Scottish immigrants to Canada, how do I find them?

Question

Hi

I have a bunch of distant cousins etc who travelled from Scotland to Canada from around 1840ish

Is there somewhere I can search for them and find their records ie the ship they travelled on and date they went?

Thanks

Comments

depends where they went, some might have gone through Grosse Île quarantine station.  There's a project dealing with that station.

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Grosse Île quarantine station.

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/immigrants-grosse-ile-1832-1937/Pages/immigrants-grosse-ile.aspx

Answer 1

In the 1840s there were very few if any records of arrivals in Canada.

But there are other possibilities that can be useful after the arrival.

1. On Ancestry; The Canada, St. Lawrence Steamboat Company Passenger Lists, 1819-1838.

2. On Ancestry: U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s, based on WHYTE, DONALD. A Dictionary Of Scottis Emigrants To Canada Before Confederation. Vol. 3. Toronto: The Ontario Genealogical Society, 2002.

3. There is also https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/1819_36stlawrence.shtml

Which includes family names, number in family and the cost of their ticket on the ferry. I found my husband's 3 x GGF on the passenger list.

4. Either on Ancestry or with a Google Search you can find local town or county directories. Some what like an old fashioned telephone directory, with names of the inhabitants and their occupation.

Other ideas, if you know their names and the approximate area they went to, you can search the 1851/52 or later census for them, country of birth will be on the census record.

If you don't have an Ancestry membership, the censuses are all on the Library and Archives Canada website.

Family Search has land records, for grants and purchases, they also have wills.

You can also search for names on maps at

https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/searchmapframes.php

Once again you will need to know names and locations, there are many sources for old Ontario newspapers including

https://ourdigitalworld.net/what-we-do/digital-newspapers/

if they settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island, I have very little knowledge of their records, I know there are record collections, but have no idea where to find them.

You could Google Search, historical records, for the family name in a place if you know where they went.

As they were Scots I would be surprised if they settled in Québec, but sometimes people stayed for a while prior to moving to other locations.

This is a great website, but does take time to learn how to use it.

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/

Comments

Thanks for the star Elayine!

Answer 2

The short answer is unfortunately you are unlikely to find ship records pre-Confederation.

Here's what LAC has on the subject:

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/passenger-lists/Pages/introduction.aspx

Answer 3

It depends where they landed.  Different provinces have different records available.  In New Brunswick, for example, there is a database of work done by Daniel Johnson indexing Vital Statistics in Newspapers going back to the 1780s.  There are other non-traditional historical sources that might help depending where they ended up.

Occupations and religious affiliation also provide additional clues/avenues.

Do you have more specific information on the emigrant ancestors that you can share?

Answer 4

I would start in Nova Scotia, particularly Cape Breton and/or Prince Edward Island. It would be the arrival point and many stayed. Some remained, others took a schooner and sailed up the St Lawrence river to the Montreal area, in particular Chambly where there was a fort. From there they portaged and continued to Glengarry Ontario. Ship lists are available online. Why do you think 1840ish? What is the family name?

Answer 5

You can try Scotlands People I found my 2nd Great Grandfather Charles Craigie Lindsay (born in 1848, in Abbotshall, Fife, Kirkcaldy, Scotland), his parents and his sister. He traveled to Canada, had some children and then they all moved to Massachusetts.

Answer 6

The 1851 census would likely be your main tool.  https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1851/Pages/1851.aspx

Some records are missing.  A lot of Scottish went to the East coast of New Brunswick.  Naturally that area is missing some census records which means you need to rely on 1861 or later censuses.  There are some other records if you determine that you need them.  Feel free to ask.  I have some experience in NB, NS and PEI.

Answer 7

The Canadian Archives is a good place to start

Library and Archives Canada