Archibald Gardner began writing his autobiography on 10 April 1857. His family had migrated from Scotland to Canada almost 35 years earlier, and his writings have a large blot over the year he recorded. Family tradition has stated the migration year as 1822 for Robert, William, and Mary, and 1823 for Margaret and the rest of the children. However, historical records document Robert's migration in 1821.
Robert, William and Mary were passengers on the Commerce,(1) which sailed from Greenock, Scotland on 11 May 1821, arriving in Quebec on 20 Jun 1821.(2) Robert's land grant was dated 15 Jul 1821,(3) which also documents his arrival that year. Archibald stated that he sailed on the Buckinham the year after his father left, which supports the conclusion that his mother brought the remaining children on the Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1822. This ship sailed from Greenock on 28 May 1822 and arrived in Quebec on 5 July 1822, as recorded in the Montreal Gazette. The website documenting the ship's arrival also has a deck plan for the ship. Archibald stated that their passage was five weeks and three days, which matches exactly the sailing dates for this ship's voyage in 1822.
1. David Dobson, Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984-93), 5:97.
2. Carol Bennett, The Lanark Society Settlers, 1820-1821 (Renfrew, Ont: Juniper Books, 1991), 10.
3. Military Settlement, Soldiers and Emigrants, 62 (FHL #1,319,966 item 3).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I am enjoying your blog. It makes it seem like my family, even though I know otherwise. It sure seems like there were a lot of people coming from the British Isles around that time.
ReplyDeleteI believe you are missing a podcast. :O LOL
ReplyDeleteYes Duncan, I am! :-) I'm working on something for the upcoming website . . . Instructor's privilege!
ReplyDelete