Hi Allison, Thank you so much for sharing this info! My ancestors (Campbell ) came here (simcoe county) from islay around 1849. I hope to someday figure out the how if it. I have other branches that came here much earlier, my husband as well. I live in Cillingwood, Ont. Darcy Plummer > On May 20, 2016, at 2:07 PM, Allison Akgungor via <sct-islay@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > In response to Toni’s message and Bob MacQueen’s very generous sharing of his research and writing (see below) I just want to say how much I enjoyed reading this and his detailed documentation of what his ancestors journey from Islay to Canada must have been like. > > I have a handwritten account of travels from Scotland to Canada in the 1830s to Bass Lake, Oro Township, Simcoe County. A granddaughter recorded the story told by her McPherson grandmother. It tells of a similar journey to what Bob McQueen has found. > > “They were a month coming up the country--that was before there were any trains running. They landed at Quebec and came up to Montreal in small boats, then up the Rapids in small boats drawn by horses on the shore. When nearing a rapid they were told to get out and walk so they came slowly towards Toronto, then muddy little York. When they arrived in Toronto they could not get anywhere to stay overnight. After some time they at last got a place but had to pay twenty-one shillings apiece for the privilege of sleeping on the floor in their own clothes. > Next morning they engaged a man to take their luggage to Holland Landing. One of my uncles was sick and could not walk so went on the luggage. The rest of the family walked from Toronto to Holland Landing then came over Lake Simcoe in small boats to the Narrows as Orillia was then called by the settlers. It was only an Indian village then.” > > My sister and I have visited Ontario several times retracing some of the routes our ancestors took, reading historical accounts as we travelled such as The Backwoods of Canada by Catherine Parr Traill. We really appreciated travel on asphalt highways while reading of oxen and their loads disappearing into the swamp sliding off bumpy corduroy roads. > > This summer we plan to take a cruise on the Rideau canal as an account of our McPhee 3x-great-grandparents travels from Islay to Derby Twp, Grey County, Ontario in 1851 includes travel on the canal: "They were held in quarantine at Quebec for two weeks, then the family were taken by steamboat to Toronto via the St Lawrence River, Ottawa River, Rideau Canal and Lake Ontario.” I would be interested to know if anyone else has heard of this route being used by their ancestors. > > When their daughter, Margaret McPhee Niven (my great-great-grandmother) came in 1865 as a widow with 5 young children (from my research) she travelled on an Allan Line combined steam and sailing vessel The Saint Andrew to Quebec and likely then by train to Toronto, then by train to Collingwood and then by side-wheeler steamboat from Collingwood to Owen Sound which must have been a much faster and easier journey overall. Although keeping track of 5 young children must have been quite the challenge! Fortunately her unmarried sister accompanied her. > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 13 May 2016 12:03:33 +0000 > From: Toni <ToniSinclair@hotmail.com <mailto:ToniSinclair@hotmail.com>> > Subject: [SCT-ISLAY] McQueens from Islay to Ontario > To: Islay <SCT-ISLAY-L@rootsweb.com <mailto:SCT-ISLAY-L@rootsweb.com>> > Message-ID: > <BLUPR16MB051461493857310E88648602D2740@BLUPR16MB0514.namprd16.prod.outlook.com <mailto:BLUPR16MB051461493857310E88648602D2740@blupr16mb0514.namprd16.prod.outlook.com>> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > Hi folks, > > Recently Bob McQueen from New Zealand sent me a copy of a booklet he just published regarding his ancestors' trip from Islay to Nottawasaga Township in 1833. It's the best accounting of the actual journey that I've read. I asked him if I could pass this on to the Islay group, in case some of you wanted to order a copy. Here is his response: > > > " Yes, it would be great to have you post something on the Islay list. And I could probably arrange sales of physical book. > > However, it would be much easier to have you point interested people at a free copy of the book, available for downloading at > http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/bmcqueen/WEBDOCS/mcqueen/index.htm <http://www.mngt.waikato.ac.nz/bmcqueen/WEBDOCS/mcqueen/index.htm> > I'd rather get the free electronic file out there and distributed (and forwarded) to as many as are interested rather than trying to make any money to offset printing costs of the physical copy. Bob" > > So here you go! A freeby worth a million. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did. > Toni > > ------------------------------- > > Quoting the entire text of a previous message in a reply is poor netiquette. Please don't do it. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCT-ISLAY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message