New CBC video on the Scotch Colony

Beautiful video of the Colony including interviews with Darlene Morton and Garth Farquhar.

Here’s a link to this video: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1684887619728/
The video may not play outside Canada.

Here is the link to the accompanying CBC article, with beautiful photos, about the Colony and our Burns Celebration: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/kincardine-scottish-robbie-burns-1.5436500

Also, here is a companion radio story: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-25-information-morning-fredericton/clip/15757187-celebrating-scottish-heritagey.

Stories by Jordan Gill: https://www.cbc.ca/news/jordan-gill-1.4145451

Letter by David Burns written June 23, 1873, published in The Stonehaven Journal July 31, 1873

NEW KINCARDINESHIRE COLONY.
The following letter has been addressed by Mr. David Burns, one of the New Stonehaven colonists, for publication amongst friends in Scotland:—
To Members and Friends of New Kincardineshire Colony, resident in Scotland.
DEAR FRIENDS,—Before I left our heather land I promised to write at times and give you some account of our procedure here, and before commencing I beg to state that I shall confine myself to what I know to be the truth—as some reports got out concerning us that had better never been heard of—many reports, Continue reading

Letter Excerpt by David Taylor, April 14, 1873, Stonehaven Journal

Letter by David Taylor dated April 14, 1873, written at Fredericton, New Brunswick; published in Stonehaven Journal, Thursday 08 May 1873

NEW KINCARDINESHIRE COLONY.— On Thurs-last, a letter was received from the Secretary of the new colony, who has gone out to make arrangements for the colonists previous to their arrival, from which we give the following extract. From it, friends of the colonists left behind will be glad to see that they are likely to meet with a very warm reception:—
Fredericton, 14th April, 1873.
Having arrived at St. John this day week, we there spent two days—leaving on Wednesday for this place—the political capital of New Brunswick. It is a city of about 6500 inhabitants, and one of the prettiest places I ever saw. Continue reading

Colony Featured on Scotland TV documentary

Scotland TV’s The People’s History Show;
Episode: The Scots who made Canada
“Host David Farrell presents a special episode exploring Scotland’s links to Canada, as the country celebrates its 150th birthday.”

On September 27, 2017, David and Ian Hendry (director/camera) interviewed several Scotch Colony folks  and videoed scenes at a Burn’s Hall Music Night and dance.

You can view a bootleg copy here (until I get busted):
https://youtu.be/Cff7PE0FeyU

Originally Broadcast Mon 13 Nov, 8.00 pm in the UK. If you are in the UK you should be able to view the show online at:
http://player.stv.tv/summary/peoples-history/

Video of the Kincardine Memorial Service, 23 July, 2017

The Upper Kintore Memorial Service will be 2pm, Sunday, 27 August, 2017 at the Upper Kintore United Church.

“Like” the new Facebook Page about Upper Kintore

Garth Farquhar has created a new Facebook Page and is posting “A collection of stories and pictures of Upper Kintore New Brunswick. Upper Kintore was settled in 1874 by Scottish immigrants who came over on the Sidonian”

Please “Like” his page: https://www.facebook.com/UpperKintore/

Garth has also added many points of interest on our Scotch Colony Google Map that identify places in his stories.

View this map, full screen,  in Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?ll=46.68191667674333%2C-67.63556170342184&hl=en&z=11&authuser=0&mid=1FJVCNDbiyv7HmsbPJkIw-L0PAUI

140th Anniversary of “Sidonian” Colonists

"Sidonian" 11 April 1874; The "Sidonian" leaves Glasgow. via Callum Stuart, FB Chapman, Cumming, & Duncan Family History, April 12, 2014;

The “Sidonian” leaves Glasgow. (Thanks to Callum Stuart for the clipping.)

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick provides a list of names and ages of Scottish immigrants who were passengers arriving in St. John, New Brunswick by the Sidonian on May 14, 1874, ending the log with this news item that tells what happened next:

“16 May 1874 – Woodstock, N.B., 15th May -The train with the Scottish immigrants arrived here at half past 4 this afternoon, under the charge of Mr. STEWART. They are now being transferred to the steamer “Ida Whittier”, Capt. Rideout, which leaves at 8 p.m. They will arrive opposite Mr. BEVERIDGE’s at Andover (Victoria Co.) tomorrow forenoon and proceed at once to their future homes, up the Tobique River some seven miles where the settlement commences and extends to New Stonehaven.  ”

About 210 colonists sailed April 30-May 14, 1874, arriving in Andover, New Brunswick about May 16, 1874.

Thirteen-year-old William Cumming tells the story of the voyage across the Atlantic and up the St. John River to Upper Kintore here.

