Scottish Migration to Canada
The marked increase in Scottish immigration to Ontario in the 1800s occurred due to families looking for economic opportunity and others seeking an escape from poverty
Between 1770 and 1815, around 15,000 Highland Scots moved to Canada. They settled mainly on Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Upper Canada. Most came from the western Highlands and Islands and were predominantly Gaelic speaking and agrarian. Many were Roman Catholic. They were forced to leave Scotland by the Highland Clearances.
Around 170,000 Scots crossed the Atlantic to Canada between 1815 and 1870. The immigrants represented a cross-section of the Scottish population. Most were farmers and artisans, but large numbers of business people and professionals were also included. Most of these newcomers were Presbyterian and spoke Scots/ English. They formed many churches and schools during this period. Around 80,000 Scots entered Canada between 1871 and 1901, 240,000 in the first years of the 20th Century, 200,000 between 1919 and 1930, and 147,000 between 1946 and 1960. Of course, many Canadians have also made their way to, and settled in Scotland over the years.
Christina Watsons Family
Christina’s mother, Jane Mitchell, was born in Polmont, Stirlingshire, Scotland, in 1824. Her father, James Mitchell and mother, Grizell Grace Calder, married and had eight living children when they emigrated from Polmont, Scotland, in 1837.
An Alexander Mitchell owned land on the West Side of Concession 9 Lot 18 of King Township. Alexander took possession of this lot in 1856, a year after James Mitchell died. The Cairns farm was on the east side of Lot 13 Concession 10, just south down the road. The Watson farm was just to the west on the east side of Lot 14 Concession 11. Jane Mitchell married John Watson in 1846 when he was 24. Their daughter Christina Watson was born in 1859 and married James Cairns in 1879 at the age of twenty. James was the son of John Cairns and the grandson of Thomas Cairns who was a shepherd in Kintyre and left for Canada in 1831 with his family.
