corporate names):
National Archives of Scotland, Sources for emigrants (National Archives of Scotland, 2008)
Gibson, Rosemary M. and Jane Hill, The Scots in New Zealand : historical background, list of documents, extracts and facsimiles. (Scottish Record Office, 1994)
Sanderson, Margaret H. B. and Alison Lindsay, The Scots in America: historical background, list of documents, extracts and facsimiles. (Scottish Record Office, 1994)
Scottish Record Office, The Scots in Canada: historical background, list of documents, extracts and facsimiles. (Scottish Record Office, 1996)
Scottish Record Office, The Scots in Australia: historical background, list of documents, extracts and facsimiles. (Scottish Record Office, 1994)
Related Knowledge Base entries
My ancestor emigrated from Scotland. How can I trace information about him/her?
If you have not already done so, you should check out the Knowledge Base family history pages. These give advice on how to start tracing Scottish ancestors and some things you should bear in mind.
Information you will need.
Before coming to Scotland to research an emigrant ancestor, you should gather as much information about him or her from the country he or she emigrated to.
To trace your ancestor in Scotland, you will need to know his or her name, when he or she left Scotland, and as much associated information as you can assemble, such as the name of the parish he or she came from or married in, the names of other members of the family in Scotland, and your ancestor’s occupation.
Join a family history society.
Before coming to Scotland or hiring a Scottish researcher, you should consider joining a family history society. There are many of these in different parts of Scotland. Their members undertake a small amount of research on behalf of members abroad, and this help (by experienced local genealogists) may be crucial to tracing a family tree quickly and efficiently in Scotland. The Scottish Association of Family History Societies (SAFHS) is the umbrella organisation which provides links and contact details for all the family history societies on their website. <https://safhs.org.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024]
Passenger Lists and Immigration records
Try to obtain information about the journey to the new country from passenger lists or immigration records in the country of arrival. Look at the Knowledge Base entry on Passenger Lists for further information.
Transportation
If your ancestor was sentenced to transportation, after being convicted of a criminal offence, look at the FAQs How do I find the trial records and other records of someone transported to Australia or New Zealand? and How do I find the trial record of someone transported to North America? for further information.
Where will I find information about emigration societies and other bodies which assisted emigrants?
Very few records of emigration societies survive. However, it is possible to compile information about the activities of emigration societies and other similar bodies through a variety of sources.
Glasgow City Archives hold the records of Glasgow Parish Council, which collected the reports of charitable and other bodies, including emigration societies. There are more than 30 volumes of these collected miscellaneous reports (reference T-PAR1) on open access in the search room, and the contents of each volume are worth checking. They include examples of the Emigrants Information Office circulars, a pamphlet of 1906 giving the text of a lecture by General Booth on Emigration and the Salvation Army. The emigration to Canada of poor law children is addressed in a pamphlet produced by the State Children’s Association. A report on the Child Emigration Society includes details of farm schools in Australia. Further sources of information can be found by searching under the word ‘emigration’ in the Archives’ card-file index and on the computer index. The History and Glasgow Room (the local studies library for Glasgow, in the same building as Glasgow City Archives) holds copies of handbooks for emigrants and a copy of Robert Lamond, A Narrative of the Rise and Progress of Emigration from the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew to new settlements in Upper Canada on Government Grant (Glasgow, 1821).
National Records of Scotland hold the records of the Highland and Island Emigration Society (HD4/5) and these are available on the ScotlandsPeople website <www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk> [accessed 24 April 2024]. The records include a list of nearly 5,000 emigrants to Australia who were sponsored by the between the years 1852 and 1857. The NRS online catalogue can be searched for material in privately deposited records using the terms ‘emigration’, ‘emigrant’, ‘emigrants’ and other terms you think relevant. Details of a state-aided scheme to encourage emigration from Lewis and Harris to Manitoba in the period 1888-1889, survive in the records of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department records (AF51).
Local newspapers contain adverts placed by some emigration societies and other bodies assisting emigration. These can be searched through the British Newspaper Archive (available free of charge in the National Library of Scotland or with a subscription elsewhere) <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024]. Local archives or libraries may have collections of other local newspapers.
