The Distribution of Scottish Settlements in Ontario, 1871–1901
Emigration from Scotland in the nineteenth century is marked by its significant use of chain migration. This article focuses on how migrant chains affected Scottish settlement patterns in Ontario in the late nineteenth century, highlighting their reliance on friends and family to successfully relocate. Remittances, letters, and other forms of support point to the continued importance of kin and clan across borders. What differentiated Scottish migrants from chain migrants of other nationalities was the durability of their settlements. Migrant chains from other origins typically produce durable settlements that persist over time. Scots, on the other hand, show significantly less settlement durability. Census data are used to describe the concentration of Scottish immigrants over time within districts in Ontario, Canada, and how the degree of concentration changed over time. These data and the results are illustrated with a series of census maps.