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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Sutherland => Topic started by: moiramount on Tuesday 23 February 21 13:53 GMT (UK)
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Hi does anyone know what sailing ships sailed to Canada around 1910 from Scotland and where in Scotland would they have sailed from if they lived in the Sutherland area. When my aunty was born out of wedlock in Bonar in 1911 the father had sailed off to Canada but later sent tickets for my grandma and baby to join them but alas they were never given the tickets so remained in Sutherland.
Would be have gone to Canada with the forces around that time or maybe a different job or was there a migration thing going on. Any info would be good.
Moira
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There was a "British Bonus Scheme" - A commission paid by the Canadian government's Immigration Branch to steamship booking agents in the United Kingdom for each suitable immigrant who purchased a ticket to sail to Canada. The immigrants themselves did not receive a bonus.
Glasgow was the most common place to sail from.
The best site to find information on immigration to Canada is at Library and Archives Canada
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
there are several searchable databases and also references to collections kept at the archive
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/022/022-908.001-e.html
at Library and Archives Canada
under Terminology and Abbreviations
This site may be of interest - https://www.gjenvick.com/
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1823240
Sandra
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Have you searched for the father who went to Canada ? We could try and find him to see what occupation he settles into.
Sandra
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Hi thanks for the replies, unfortunately we don't know the father's name, we are clutching at straws basically. The only other thing we have got is my aunty's DNA which shows her being as 97% Scottish and 3% Greek. My aunty had a nice tanned skin and we never knew where it had come from but it looks like her father could have been half Greek. Were there Greek people living in Scotland around this time, who knows
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Have you got the address, from when he sent the tickets ?
Sandra
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Unfortunately not, my grandma lived at home when pregnant and she was hidden away until she had the baby then my great grandparents brought her up and my grandma later married and had my mum . There was always talk about Spanish in the family hence the tanned skin but it looks like it could be Greek now.
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Hi,
A slim chance, but if tickets were purchased and the passage booked, Grandma's name may
appear on a manifest with a strike thru as "not sailed"
DB
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Good thinking there.
Thankyou
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My grandmother's elder brother left Durness, Sutherland in 1911 and ended up in the Post Office in Vancouver, only returning briefly in the 1970s. Her sister married a returning emigrant who had also left Durness in 1911, so migration to Canada was not rare pre-WWI.
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Check out R.L.Stevenson's "An Amateur Emigrant!" for a feel of the times, Stevenson sailed from the Clyde to Sandy Hook, New York. You can read this online. Greenock was the main departure point.
Bests,
Skoosh.
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Do you specifically mean ships propelled by sails rather than steamships, and if so what is the significance of that?
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At that time it was possibly a sails & steam combo. Scottish tradesmen even crossed the Atlantic on a return ticket to work the season.
Skoosh.
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Aye. I just wondered if the original poster had a particular reason for saying sailing ships.
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No it should have said steam ships
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How sure are you that he would have sailed from Scotland? Just because someone lived in Scotland they wouldn’t necessarily have sailed from there, they would more likely have sailed from Liverpool.
The Canadian Pacific Steam Ship Company ran a regular transatlantic service from Liverpool.
My father lived on the south coast, but he and his first wife sailed to Canada from Liverpool for their honeymoon in 1910. Long before that the Allen Line had a regular service between Liverpool and Canada.
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Good point - though there was no shortage of ships going from Glasgow too.
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Not many of these still afloat, here is the restored "Glenlee" in Glasgow harbour!
https://thetallship.com
Bests,
Skoosh.
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Emigrant ships sailed from Greenock and Liverpool. They were old and slow an averaged crossing was 8-9 days compared to 1900 era vessels which was 6 days to Quebec City.
As far as finding an unknown person who may be or not have Greek ancestry; there were over 1 million immigrants in a 3 year period at the peak of the Bonus Scheme. But it wasn't just for Brit's (80%), but also those from Eastern/Western Europe and Scandinavia. Its amazing what a free ride and a 1/4 section (160 acres) of free land will do providing you realize its the Canadian Prairies you are moving to.
Don