How do I find the trial records and other records of someone transported to Australia or New Zealand?
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) will, in most cases, hold records of the trial of a Scottish transportee, but you may be able to augment these with details of the voyage from records held by The National Archives in London, and newspaper reports of the trial. Prior to visiting the NRS, or hiring a record agent to carry out research there, it is best to assemble as much information as possible about the person you are researching (particularly when he or she arrived in Australia or New Zealand and which part of Scotland he or she came from) and to read the sections dealing with transportation and criminals in Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors 7th edition (Birlinn, 2020). To locate and read through the court and prison records, described below, for one individual case, will require more than one day’s work in the historical search room at the NRS. Separate visits may be required to The National Archives in London.
If your ancestor was transported from Scotland in the period 1812 to 1867, you may be able to see the prosecution papers in the case, in the form of the precognitions in the Lord Advocate’s records (AD) in the NRS. Hardly any survive for the period before 1812. Those for the period 1812-1900 (AD14) are listed under the name of the accused in the NRS online catalogue: <www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexes> [accessed 24 April 2024]. The records of the Advocate’s department also has a register of returns of pardoned or ticket of leave convicts committed on new charges (AD12/8). The High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court in Scotland, passed sentences of transportation. For details of how to search through Justiciary Court records (JC) at the NRS, you should read the chapter on criminals in National Records of Scotland Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors 7th edition (Birlinn, 2020) and/or look at the research guides for court and legal records on the website. <www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides/research-guides-a-z/court-and-legal-records> [accessed 24April 2024]. Personal details of the transportee should appear in the registers of the prison which served the court where the trial took place. Prison registers survive in the Home and Health Department records (HH) in the NRS. Most prison registers begin only from the 1840s. They include a register of convicts under sentence of transportation (HH21/5/16).
Ships carrying transported prisoners to Australia sailed from England, and Convict Transportation Registers survive among the Home Office records in The National Archives in London (HO 11). These cover the period from 1787 to 1871 and give the names of all the convicts who sailed on each ship along with the place and date of the conviction and the length of sentence. A microfilm copy is held by the NRS (RH4/160/7). The registers are arranged chronologically by the date of departure of each ship. The names of Scottish prisoners occur towards the end of each list. Two other classes of record in The National Archives in London contain information about transportees. A census of convicts 1788 – 1859 among the Home Office papers (HO10) lists convicts and their families in New South Wales and Tasmania. The census for 1828 is the most complete. A number of lists of convicts for the period 1801 – 1821 are among the New South Wales Original Correspondence (CO 201), and these are indexed.
Once you know which court the trial took place in, you should be able to find a report of the trial in a local newspaper for the period. To locate back copies of local newspapers for particular areas of Scotland consult:
British Newspaper Archive <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/> [accessed 24 April 2024] (available free of charge in the National Library of Scotland or with a subscription elsewhere)
Ferguson, J. P. S. Directory of Scottish Newspapers (National Library of Scotland, 1984).
How do I find the trial record of someone transported to North America?
Scottish convicts sentenced to transportation before 1776 were sent to North America. A published list of these, based on Scottish sources such as the records of the Privy Council, High Court of Justiciary, Treasury, etc can be found in David Dobson, Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations 1650-1775 2nd edition (Clearfield, 2010). For other published lists of Scottish settlers in North America see below.
Information about individual cases should appear in the records of the High Court of Justiciary, the supreme criminal court in Scotland, at the National Records of Scotland (NRS). To locate and read through the court records for one individual case, will require more than one day’s work at the NRS. Before you visit the NRS or hire a record agent to carry out research there, you should assemble as much information as possible about the person you are researching (particularly when they arrived in North America) and which part of Scotland they came from) and read the sections dealing with transportation and criminals in Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors 7th edition (Birlinn, 2020).
Published lists of Scottish settlers in North America
Coldham, Peter W Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660 (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1987).
