Irish Immigration to Scotland: First half of 19th century

                  Photo from: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-emigration.html )



     In the 1841 Scottish census, there is a Thomas Peacock  living in Gorbals who could be our Thomas before he was married.  The other surnames do not appear in the index for the 1831 census for Ballyrashane, but appear  in the Coleraine area.  The census was normally taken in the spring.  Gorbals is a part of the city of Glasgow south of the Clyde River.


SCOTLAND 1841   Place: Gorbals -Lanarkshire Enumeration District: 13

Civil Parish: Gorbals Ecclesiastical Parish, Village or Island: Gorbals
Folio: 13 Page: 27 Address: Melville St  (Source:  Free Cen website)

Surname First name(s) Sex Age Occupation Where Born Remarks

MCCOOK Robert M 20 Cotton Hand Loom Weaver Ireland

MCCOOK Sarah F 24 Ireland

MCCOOK James M 1 Lanarkshire

MCCOOK William M 22 Labourer Ireland

MCCOOK Margaret F 22 Female Servant Ireland

ROBERTSON Robert M 22 Joiner Journeyman Ireland

MCCALASTER James M 20 Cotton Hand Loom Weaver Ireland

PEACOCK Thomas M 23 Labourer Ireland


The article below gives some background to why this could be possible.
(Taken from the following website:  http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-emigration.html )

Irish immigration to Scotland: First half of 19th century
     Irish immigration to Scotland was part of a well-established feature of early 19th century life in Ireland: the annual harvest migration. Since Scotland was Ireland's closest neighbour (only 13 miles separate the two countries at one point), it was an obvious choice for those that lived in the north of the island.

     In the 1820s, up to 8,000 economic migrants crossed back and forth across the Irish Sea every year, bound for seasonal agricultural work or other temporary contractual work in northern England, Wales and Scotland. By the early 1840s, the number making the harvest migration alone had risen to about 25,000.

     Permanent settlement usually required a greater skill base than agricultural labourers held. Most of the non-harvest migrants came with highly valued textiles and jute knowledge and came from the Irish counties where linen and yarn were produced – Derry, Donegal, Monaghan, Sligo and Tyrone.

     These early trickles of Irish immigration to Scotland do not conform to the stereotypes of migration in later years which were largely about the arrival of unskilled and destitute people.

     While most of the temporary migrants and probably a small proportion of the skilled workers eventually returned home to Ireland, some chose to settle permanently. This was more likely to happen in Scotland than in England or Wales, possibly because of the strong cultural ties between Scotland and Ulster, the province which provided most migrants to Scottish industries, especially in textiles.

     Up to the 1830s, Scotland could offer if not rich pickings, at least a chance of a regular wage. The country was experiencing a boom in the construction of homes, factories, roads, canals and other infrastructure while the coal, textile and steel industries were also increasing production. Whole towns grew up to provide a workforce to some of these industries and saw the development of significant Irish communities within them. In Girvan, Ayrshire, for example, some three-quarters of the 6,000 population was Irish-born in 1831.

     By 1841, when the earliest Scottish census was taken, some 125,321 (4.8%) of the 2.6million population was Ireland-born. In contrast, the Irish-born made up only 1.8% in England and just 0.78% in Wales.

Largest centres of Irish settlement:
(Irish-born as % of total pop) 1851

Dundee -18.9

Glasgow - 18.2

Paisley - 12.7

Kilmarnock - 12.1

The next decade saw the Great Famine exodus from Ireland when the poor and starving arrived in ports in desperate straits. By 1851, the Irish-born population of Scotland had reached 7.2%. The Irish were to be found in greater numbers in Glasgow, Dundee, in the mining communities of the Lothians and in Airdrie, Coatbridge and Motherwell.

These migrants came at a time when many Scots were emigrating to England, where wages were higher, or to more distant parts of the British Empire, looking for greater prosperity. As they left, they created work for the Irish, who went on to sustain Scotland's industrial revolution. They were especially famed as navvies building canals, bridges, railways and ports.

Irish Emigration

The Social Consequences of Mass Irish Emigration
(Fronm the website http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-emigration.html )

     Because the phenomenon of mass Irish emigration was largely prompted by the terrible catastrophe of the Great Hunger (the 'famine' of the late 1840s), the consequences of one cannot be separated from the other.
     Having been removed from their small strips of land through failure to pay rent, starvation hit the landless and the poorest hardest, as you would expect. Smallholders (ie those with small farms of just a few acres) also sold up to a large landowner or accepted their offer of passage to North America. Within a few years, the numbers of farms of less than five acres had been at least halved in number.

     The reality of the famine saw acceptance that farming methods had to change; such dependence on one crop - the potato - could not be repeated, so more livestock farms were created.

     The countryside of Ireland is still littered with abandoned houses.

     Another major change was a shift to single inheritance. Previously, land was typically divided equally between all surviving children as soon as they married and started their own families. Over the generations, too many plots of land had shrunk to barely more than cabbage or potato patches that even in good years could hardly sustain a small family. This, too, had contributed to the circumstances that made the 1840s famine so devastating.

     Two strong trends emerged with the move to single inheritance. Firstly, marriage took place later. The son (and it was nearly always a son) who was to inherit would not bring a wife into the family home until his parents were elderly or had died.

