A couple of good reference books are; The Lowland Clearances, Scotland's Silent Revolution 1760-1830 Peter Aitchison and Andrew Cassell Country Life in Scotland in Scotland, Our Rural Past Alexander Fenton regards gina James R K MacDowell <jandsmacdowell@hotkey.net.au> wrote: Hello again, I am returning to the list after quite a long absence during which I have discovered some more about my Wigtownshire forbears. What I now know is that my greatgreatgrandfather Hugh McDowall and his wife Janet Smith had eleven children, not six as I had previously thought. They had their first six children at Barwhirran farm near Newton Stewart in Penninghame Parish. I believe that their next five children were born somewhere near Wigtown between 1809 and 1822, but I have yet to find evidence thereof. What I do know is that Hugh, Janet and nine of their children sailed to America in three separate ships in the 1830s, headed either for Pennsylvania or Ohio (although the stated intented destination of some was Illinois). My current interest is to try to understand what conditions were like in Wigtownshire in the 1820s and 1830s such that almost a whole family decided to leave and what information did they have which influenced their choice of America, as against say Canada, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand. Hugh was a tenant farmer. Was there the equivalent of the Highland Clearances in Wigtownshire? All clues or suggestions will be appreciated. Jim MacDowell ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Jim, I also went after the same thing about my McClellands, who lived in Wigtownshire during the same period, ending up in Kirkinner parish until they came to the US...to Michigan, in 1851. They originally came from Ireland and migrated to Scotland about 1815. I also traveled to Wigtownshire and to the town of Wigtown and bought a book about Kirkinner that told all about everything there at that time period and was able to use it to write up my family's story. The book was one of a series written about Wigtownshire, including a number of books about the parishes. They are all found there in the library in Wigtown and they sent me to the publisher in town where we bought a copy. It's called "A History of the Parish of Kirkinner." I just discovered the publisher has a website where all the books are listed. When you click on the home page, click on "Publications" at the left and you will see them all. The address is: http://www.gcbooks.demon.co.uk/ We know that our family were common laborers who moved from farm to farm to work when there was work to be had. But the wife's family had immigrated 20 years earlier to Michigan and got the rest of the family to follow in 1851. Of course the big drawing thing was land in Michigan, as other places, and owning their own land was the thing that drew these common laborers to this country, as were other things, of course. Good luck in your searches. Barbara Lewis Gillon ----- Original Message ----- From: "GINA YOUNG" <gina358@btinternet.com> To: "James R K MacDowell" <jandsmacdowell@hotkey.net.au> Cc: "WIG-LIST" <SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 7:47 AM Subject: Re: [WIG LIST] Life in Wigtownshire in 1830s >A couple of good reference books are; > > The Lowland Clearances, Scotland's Silent Revolution 1760-1830 > Peter Aitchison and Andrew Cassell > > Country Life in Scotland in Scotland, Our Rural Past > Alexander Fenton > > regards > gina > > > > James R K MacDowell <jandsmacdowell@hotkey.net.au> wrote: > Hello again, I am returning to the list after quite a long absence during > which I have discovered some more about my Wigtownshire forbears. > > What I now know is that my greatgreatgrandfather Hugh McDowall and his > wife > Janet Smith had eleven children, not six as I had previously thought. They > had their first six children at Barwhirran farm near Newton Stewart in > Penninghame Parish. I believe that their next five children were born > somewhere near Wigtown between 1809 and 1822, but I have yet to find > evidence thereof. What I do know is that Hugh, Janet and nine of their > children sailed to America in three separate ships in the 1830s, headed > either for Pennsylvania or Ohio (although the stated intented destination > of > some was Illinois). > > My current interest is to try to understand what conditions were like in > Wigtownshire in the 1820s and 1830s such that almost a whole family > decided > to leave and what information did they have which influenced their choice > of > America, as against say Canada, South Africa, Australia or New Zealand. > > Hugh was a tenant farmer. Was there the equivalent of the Highland > Clearances in Wigtownshire? > > All clues or suggestions will be appreciated. > > Jim MacDowell > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SCT-WIGTOWNSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >