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Highlands and Islands
Emigration Society
Between 1852 and 1857,
the Highlands and Islands Emigration Society assisted
almost 5000 individuals to leave western Scotland
for Australia. We have selected the following
popular sources from the National Archives of
Scotland's Highland Destitution series (HD) to
help you find out more about this scheme.
1852-1857 Highlands and
Islands Emigration Society Passenger Lists
The Highland and Island Emigration
Society was set up by private subscription to
alleviate destitution in the Highlands by promoting
and assisting the emigration of Highlanders to
Australia. Their passenger lists for the years
1852-1857 have survived and are organised by ship
and by family and record the name, age and residence
of each emigrant (HD4/5) as well as occasional
notes on their health and situation. This is one
of the few sources for emigration held by the
National Archives of Scotland. To
find out more about sources for Emigration held
by Scottish archives, go to the Knowledge
Base.
You can now access the index to the register online
below. Fill in the fields below for a simple name
search, or follow the links to browse the database,
search by freetext, or try a more advanced search.
Highlands and Islands map,
1847
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To
see a map of the affected areas (National
Archives of Scotland reference HD6/1)
click here. |
Chart showing the population
of Skye
Click
here to see a document outlining the population
of Skye from 1755-1841.
Letter from the minister
of Kilmuir, 1849
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To
read a transcript of a letter written by the
minister of Kilmuir parish, Skye, describing
the conditions endured by his parishioners,
click
here
To view an image of the first page, click
here |
Petition of inhabitants of
Balmeanach and Peinchorran, Isle of Skye, 1849
To see an image of this petition,
dated 30 November 1849, click
here
To read a transcript of this petition, click
here
Highlands and Islands Emigration
Society Rules, 1851
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To read
a transcript of the criteria for assistance
with emigration, compiled by the Highlands
and Islands Emigration board, click
here |
Mutiny on Board "The Georgiana",
1852
The Georgiana was one of the
ships that carried assisted emigrants to Australia.
It left Glasgow on 13th July 1852 carrying around
300 passengers and shortly before its arrival
in Geelong nearly 4 months later, a mutiny occurred
on board and the crew deserted the ship. To read
a contemporary newspaper account of this dramatic
event, click
here.
Any enquiries about the sources
listed above, should in the first instance be
addressed to the Scottish
Archive Network.
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