For much of the period, religious liberty in Poland attracted immigrants who had been subject to persecution in their homelands. Many of the Scots who settled initially along the shores of the Baltic had arrived as soldiers of fortune recruited to fight for and against the armies of Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Choosing to remain in Poland, these veterans later settled on lands given for service rendered, or as itinerant cramers or pedlars. During the 17th century, there was hardly a locality in Poland that did not contain some Scots. By the 1640s it was reckoned that there were approximately 30,000 Scots resident in Poland–one of the greatest concentrations of Scots in continental Europe. By the middle of the 17th century, the appeal of Poland and the Baltic lands began to wane for Scottish emigrants, who were discouraged by the Cossack and other wars, and encouraged by opportunities to the west–initially in Ireland and later in America. To illustrate the nature of Scottish emigration, consider the following entry:

On 19 March 1631, James Nairn and Thomas Begg, merchants in Edinburgh, entered into a charter party with William Williamson, master of the Gift of God to take a cargo of coal from Leith to Konigsberg, Danzig, or other Baltic port, there to purchase lint, hards [ie coarse linen flax], pack goods, et cetera, and return to Leith. [NRS.AC7.4]

This volume marks the fourth in a series. It is based on numerous primary and second sources found in the British Isles and continental Europe, including the Aberdeen City Archives, the Dundee Shipping Lists, the Danish Archives (Copenhagen), and The Scottish Community in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1630-1750, by Michael Broun Ayre.

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Since the medieval period Scottish soldiers could also be found in the service of France–for example, during the One Hundred Years War between France and England. The 17th century saw Scots soldiers fighting for or against France. In 1627 King Charles I sent 2,000 Scottish fighting men to aid the English in the defense of the Huguenot stronghold of La Rochelle, which was besieged by the French Army. Conversely, Scots Catholics could be found in French or Spanish armies of the period, such as those of Colonel Sir John Hepburn or Lord George Gordon, Captain in Chief of Company of Men at Arms in the Service of King Louis XIII of France in 1625.

The Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 1639-1651, involved Scottish soldiers in action in Scotland, England, and Ireland. Many Scottish soldiers, with years of military experience, returned from Europe to form the backbone of the Covenanter Army that opposed Charles I. The religious policies of King Charles I led to the Bishops Wars of 1639-1640, when the monarch unsuccessfully attempted to invade Scotland, and to the subsequent Scottish occupation of Newcastle, then the Irish Rising of 1641, followed by the English Civil War in 1642. Scottish soldiers participated in each of the latter upheavals.

The Jacobites were those who supported and fought for the return of the Stuarts to the thrones of England and Scotland from James II in 1688 until the death of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1788. There were several Jacobite risings or rebellions in the British Isles during the late 17th century, notably in Ireland, ending in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and in Scotland, where the Battle of Killiecrankie was most significant.

By the end of the 17th century, the Scottish Military Establishment was working closely with its English counterpart. Scottish regiments would fight alongside English ones against common enemies–for example, in the War of the League of Augsburg in the 1690s, which ended with the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697. Several of the Scots soldiers, formerly fighting in Flanders, were recruited by the Scottish Darien Company to defend its settlement on the Isthmus of Panama.

The political union of Scotland and England led to the birth of the British Army and soon Scottish soldiers were fighting under the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Blenheim in Bavaria. The Union of 1707 increasingly provided opportunities under the British Crown for Scottish soldiers as the Empire expanded, so the appeal of service in continental armies declined.

This publication, based on original and secondary sources, identifies between 2,500 and 3,000 Scottish fighting men who served in a variety of military theaters in Europe and in the Americas. Dr. Dobson identifies each combatant by name, a location, a date, and the source, and in a number of cases by the names of next of kin, vessels traveled on, place of origin in Scotland, or other particulars.

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For eighty years the Dutch fought to maintain their independence from Spain, and aiding them in their struggle were thousands of Scottish soldiers, who formed the Scots Brigade. The Scots Brigade in Dutch Service was founded in 1572 and continued in existence until 1782, during which time a significant number of men from Scotland fought and later settled in the Netherlands. A number of them and their descendants immigrated to the Dutch settlements in America, stretching from the Hudson River to the West Indies and Surinam.

This book, the fourth in the series, identifies some of the Scots with links to the Low Countries, especially seafarers and merchants, but also planters in the Dutch colonies in and around the Caribbean. It is based mainly on primary sources, notably the records of the High Court of the Admiralty of Scotland. In each case, Dr. Dobson states the individual’s name, occupation (soldier, merchant, student, etc.), date of the reference, and the source. Marriage entries typically give the Scot’s name and place of origin, those of his spouse, and sometimes the name(s) of parents, or more. In a few cases, the references are to Dutch persons who migrated in the opposite direction, lured by Scotland’s offer of full naturalization.

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The Swedish and Danish kings recruited not only soldiers from Scotland but also seafarers. Experienced Scottish seafarers were employed in various capacities; for example, John Cunningham led a naval expedition to Greenland and Labrador in 1605. Later he became governor of Vardohu and Finmark in northern Norway. Several of the admirals of the Swedish Navy belonged to the Scottish Clerck family. Sanders Clerck took part in the Swedish expedition to the Delaware in 1639, while Richard Clerck acted as commissary of the Swedish West India Company around 1646.

Following the losing campaigns in 1715 and 1746, a number of Scottish Jacobites sought refuge in Sweden: some, such as the Carnegies, became burghers of Gothenburg. That city was also home to the Swedish East India Company, which was created around 1730 to rival the English and the Dutch East India companies. One of its more prominent employees was Colin Campbell, who was sent to China in 1731 to establish trading links. The industrialization of Gothenburg in the 19th century was facilitated by Scottish entrepreneurs such as James Dickson, William Gibson, and Alexander Keiller.

