Scotland Emigration and Immigration
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Online Databases
- Immigrant Ancestors Project
- Scottish Immigration Database, index, incomplete.
- Passenger Lists of Ships leaving Scotland
- 1576-1793 Papers relating to the Scots in Poland, 1576-1793, e-book
- 1610-1626 Grants of denization to Irish settlers from Scotland: 1610-1616
- 1628-1828 Ships from Scotland to America, 1628 - 1828, Vol 2 ($)
- 1628-1828 Ships from Scotland to America, 1628 - 1828, Vol. 3 ($)
- 1650-1775' Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775, index, ($).
- 1680-1830 Directory of Scots in the Carolinas, 1680-1830, index, ($).
- 1774-1775 Emigrants from Scotland to America, 1774 - 1775 ($)
- 1774-1775 Records of emigrants from England and Scotland to North Carolina, 1774-1775, e-book
- 1801 Passenger lists of the ships Dove and Sarah coming to Nova Scotia from Scotland, 1801
- 1818 Ships "Curlew" and "Jane"; 1818 Voyages
- 1818 Brig Sophia:from Greenock 26th July 1818, to Quebec and Montreal 8th September 1818
- 1850-1879 Lyttelton shipping lists, 1850-1879 List of assisted emigrants who came to New Zealand in 1866 aboard the ship "Bombay", list of assisted and free passengers on the ship "Blue Jacke", lists of persons whom the Canterbury Association authorized to embark for Canterbury, New Zealand. Passengers came to New Zealand principally from England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany.
- 1852-1857 List of emigrants, 1852-1857 Ships sailing from Liverpool, Glasgow, Cambletown and Plymouth, and calling at various Australian ports.
- 1858-1870 Ireland and Britain, Transatlantic Migration from North America, 1858-1870 - indexes of passenger lists from United States to England and Ireland
- 1863-1901 Glasgow, Scotland, Crew Lists, 1863 - 1901 ($)
Immigration to Scotland
Immigration into Scotland has included people from elsewhere in the British Isles and from Continental Europe. Specific immigrant groups include:
- refugees from wars (such as the French Revolution)
- refugees from religious persecution (such as Huguenots and Jews).
- job seekers influenced of industrial development (particularly in the nineteenth century)
- refugees from the Irish Potato Famine
Emigration from Scotland
- Beginning in the seventeenth century, Scottish people began emigrating to the United States, India, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and elsewhere in the British Isles.
- Emigration increased in the mid-eighteenth century as a result of political unrest and again after 1815 as a means of poor relief, particularly from the Highlands.
- The British government did not bother to document emigrants leaving its shores until the Passenger Act of 1803. Even after that, the records were very incomplete.
- The Colonial Land and Emigration Commission (1841 to 1872) and the Board of Trade (1873 on) kept records of departing emigrants, but the records have been destroyed up to the 1890s.
- There was no systematic, official method of emigrating from Scotland. The following types of emigrants account for most persons who left Scotland.
- Free emigrants. Beginning in 1630, emigrants left Scotland to promote trade or set up military outposts and way stations for merchant ships. Later, free emigrants sought opportunity in a new land or fled poverty or oppression in Scotland.
- Assisted emigrants. From 1815 to 1900, qualified emigrants received passage money or land grants in the destination country as an alternative to receiving poor relief. Many Scots from the Highlands emigrated to Canada in this manner. After 1840, New Zealand and Australia offered money for land grants to skilled workers to encourage immigrants.
- Latter-day Saints. Beginning in about 1840, many Scottish Latter-day Saints emigrated to the United States. Most settled in Utah. For more information, see Utah Emigration and Immigration and Latter-day Saint Online Genealogy Records:Emigration and Immigration.
British Records of Emigration
To search emigration records effectively, it can help to know the approximate date of emigration, the name of the ship, the type of or reason for emigration, or the emigrant’s previous residence in Scotland. If you know the ship’s name, you might find additional details on the ship, including ports of embarkation and arrival in:
- Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping. Fiche ed. LaCrosse, Wisconsin: Brookhaven Press, 1981. (Family History Library fiche 6024581-6025295; does not circulate to Family History Centers.) Online at HathiTrust.
- Passenger Lists. Port records listing the names of departing or arriving passengers are called passenger lists. Pre-1890 passenger departure lists are rare. Post-1890 lists are arranged chronologically by port of departure. These lists—which usually give the emigrant’s name, age, occupation, address, and sometimes destination—are kept at the Public Record Office, Kew (see Scotland Archives and Libraries).
- Assisted Emigrants Registers. Persons who applied for assistance to emigrate were recorded in assisted emigrants registers, which often contain name, age, occupation, residence, destination, name of sponsor, address of relative, and size of family. Those available at the Family History Library appear in the Locality Search of the catalog under:
- [DESTINATION COUNTRY] - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION
- Probate Records. Probate records may mention relatives who emigrated. Probates of persons who died overseas who owned property in Scotland should have been proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (until 1858).
Records of Scottish Emigrants in Their Destination Countries
Since so few British immigration sources exist, you may need to search the emigration records of the country your ancestor moved from to Scotland. Usually, it is easier to find information about your immigrant ancestor in the country he or she immigrated to. You may find the emigrant’s name, place of origin, occupation, and age. Knowing an approximate date and port of arrival or ship name will probably help you search immigration records.
Naturalization records in the destination country may be an excellent source for determining your ancestor’s place of origin. Search this Wiki for "Naturalization and Citizenship" and the name of the destination country.
The FamilySearch Catalog lists most of its immigration records in the Locality Search under:
- [COUNTRY] - EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION
Canada
Scottish people settled in Canada during the early 1800s, but few pre-1865 passenger lists exist. Before 1900, most immigrants arrived at Quebec City and Halifax. The Family History Library has copies of passenger lists from 1865 to 1900. See the Canada Research Outline for more information.
- Whyte, Donald. Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to Canada Before Confederation. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 1986. (Family History Library book 971 F2wd.)
Online Passenger Lists
These websites contain online passenger lists from Scotland to Canada:
- Passenger Lists of Ships leaving Scotland
- Ships "Curlew" and "Jane"; 1818 Voyages
- Brig Sophia:from Greenock 26th July 1818, to Quebec and Montreal 8th September 1818
North America
Many books have been published about Scottish emigrants to North America. Some of these are:
- Dobson, David. Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America 1625-1825. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1984. (Family History Library book 970 W2d.) This author has published several other books on Scottish emigrants to America.
- Tepper, Michael. New World Immigrants: A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists and Associated Data from Periodical Literature. 2 vols. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979. (Family History Library book 973 W3tn.)
- Whyte, Donald. Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to the U.S.A. 2nd ed. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981. (Family History Library book 973 W2w.)
You can find bibliographies of published passenger lists in:
- Whyte, Donald. Scottish Emigration: A Select Bibliography, Scottish Genealogist 21, no. 3 (1974): 65-86. (Family History Library book 941 B2g vol. 21 no. 3.)
- Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Bibliography 1538-1900. 2nd ed. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Co, 1988. (Family History Library book 973 W33p.)
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