Dear Listers, I find the story of the Scottish clearances very interesting. I had no idea they were so severe and that so many Scots went to Canada as a result (including perhaps my great grandfather). I wonder if many came to Australia. If the clearances started early in the 19th C then it seems unlikely that many would have come here as immigration to Australia did not really take off until about 1850. Although people of Scots descent form a large proportion of the Australian population there are few stories about the clearances. Can anyone give me a brief description of the areas of Scotland mainly affected or perhaps suggest a good book on the subject. TIA and best regards Peter Ferguson. ----- Original Message ----- From: Steven Lyday <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2002 3:36 AM Subject: [SCTCDN] Scottish Clearence Ships > Hi everyone, > > Many thks for the off list suggestions. So far no joy. Another note > regarding these ships that I should have made in the original post. > These 5 ships were contracted by Colonel Gordon to clear Benbecula and > S. Uist of it tenants. The passengers arrived in rags and were > completely destitute. The Canadian government paid passage for many of > them to travel on to Hamilton. Do not know if this helps. It appears > that Col. Gordon refused to reimburse Canada for the expenses incurred. > > > Does anyone know if there is microfilm of Quebec or other newspapers for > this period that might contain published passenger lists? > > > TIA and Re, > > SPL >

Peter, Within this site, are some bits about Australian immigration, worth a check. http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/index.html There also was a very charismatic minister a Norman MacLeod who emigrated to NS, Canada not sure of year but sometime I think 1851 or just after he convinced a pile of immigrants to go with him first to Australia then to New Zealand, think there is something about the Clearancefigure you might find that story interesting . http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/FSCNS/Scots_NS/Cty_Celt/CCT_New_Zealand.h tml Cheers Christine > >