Coldham, Peter W Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775 (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1988)
Dobson, David Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825 (Genealogical Publishing Co, 1993)
Dobson, David Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations 1650-1775 2nd edition (Clearfield, 2010)
Filby, P W & others, ed., Passenger and Immigration Lists Index (Gale Research Co, 1981 – present, 21 volumes, continuing) is an index of names in published passenger lists and other lists of arrivals in North America in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Whyte, Donald Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the USA (Magna Carta Book Co, 1972)
Whyte, Donald Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the USA Vol 2 (Magna Carta Book Co, 1986)
Where can I obtain photographs and other illustrations of emigrants and emigrant ships leaving Scotland?
For photographs of the ports of Glasgow and Greenock, which handled the vast majority of Scottish passenger steamer sailings, the fullest source is the Clyde Navigation Trust collection, which is held by Glasgow City Archives. Many of the Clyde Navigation Trust images have been published in John F Riddell, ‘Clyde Navigation: a history of the development and deepening of the river Clyde’ (Edinburgh, 1979).
Other photographs of Glasgow’s docks, especially the Broomielaw, which was the starting point for many transatlantic voyages, can be viewed online in the Virtual Mitchell website at: <https://www.mitchelllibrary.org/virtualmitchell/> [accessed 24 April 2024].
Perhaps the largest selection of photographs and other illustrations of emigrants, particularly to the USA, is the Bettmann Archive, of New York; founded by an emigrant from Germany. Many of the Bettmann Archive images have been published. Online access is available at: <https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/bettmann> [accessed 24 April 2024]
Where can I obtain a photograph or illustration of a specific emigrant-carrying ship?
If you do not know the name of the ship concerned, you should find this out from passenger lists or emigration records in the country of arrival. For more information see the Knowledge Base entry on Passenger Lists (under ‘Record Types’).
Once you know the name of the ship you should find out more details from Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. <Lloyd’s Register Of Ships Online | Archive & Library | Heritage & Education Centre (lrfoundation.org.uk)> [accessed 24 April 2024]. This is published annually and includes the name of each ship, the date of launch, the name of the shipyard that built her, the yard number (this helps you find information about a ship from shipyard records), and any previous names the ship had. Once you have the date of launch, the name of the shipyard, and the yard number, you should look in one of three places for a photograph: records of the shipbuilder (if they survive), records of industrial photographers, and composite collections in libraries and archives.
Shipbuilders’ records
If the ship was built in a shipyard outside Britain you should take the advice of archivists in the country concerned. If it was built in Britain then look for the relevant archives by using the Archives Hub <https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/> and Discovery <https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/> [both accessed 24 April 2024]. An older book may also help but records may have been deposited in other archives services since it was published: L A Ritchie, The Shipbuilding Industry: a guide to historical records (Manchester University Press, 1992).
Industrial Photographers
If your ship was built in Scotland after the 1920s there may be photographs of her among the records of industrial photographers, who covered ship launches, trials and refits. The largest collection in Scotland is that of the firm of William Ralston & Co, which covered many of the launches, refits and trials of ships built in Glasgow and in other yards on the river Clyde. The collection is held by Glasgow City Archives. To check this collection you will, in most cases, need to know the name of the shipyard that built or refitted the ship. Other collections are held by Historic Environment Scotland.
Composite Collections
Photographic collections assembled by shipping enthusiasts or maritime institutions sometimes find their way to archives and libraries. For Scottish built ships the following repositories may be worth checking:
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich <https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections> [accessed 24 April 2024]
Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine <https://www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org/collections/> [accessed 24 April 2024]
Glasgow University Archives, especially the Adamson Robertson Collection (DC101) and the Photomarine Collection (DC113) <https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/archivespecialcollections/> [accessed 24 April 2024]
Glasgow City Libraries (the Langmuir Collection and Wotherspoon Collection)
Glasgow City Archives holds the photographic collection of the Clyde Navigation Trust and maintains a card-file index of Clyde-built ships, with notes on photographs and illustrations). <https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/libraries/city-archives/collections> [accessed 24 April 2024]