Thank you, Edward; it's a fascinating study. Have been looking for our James Adams' ancestors for several years now; just discovered his participation in the Battle of Dunbar about 8 years ago, but I've been told that looking for Adamses in Scotland is like looking for John Smith in the U.S. Thanks so much for your explanation. Lucille (Adams) Richmond -----Original Message----- From: Edward Andrews <edward.andrews@btinternet.com> To: SCOTLAND-GENWEB-L@rootsweb.com <SCOTLAND-GENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Monday, September 27, 1999 8:54 AM Subject: Re: Would appreciate a suggestion. > >----- Original Message ----- >From: BaggyGenes <bagygenz@napanet.net> >To: <SCOTLAND-GENWEB-L@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Monday, September 27, 1999 3:30 AM >Subject: Re: Would appreciate a suggestion. > > >> Hi Edward -- Would you happen to know where one might obtain prisoner's >lists >> from Dunbar and Worcester? There are several other researchers who have >been >> trying to locate such lists, without much luck. There's evidently one >ship's >> list for Worcester prisoners online but nothing else. Would prisoners >have >> been listed in Scotland, or in England? What ports were used to send them >to >> the colonies? >> >> Any help most appreciated. >> >> Judy > > Think about it. Americans are still looking for MIAs from Viet Nam, and >after WW2 there was a lot of work which had to be done in trying to locate >displaced persons. > 350 years ago there was not the same interest in records, and people would >not have been thinking in the possibility of people coming behind having any >interest in the people. > The armies which fought were not full time. People either turned up or were >made to turn up and marched off. > Luck would be the essence of the game. A piece of paper survives, or >someone copies a list into a journal which survives. > The reason why, until recently, history has been the story of the great and >famous is because the only sources which existed in profusion are about the >great and famous. We may well know all about the guy who had his head >chopped off in the Tower, and not even have the names of a dozen who were >hanged at Tyburn. > You ask would the prisoners have been listed in Scotland or England. Think >about it. The 13,000 of the Scottish army - a Scotland which was being >garrisoned by English troops marched south. 2,000 were killed and 10,000 >made prisoner. What lists would there be in Scotland? Muster lists. Scotland >was however undergoing military occupation. Towns were being besieged. The >Scottish records were captured in Stirling, the Honours of Scotland (Crown >Jewels) narrowly escaped the same, and the records were taken down to >London. The ship sank which was bringing them back. > In England there might be a list. At what stage would it be taken? by the >NCO who was at the capture - he probably couldn't write, and hadn't paper >handy. The gaoler when they got to a building? > The answer is that they would probably only be listed when they were told >off for deportation. Fortunately, I believe that there is a record of them >(or at least a partial record of them) and I think that it is published >somewhere. It is however not my subject and I only know a very little about >records of interest to Americans > The amazing thing is not that there are so few records of that time, but >that there are so many. To get at them however you have to be actually >looking at places like the PRO. Some is published, some has been transcribed >and not published. Some turn up in Private collections. There is very little >on the net. It is really an area where if you want to get anywhere new, you >need >professional support. > > People comment about how difficult it is to trace people on this side of >the pond. Generally speaking your records are better kept. There are also >more public records which have survived. There is also much more interest in >genealogy in America than there is on this side of the pond. > You now see why it is important to have an understanding of history and the >society about which you are working. > Edward Andrews > > > >St. Nicholas Buccleuch Parish Church Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland >Visit our Web site http://www.btinternet.com/~stnicholas.buccleuch/index.htm > > > > > >==== SCOTLAND-GENWEB Mailing List ==== >Scottish Universities >Their Libraries & Archives >http://www.ozemail.com.au/~jimjar/jimjargg.htm > >============================== >Search the Social Security Death Index online for FREE! >http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ >The most powerful SSDI search engine on the Internet! >