At the 75th anniversary of the Upper Kintore Church on September 1, 1968, it was noted in the church bulletin: “Miss Elsie Innes is the last living survivor, who came over from Scotland in May, 1874 on S. S. Sidonian, with a passenger list of 219, who settled in Upper Kintore, Bon Accord and S. Tilley. She is now 95 years of age, and resides in a Rest Home, Portland, Oregon.”

Here is a link to a related spreadsheet: Scotch Colony: Castalia & Sidonian passenger lists compilations. Use the tabs to view different lists.

1873-1874 Passengers Lists

Edited 17 Apr 2014, added Sidonian list (see tabs at bottom of table)

This is from a transcription of a 1873 newspaper article. The source is the New Brunswick Archives.
http://archives.gnb.ca/Search/NewspaperVitalStats/Details.aspx?culture=en-CA&guid=3368B7DC-A288-4981-AE92-C6FDF1C098EC

I have sorted the list alphabetically by last name. Watch out for errors. I imagine this list has been transcribed many times. As we add data, you may need to scroll within the window to see the bottom. We’ve decided to correct the spellings of the last names.

Not all passengers became part of the Scotch Colony. Some families left immediately when they saw the conditions in the Colony. Some were bound for elsewhere.

Jean has added the lot numbers that the settlers occupied. Here’s a map of the Colony’s granted lots  She is also trying to identify the wives and children.

This table is probably easier to view at Google Sheets https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16mq2qSSB6QCFn1JdKshngdkaTzMhWZgMoMXCglZpUl4/edit?usp=sharing

This is still a working document. We plan to have printouts at the 150th Anniversary.

We welcome your comments.

Geneology Services offered

Lorraine Stewart is a historian in Stonehaven, Scotland, who previously sent us an audio recording of her lecture on the Scotch Colony from Scotland’s perspective (clck here to go to that post). She has completed her studies and is offering her professional services to anyone looking for help with their family history. We thought it would be nice to promote her business. There are some helpful links on her website. Here’s a note we received from Lorraine: Continue reading

Colony student works with Scottish Portal Project

Kathleen Farquhar is from Upper Kintore!
(the article is from a newsletter of the New Brunswick Scottish Cultural Association)

Scottish Portal Project Summer Update

By Spencer Thompson

The New Brunswick Scottish Portal has hired three students for the summer.

The goal of the Portal is to create a comprehensive online database of New Brunswick’s Scottish settlers. Students Kathleen Farquhar and I, Spencer Thompson, from St Thomas University, and Ian Forbes from McGill will be hard at work all summer helping to make the Portal a reality.

Spencer Thompson Ian Forbes and Kathleen Farquhar
Left to right: Spencer Thompson, Ian Forbes and Kathleen Farquhar

NB Archives Home Base

The New Brunswick Archives is our main base of operation. The archive is host to the majority of the information needed, whether it is books, letters, government documents, or photos.

Ian and I have been tasked with combing through New Brunswick Land Petitions looking for Scottish immigrants. Kathleen was tasked with New Brunswick Teacher’s Petitions and has already finished.

James Brown Diary

Kathleen’s job hasn’t stopped there. Kathleen is  looking through the diary of James Brown, an interesting Scottish immigrant who penned such works as the Devil’s Reply to Robbie Burns and an essay about emigration to New Brunswick. James Brown often identified fellow countrymen in his diary sometimes listing where they were from in Scotland or even what year they arrived in New Brunswick. She is creating an index of Scottish immigrants as identified in said diary.

Land Petitions

The Land Petitions Ian and I are looking at will most likely take all summer, but we also have additional work to tackle. Ian is currently transcribing the letters of James Crabb, a young immigrant who came from abroad to look after his ailing uncle.

James Brown, the diarist Kathleen is studying, mentioned James Crabb in his journal. This crossover between the Brown diary and the Crabb Collection makes a fascinating connection between archival documents and collections.

 

Travels of John Mann

I am also responsible for writing a brief summary of the travels of immigrant John Mann, an interesting fellow who held New Brunswick in disdain and went back to Scotland, but returned and settled. I also transcribed the ship list from the Favorite, which brought John Mann and more than 100 others from Scotland to New Brunswick in 1816. This was the first government funded emigration scheme. It would also be one of the last planned 19th Century emigration schemes funded by the New Brunswick provincial government.
The three of us also spend time with the Archives’ photograph collection searching for any images for possible inclusion in the Portal.I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we enjoy our jobs and we hope you enjoy the fruits of our labour when the Portal is complete. I know we’ll be proud of it.