In the early modern period, tens of thousands of Scots settled in Scandinavia, some permanently and others temporarily. Some of them, or their descendants, were involved in trade and settlement in the Americas. A handful of Scots were engaged in the Swedish settlements on the Delaware as colonists, seafarers, or merchants based in Sweden and trading in colonial produce. Far more Scots were recorded as planters and merchants in the Danish West Indian Colony of the Virgin Islands—St. Jan, St. Thomas, and St. Croix–during the 18th and 19th centuries.

This Second Edition expands on and vastly supersedes the original. It is based on numerous primary and secondary sources located in Scotland and Scandinavia, including the Prerogative Court of Canterbury; Public Record Office, Northern Ireland; Rigs Arkivet, Kobenhavn; Stads Arkivet, Bergen; and the Swedish Military Archives.

For each Scots-Scandinavian named in the volume, Dr. Dobson provides a name, specific place, a date, and the source. In many instances we also learn about the individual’s occupation, relations, vessel traveled upon, battles fought in, and more.

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Simultaneously, Cleverley has written a treatise on how to produce a family history, showing by example how family stories can be discovered, often more easily than thought, and what genealogy researchers may be able to find in today’s rich cyber world of family history.

The scope of Family Stories . . . and How I Found Mine spreads out over a millennium. The story begins with Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, before jumping to the Greene family serving in the court of Plantagenet kings from 1300 to 1500. Next come chapters devoted to Cleverley’s Puritan New England ancestors of the 1600s, their subsequent settlement in Rhode Island by the 1700s, and service at the Battle of Concord in 1775. From the 1830s to 1860s, we follow Cleverley descendants to Missouri and Kansas, where they served in the western Indian Wars, and later to Utah and Idaho. The story concludes with a stirring account of Seija Cleverley (the author’s wife) and her family’s hardships during Finland’s struggles with Soviet Russia and during the Second World War. Each chapter, including the methodological commentary, is self-contained. The reader can pick up the book at any point for a complete experience of a specific era and family members under discussion or can read the volume straight through in its entirety. Either way, this is a volume that entertains as it enlightens, and teaches as it chronicles a family history.

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Carefully explaining the unique rules and language of heraldry, and illustrating each point with a remarkable series of pen drawings, the book aims to give the genealogist and the student of design sufficient information about the structure and detail of heraldic insignia to enable him to produce well-balanced designs of coats of arms.

In addition to its usefulness as a manual, this is the kind of book that many will enjoy for the color and romance of heraldic history; e.g., the stories behind the great symbols of chivalry and the explanation of the uses of heraldry in architecture and other forms of embellishment. It is an unquestionable necessity for anyone forming a heraldic library.

“Without a doubt this is the finest book to have been published for many years, and one which will become the vade mecum of anyone in any way connected with heraldry in its various forms.”–Museum News (Sept. 1967).

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Researchers face many difficulties when trying to identify their Ashkenazic ancestors. Since the majority of Ashkenazic immigrants likely changed either their given name or their surname after arriving in the United States, locating them in record sources—for example, in immigration records—is particularly challenging. Pinpointing an Ashkenazic ancestor’s hometown is likewise a challenge, since over time some Eastern European countries ceased to exist, had lands ceded to other countries or encountered border changes, or had town names that were known by different names in different languages. In addition, Jewish immigrants were often inconsistent when recording their ages or dates of birth, in part because of the difference between the Jewish lunar calendar and the Julian and Gregorian solar calendars.

This guide first tackles the various difficulties you’ll face when researching your Ashkenazic Jewish ancestors and then offers concrete advice on how to overcome these difficulties. In just four, laminated pages, you’ll find everything you need to know to get your research started—the most helpful databases and reference works, as well as the major record sources, repositories, and online resources. Identifying Ashkenazic immigrants is challenging, but with this Genealogy at a Glance guide at your side, the task will become much easier.

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The failure of the Jacobite Risings in 1715 and 1745, however, resulted in a number of Jacobites, mainly Roman Catholics and Episcopalians, taking refuge in locations within Catholic Europe, especially Italy where the Court of King James Stuart was based. Other Jacobite refugees became merchants in locations such as Madeira and Lisbon.  By the eighteenth century, aristocratic families were sending their sons on the Grand Tour of Europe, especially to Italy and Greece; subsequently, artists and scholars settled there, some permanently, others temporarily. The expansion of the British Empire during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries led to Scottish soldiers and sailors being stationed at places such as Gibraltar and Malta, while the Iberian campaign of the Napoleonic Wars brought many Scottish fighting men to Spain and Portugal, mostly in British service, but some in Portuguese service.

This volume is an expanded and revised version of a book published in 2013 and contains much new data mainly derived from original research in the Regional Archives of Madeira in Funchal. Madeira was significant in transatlantic trade and emigration, as many vessels made it a main port of call prior to crossing the Atlantic or on the return journey. For each emigrant we are given a name, place of residence, date, and a citation. Many of the entries also convey the identities of a parent, spouse, or other relation; occupation (student, soldier, merchant, professor, etc.); vessel traveled on; and so on. The author supports his list of travelers with a list of Scottish vessels, their captains, and the date and destination of at least one vessel sailing to Southern Europe. This book contains as many as 1,800 Scots found in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Madeira, Malta, the Balearic Islands, the Azores, and the Canary Islands–20% more than named in the original edition.

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