 |
 |
|||
|
Who was the First Williams Immigrant of Our Family? Before 1603 - -
Background: For centuries, England had tried repeatedly and constantly to subdue the island of Ireland and the Irish had stubbornly
resisted. There had been attempts over the years to transplant English settlers to Ireland in an attempt to "infiltrate" and/or
"control" the Irish people and their society, but these had failed. By 1603, the problem was even more acute: In
the closing years of the 1500's, England had sent a 20,000 man army to Ireland to quell an uprising. After an initial failure,
the commander was replaced by a man named Lord Mountjoy, who was particularly ruthless. He destroyed all the food, houses,
and cattle he could find. Starvation in their bellies and defeats on the battlefields finally made the Irish submit to England,
again, just as Queen Elizabeth lay dieing in 1603. An
area that had been hit hard during this destruction was the north, the "kingdom" of Ireland called Ulster, consisting of nine
counties. In
the meantime, in Scotland, times were never all that good, but the turn of the century saw the typical Scottish farmer in
dire straits. The western coast of Scotland is only 20-30 miles from the Ulster coast. Thus,
the scene was set for a series of developments leading to: 1603.. Elizabeth I dies and James VI, King of Scotland, becomes
King James I of England 1606.. The first Ulster colonies are settled. Ironically, by private entrepreneurs, and
Scottish at that. Some Scottish entrepreneurs had come up with the idea of acquiring some land and transplanting their own
countrymen to farm them. These beginning colonies were successful and word quickly spread back to Scotland. 1607.. King James I declared that the land held by the defeated Irish rebel leaders,
who had fled to the continent, was reverted to the Crown. This legal action was over-reaching, but when you're the King, what
the heck. King James I took control of 3,000,000 acres of Ulster land. 1609.. James I inform the Privy Council of Scotland: "the King.. out of his unspeakable
love and tender affection for his Scottish subjects, has decided that they will be allowed to participate in this great adventure".
Remember, James I, becoming King of England in 1603, had already been King of Scotland for 35 years before that (he was crowned
the King of Scotland when he was one year old.) 1620.. An estimated 50,000 Scottish (and some English) settlers are now in northern Ireland
(Ulster). 1625.. King James I died and his son Charles I was crowned King. King James I was a definitely
pro-Anglican and anti-Presbyterian, but at least he was somewhat of a politician about trying to convert the Scots to the
more traditional Church of England. Charles I, however, had no tact, he tried to force the Anglican church down the throats
of the Scottish people and deprive them of their Presbyterianism. (This is the same climate that led to the first flight of
Puritans to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.) 1637.. King Charles required changes in the churches of Scotland to more closely resemble
the Church of England. The Scottish people arise and overthrow the episcopacy that Charles I has tried to implement. Presbyterianism
in Scotland survived. 1640.. An estimated 100,000 Scottish (and some English) settlers are now in northern
Ireland (Ulster). 1642.. England is now in a Civil War, principally over the religious issues of the day:
Puritanism versus the Church of England. The Scots are on the fringes of this war. They favor the more like-minded Puritans,
but, after all, Charles I is still a Scot. 1642.. The Catholics in Ireland rebel against the north. Estimates of the deaths in this
uprising vary, but many thousands die. The emigration of Scots to Ireland drops off. 1650.. The English Civil War ends with Oliver Cromwell responsible for the beheading
of King Charles I. Then, he invaded Scotland , conquering the Scots at Dunbar. He then set out to crush the Scottish spirit.
