Hardbook `Township of Osprey – Peace, Plenty , Progress`.
History of the township of Osprey, Grey County, Ontario.
2003.84.1
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Tag Archives: emigration
1999.92.7
Black and white photograph of Dugald MacArthur`s sister`s house in Canada.
The house in Canada of Dugald MacArthur`s sister from Balephuil sliabh. She and her husband (surname MacGibbon) died of flu.
1999.92.11
Black and white photograph of the MacGibbon children (neice and nephew of Dugald MacArthur, Balephuil sliabh).
The MacGibbon children (neice and nephew of Dugald MacArthur, Balephuil sliabh) who emigrated to Canada or Australia with their parents who both died of flu.
1998.203.1
Paperback book `From Tiree to New Zealand
The memoirs of Dugald Lamont from Balemartine
1999.168.1
Paperback book `The Complete Odyssey` edited by Billy Kay.
Book based on BBC Scotland`s radio series `Odyssey` on oral histories of working class experiences. Includes a chapter on 19th century emigrant to Canada by Dr Margaret MacKay.
1999.168.2
Audio cassette recording a BBC radio programme about emigration to Canada.
BBC radio programme with Dr Margaret MacKay about emigration to Canada.
1998.170.16
Photocopied newspaper cutting of a letter by the Duke of Argyll and a reply from a cottar.
Letter from the Duke of Argyll about the non-viability of allotments and a reply from a Tiree cottar.
2003.53.1
Hardback book `A History of the County of Grey` by E. L. Marsh.
A history of Grey County, Ontario, Canada.
2003.51.1
Scan of advertisment for passage on the barque `Jamaica` for emigration to Canada.
Advertisment for passage on the barque `Jamaica` for emigration to Quebec and Montreal sailing on 4/6/1847.
1998.151.11
Payments to emigrants from Tiree to Canada in June 1846
Transcription of a list of payments made to emigrants from Tiree to Canada in June 1846.
Courtesy of His Grace the Duke of Argyll
In the fifty years before the potato famine, the population of Tiree doubled to over five thousand, making it one of the most congested areas in the Highlands and Islands. Continued sub-division of the island’s crofts had left most of them too small to support a family.
Poverty was endemic. Landless cottars, many of whom were ‘dependent of the charity of others for food’, comprised more than a third of the island’s population. A Free Church investigation into diet in 1846 found that potatoes formed over half of all food consumed.
In previous years, the smaller tenants and cottars had shown themselves reluctant to emigrate. However, when the potato crop failed in 1846 and the Marquis of Lorne promised assisted passages to Canada for the poorest, over a thousand from Tiree indicated their willingness to leave.