Northern Yorkshiremen and Women Head for Nova Scotia

It is known as the forgotten migration because very little has been written about it. The emigration from Yorkshire in northern England was instigated by British officials who weren’t happy that the Chignecto Isthmus was not being populated quickly enough after the British captured the area from the French in mid 1700’s. Governor Michael Franklin went to Yorkshire in 1771 to seek immigrants for Nova Scotia, which then comprised both new Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He was successful. During the next four years, ending in 1775, 20 ships carrying more than 1,000 Yorkshiremen and Yorkshire women sailed for Nova Scotia. The first ship load arrived 21^st May 1772 landing at Fort Cumberland. The offer of good, relatively cheap farmland from Governor Franklin and the fact that England was in an economic depression at the time proved a good ‘carrot’ for the Englishmen, many of whom were tenant farmers.

It is thought that there are about 75,000 descendants from the original 1,000 Yorkshire settlers now spread around the world.

Surnames of some of the original migrants:

Source – The Sunday Herald – 9^th January 2000 (Canadian)