SNIPPET: If your Scottish or Irish ancestors migrated to America in the 19th century, there is a good chance that they did not come directly from the British Isles, but from Canada. They may have first crossed the Atlantic as members of a government-sponsored settlement group. Two such groups settled in the Ottawa Valley in the 1820s. Several thousand Scots, known collectively as the Lanark Society Settlers, came there in 1820 and 1821, while Irish immigrants, the Peter Robinson Settlers, arrived in 1823 and 1825. Many of them settled in the same part of Upper Canada. Although there was no previous connection between the two groups, their reasons for migrating were similar - poverty and unemployment headed the list. In the case of the Irish, those ills were compounded by religious discrimination. Although many of the harsh penal laws which restricted the rights of Roman Catholics and some Protestant groups had been rescinded, some were still in effect until 1829. After the Napoleonic Wars, there was widespread economic distress in the British Isles. This ended in 1815, but when prices fell as cheap grain, meat, and consumer goods were imported from abroad, it negatively affected the livelihood of farm laborers and craftsmen. Thousands of discharged war veterans also swelled the ranks of the unemployed. In Scotland the weavers were hit particularly hard; the demand for army blankets and uniforms had dwindled, and other woolen goods became a glut on the market because people had less purchasing power. Ireland's woes were compounded by a failure of the potato crop caused by a disease known as potato curl (different from the fungus responsible for the terrible famine years of the 1840s), in 1821; this was a disaster in a country where poorer classes subsisted on potatoes and buttermilk. The British government was under pressure to do something to alleviate the situation. Emigration seemed to be the answer, provided sufficient inducement could be offered to make it attractive to people who had seldom traveled more than a few miles from home The emigration solution proposed by the British government was not entirely altruistic. The 1812 War between the U. S. and the Canadas had been concluded by treaty in 1814, but there was a lingering fear that hostilities could break out again. For some years afterward the British Army had manned forts and garrisons in Upper and Lower Canada, but they were too costly to maintain. The plan was to replace them with settlements filled with men loyal to the Crown, who could form militia units to be called into service in case of need. In Scotland, hundreds of families, many of them unemployed weavers, formed themselves into more than 40 emigration societies preparing to move to Upper Canada. Some were from Glasgow, others from the surrounding countryside. Few of the weavers had worked in factories; most had worked in their own homes, using rented looms. In Canada, these families were known as "the Lanark Society Settlers," although there was no emigration society of that name. That was a blanket terms for members of emigration societies who settled at New Lanark. The actual groups had many different names, such as Springbank, Muslin Street, Glasgow Union Wrights, and the Lesmahagow Society. Each adult male was allocated 100 acres of land which he could own outright for a registration fee of ten pounds and after performing set duties, including clearing a certain acreage of land and building a dwelling house. Tools, seeds, and basic household goods were supplied, and each family received a financial loan in several installments. This money had to be spent in specified ways and was meant to be repaid later. Many of these loans were eventually forgiven because it was years before profits were able to be made from the land. Cost of the transatlantic passage was three pounds for an adult, less for a child, but only a few of the emigrants could afford to pay their own way. Others were asisted by funds raised by public subscription. The first group of families left in 1820, traveling on the ships, "Commerce," "Prompt" and "Brock." Others followed in 1821, on the the "Commerce, " "David of London," Earl of Buckinghamshire," and "George Canning." After a gruelling march from Quebec City, traveling by boat, wagon, and on foot, they were given land in the adjoining townships of Dalhousie, Lanark, North Sherbrooke, and Ramsay, in what is now Lanark County, a short distance from Ottawa. Meanwhile, a response was sent from Britain's Dept. of Colonial Affarirs to Sir John Beverly ROBINSON, Attny. Gen. for Upper Canada, asking him to find a knowledgeable person to travel to Ireland to recruit families there. Sir John chose his brother, Peter ROBINSON, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada representing York (now Toronto). Robinson went to the south of Ireland, where he set up recruiting stations with the assistance of the local magistrates and clergy. While the scheme was meant for the relief of the poor, a handful of tradespeople, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, and coopers, were included as being necessary to the backwoods settlements. Only people of "good character" were offered the chance to participate, but it was later discovered that a few men of dubious reputation were given glowing reference by magistrates who saw this as a great way to rid their districts of notorious troublemakers. Once ROBINSON had allayed the fears of the people, the response was enormous. For those who were struggling, the prospect of 100 acres of free land for every male over 19 was overwhelming. Free passage, free rations for a year, tools, and basic household goods provided a further inducement. In the spring of 1823, the first group of settlers left Cork Harbor for a two-month voyage on board the ships "Hebe" and "Stakesby." Some of his people found land in Lanark and Ramsay, while others located in the nearby townships of Beckwith, Pakenham, Huntley, and Goulbourn. The last two were later incorporated into Carleton Co. Two years later ROBINSON returned to Ireland and brought out a much larger group, traveling on the ships "Albion," "Amity," Brunswick, " "Elizabeth, " "Fortitude," "John Barry," "Regulus," "Resolution," and "Star.O" Most were taken to a group of townships in another part of Ontario, surrounding the town of Peterborough, which they named in ROBINSON's honor. Many of the families who came as Lanark Society and Peter Robinson settlers were joined by relatives as time went on, although these later arrivals had to pay their own way. Additional Scots came in the 1820s and 1830's, while the great Famine of the 1840's brought numerous people from Ireland. . Ninety percent of the Peter Robinson settlers were Roman Catholic, while the Scots were primarily Presbyterian. During the 19th century, a large number of these new Canadians migrated to the U.S. -- Excerpts, Carol McCuaig's article, "Ancestry" magazine Sept/Oct 1996