1650.. Meanwhile, back in Ireland, the Irish rebellion went on for ten long years, until
Cromwell came from England in 1650 and crushed the rebellion. He took neither side, however. He killed both Catholics
and Presbyterians alike to let them know that England was in charge and wouldn't take disobedience from either side. He was
particlularly cruel and viscious during his campaigns. Whether
the ends justify the means or not, at least peace did follow Cromwell's "policing action". The immigration of Scots Ireland
now resume in 1650. 1653.. Cromwell ordered venerated leaders of their church driven from their places of
meeting by English soldiers and led like criminals through the streets of Edinburgh. 1660.. The Puritan Cromwell dies and Charles II resumes the crown. Here we go again,
a pro-Anglican as head of the country. As bad as times were for the Scots under Cromwell, worse times were ahead. During the
1660's, the Scottish suffered through what is called the "killing times", as the English tried again to force the Church of
England down the throats of the Scots. This was the time of the rise of the term "covenanter", those Scots that, in effect,
were guerillas fighting against the English landlords. We
have an example of the "killing times" that has been passed down in our family. A fourteen year old girl was arrested because
of her failure to give allegiance to the English King in a way that connoted his being head of the church. This fourteen year
old girl was ordered to DEATH BY DROWNING for refusing. This is how cruel things were getting over there at that time. Emigration
from Scotland to Ireland increased with the killing times. 1679.. The Covenanters (protestant rebels) are decisively defeated at the Battle of Bothwell
Bridge in Scotland. 1690.. The King of England, William of Orange soundly defeats James II at the Battle
of Boyne in Ireland. William is staunchly protestant, James is Catholic. This assures the continuation of the protestant Irish
of the north, most Scottish descendants, to continue their protestant faith. A
result of of the English victory at the Battle of Boyne is reponsible for the last wave of immigrants from Scotland to England
in the last decade of the 1600's. An estimated 50,000 Scots leave Scotland for northern Ireland. 1717.. The Exodus of the Scotch-Irish from Ulster to America now begins in earnest. Five
thousand Ulstermen leave for America that year. Between 1717 and the American Revolution, approximately a quarter of a million
Scotch-Irish will leave Ireland for America. Approximately 100 years after the original Ulster plantations have been planted
they have succeeded... and they have also failed. In 100 years, Ulster had been transformed from a totally obliterated landscape
to a respectable area with an economy that produced goods. Plagued by high rents, four years of drought, English import/export
policies, and the religious factor thrown in (although religion wasn't a prime motivating factor in the Scotch/Irish migration
as it was, say, with the Puritans.), many Scots look for a better life in America. It
is interesting to note that even though the Catholic Irish endured many of the same hardships as their Northern counterparts,
the Catholic Irish did not participate in this Exodus. The emigration was 99% Protestant, Ulster-Scots leaving for the America's.
Although there were Catholic Irish who fled to other Catholic countries, principally France and Spain. 1776.. The American Revolution marks the end of this immigration era. Approximately 200-250,000
thousand Scotch-Irish have immigrated to America since 1717. There are more than that by 1776. If one is to assume the doubling
of a population every 30 years, and a ratable rate of immigration, one could expect the Scotch-Irish numbered perhaps 10-25%
of the 2 1/4 million Americans in 1776. At the time of the Revolution, the Scotch-Irish comprised the second largest ethnic
group in America after the English, and ahead of the Germans. (PS.
As you do your census work, you may see the results of a study done by the census bureau by categorizing names based on where
the name "might" have come from in estimating the ethnic make-up of the 1790 census. That study is a joke. Pay no attention
to it. (How can one look at a Scottish name and tell if it is Scottish or Scotch-Irish? Or look at Smith or Taylor and tell
what nationality it is?). One
parting word. All of the above history speaks in terms of generalities. As we family historians try to discover and unlock
the secrets of the past of our individual ancestors, there are always individual exceptions to account for. There were English
settlers in northern Ireland. There were French Huguenots (the French protestant rebels, "roughly" equivalent to the Puritans
in England and the Covenanters in Scotland) in northern Ireland. There were German Palatine refugees in northern Ireland.
There were refugees from other parts of the world to Ireland, as well, at various times. My
recommendation is to not worry about the actual blood line of your ancestry, but to appreciate the historical significance
of the above events that your ancestor lived through, no matter how he or she got there. (e.g. your ancestor passing through
Scotland for a generation or two, or three, or four, was simply one more stop on the genealogical chain of your past, just
as significant as two or three generations of your ancestors living in Ohio in the 1800's.) You
also certainly cannot rely on a name to guarantee any source of your ancestry. French, English, and German names could all
be "Irish'd" on coming to Ireland, as they might have been again been "anglicized' in coming to America. In fact, Scotch names
were "Irish'd", as well as the other way around, on coming to America, ie O'Neill switched to MacNeil or vice versa. I even
have one line of Scotch-Irish relatives that changed their name from Campbell to McCampbell on coming to America. There is
no equivalent for McCampbell in either Ireland or Scotland - it is an all-American original made-up name! In 1619, the headright system was instituted. This allowed anyone who
could afford passage to bring new settlers to Many of the early immigrants to Source: http://www.usahistory.info/southern/Virginia.html An anonymous pamphlet published in London in 1649 gives a glowing account of Virginia,
describing it as a land where "there is nothing wanting," a land of 15,000 English and 300 negro slaves,
20,000 cattle, many kinds of wild animals, "above thirty sorts" of fish, farm products, fruits, and vegetables
in great quantities, and the like. If this was intended to induce home seekers to migrate to Based
on the above, it seems likely that the first immigrant of our family came to the |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
