Doug, Can you give us the title of that book. It might be useful for other surnames. Margaret Doug Gordon wrote: > > While researching in New Jersey recently, I came across a book that mainly > had page after page of records of Scots who emigrated from Scotland from the > late 1600's to the late 1700's, mainly to the "colonies", but also to other > Western destinations such as Canada and the Caribbean. Next to each name it > had either the abbreviation "sh.", meaning that they voluntarily "took > ship", or "tr.", meaning "transported", which meant that they were being > exiled for petty crimes or for political or religious reasons. We tend to > forget that the "colonies" were used somewhat as a dumping ground by the > British courts, as well as being a haven for people who wanted to get away > of their own volition. > > Anyway, there were a number of Gordon entries in the book, not all of them > leaving voluntarily. One typical entry read "Elizabeth Gordon, Perth, whore > & thief, tr. 1754 to Md.". Well, I'm sure she's not related to anyone on > *this* list :-). > > Doug Gordon