Thursday 21st November 2019:Cromarty Emigrants — and the ships that took them

In 1998, the Courthouse published a study by Janet (Jenny) Fyfe, a key member of the Society, on this same subject. It dealt with emigrations specifically between 1707 and 1850 and identified America, Canada and the West Indies as the primary destinations for Cromarty-born folk or erstwhile residents of the town, although India, New Zealand, China and Australia also took their share. Whilst there is a wealth of information in the historical record, she and others have found that definitive information regarding the sailings, the numbers and names of passengers, the destinations and even the fates of the voyages are sometimes incomplete. She also found that the usual patterns of both Highland and Lowland emigration didn’t accurately apply to Cromarty emigration and concluded that this ‘needs further study’.

Sandy Thomson retired from Strathclyde University and moved to Cromarty twenty years ago. While studying Scottish History on Dundee University’s distance learning programme he became a very active member of Cromarty History Society and was our Convener for many years. He has been a regular speaker at our meetings, focusing on topics of local interest. On this occasion he will be paying tribute to the late Professor Jenny Fyfe by updating some of her early researches into emigration from Cromarty.

Cromarty History Society meets in the West Church Hall, Cromarty at 7.30pm on the the third Thursday of each month, September - April