The Original Scots Colonists of Early America, 1612-1783

About 150,000 Scots emigrated to America before the Revolutionary War, but the records on them are notoriously hard to find. However, it has been clear for some time that in archives in Scotland and England there is much information on a number of these emigrants. David Dobson has extracted data from a wide variety of sources including family and estate papers, testamentary and probate records, burgh muniments, sasine and deed registers, Sheriff's Court records, Court of Session and High Court of Judiciary records, port books, customs registers, contemporary diaries and journals, contemporary newspapers and magazines, professional and university records, Privy Council and colonial records, records of Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches, monumental inscription lists, and the 1774-75 Register of Emigrants. For each of the 7,000 persons listed, a maximum of twenty-three points of information is provided: name, date of birth or baptism, place of birth, occupation, place of education, cause of banishment (where applicable), residence, parents' names, emigration date and whether voluntarily or involuntarily transported, port of embarkation, destination, name of ship, place and date of arrival, place of settlement, names of spouse and children, date and place of death, where buried, probate record, and source citation.