     The second consequence of single inheritance was more Irish emigration. While a second or third son or daughter might marry into another family or enter the church, the remaining children had no future security or stake in their home. For most of these children, emigration was the only option
.
     So, in the second half of the 19th century, Irish emigration typically saw the unskilled, single and young -- the 15- to 24-year-olds -- set sail. Nearly as many women as men left.

(Hugh Peacock (and perhaps another sibling) came to Canada about 16 years before our Thomas and his family.  Perhaps Thomas, an elder brother, had secured some land for his family and Hugh had no hope of that. In an 1830s record, there is a Robert Smith in Knocknakerragh but by the time the Griffith Valuation was done in 1859, Robert was gone and Thomas Peacock had a house there.  This is speculation, but it seems possible that Thomas took over a lease from a relative of his wife after his death or emigration. )

Emigaton Notes

http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-emigration.html  The following notes are from this website.

The Age of the Steamer


     The first steamer to cross the Atlantic was probably the Canadian ship SS Royal William which made the voyage from Quebec to London in twenty five days in 1833. At a time when a typical crossing in a traditional sailing ships took five to eight weeks, this was a huge development but it was to be more than two decades before steamers started to play any significant part in the story of Irish emigration.

     One of the co-owners of the SS Royal William was Samuel Cunard who subsequently founded the eponyomous company in 1840 having won the contract to provide a fortnightly mail service between Liverpool and Halifax, Boston and Quebec.

     The Britannia made its maiden voyage from Liverpool to Halifax and Boston on 4 July 1840, reportedly with a cow onboard to provide fresh milk to passengers. This ship completed its voyage in just 14 days and such was its success that Cunard had a fleet of 12 ships within a decade.

     The numbers of passengers carried across the ocean in steamers at this time was tiny, however. These early steamers were principally cargo or mail boats.

     It wasn't until the mid-1850s and 1860s that some comforts – electric lighting, more deck space etc – were added for passengers.

     By 1863, some 45% if Irish immigrants arrived in North America on steamships. By 1866, this had increased to 81% and within another four years nearly all Irish emigration to Canada and the USA was made on steamers.

(We have never found immigration records for Thomas Peacock and his family.  Apparently, the records are normally kept where the ship arrived.  However, it would seem that they probably came on board a steam ship )

Current Ballywatt Presbyterian Church

In 1751 Mr John Tennett, from the Edinburgh Presbytery was ordained to the pastoral oversight of the Secession Synod congregation in the parish of Ballyrashane. The first church building for this congregation was erected at Carnaboy on the Coleraine/Bushmills road: only a few stones of this building now remain. At that time the congregation was known as Carnaboy.

The congregation later moved to the present site at Ballywatt and became known locally as ‘Ballywatt’ although this was not its official name until 1900.

The first building on the present site was constructed for the total cost of £590. This building was 54 feet long and 34 feet wide with the pulpit in the centre of the wall opposite the entrance doors: it had a gallery round three sides, supported by cast metal pillars and could seat 600. It continued in use until the early 1890s when, after considerable debate, the congregation decided to demolish it and replace it with a new building on the same site. The new church building was erected by R. Young of Ballymoney, to the design of the architect, Vincent Craig. It was built of local black basalt with the vivid red Scotch sandstone which Craig liked, and the roof tiled with red Ruabon Terra Cotta tiles.

We think that our Peacocks attended the Presbyterian Church at Ballywatt.  The above church was built in the 1890s replacing the one they would have attended. 

Ken and Denise Peacock

                                                   Ken and Denise

                                          Ken and Denise with daughter Lorie at her wedding (May/13)

David Berg, son of Eileen Peacock Berg Tessier

Passed away peacefully in his 69th year with loved ones present at Health Sciences North, Sudbury, Ont. Friday February 8th 2013. Loving husband to Sandra for 50 years. He will be sadly missed but never forgotten. Loving father to Martin (Elizabeth) Berg, Brenda Berg & Sheri (Brian) Collins. Beloved Papa to Krystal, Kaitlin, Thomas, Dakota, Melissa & Travis. Great Papa to Hailey. Dear brother to Leona (Donald) Prevost and Bernice (John) Vanderveen. He will always be our guiding light. Cremation has taken place. In Lieu of flowers donations can be made in Dave's name to The Heart and Stroke Foundation or The Canadian Diabetes Association. A Celebration of life will take place at a later date.

Hugh Peacock

From ANTRIM or DERRY County?

When I first began researching the Peacocks in Ireland, the information I had was from John Peacock's marriage registration.  It stated that he was born in Derry.  Some years later when I contacted members from the Hugh Peacock line, they said they were from Antrim.  The death certificate of Thomas' wife, Sarah, has her birthplace as Antrim and John Peacock's obituary says Antrim.  So which is it?

Look at the map above.  In the top right of the county of Londonderry, you will see the Barony of Coleraine.  Just across the border in Antrim County, there is a little area called the N.E. Liberties of Coleraine.  The part of the parish of Ballyrashane which falls in the County of Antrim is in this little part.

It would seem that the confusion stems from the parish of Ballyrashane being located in both Derry County and Antrim County.  Without knowing exactly where each family member was born, it is impossible to know what county they belonged to.  Hopefully, we will find some church records at some time in the future.