Scottish Transatlantic Merchants, 1611-1785 »

Scottish merchants were in the vanguard of Scottish emigration to colonial America. In the 17th century, ships would leave Scotland bound for the Americas on trading voyages. This latest book from immigration authority David Dobson identifies many of these merchants and their American representatives. Based on primary sources found in Scotland and in America, Scottish Transatlantic Merchants identifies about 2,500 Scottish expatriate merchants and factors throughout the Americas. In all cases, Mr. Dobson presents the individual's full name, location in the Americas, a date, and the source of the data. Sometimes we are given quite a bit more, as in the case of William Woodrup, "a merchant in Nevis, 1675; merchant from Glasgow who settled in St. Kitts, died there in 1867," or the case of Robert Aitkin, "born in 1734, a merchant from Paisley who settled in Philadelphia during 1769, died there in 1802."