Later Scots-Irish Links, 1725-1825. Part One

In the tradition of his two earlier volumes of Scots-Irish links for the period 1575 to 1725, Mr. Dobson picks up the trails of Scots living in Ulster and Irish living in Scotland during the following hundred years. Unlike the previous century-and-a-half, the destination of most Scots emigrants during the 18th century was across the Atlantic and not to Ulster. The same period also witnessed the beginnings of a large-scale exodus from Ireland to the Americas. Nevertheless, there was some movement of peoples between Ireland and Scotland from 1725 to 1825, and most of it was on the part of students heading for universities in Glasgow or Edinburgh. The simple fact was that Presbyterians and other religious dissenters in Ireland continued to send their sons to matriculate at Scottish universities because English and Irish universities restricted their enrollment to members of the Church of England. Interestingly, Scotland generally produced too many graduates for its domestic requirements, which resulted in many of them seeking careers in the Americas as physicians, schoolmasters, ministers, and other professionals. While most of the students are described merely by name, university, and date of attendance, in a number of cases Mr. Dobson is able to provide information on the individual's spouse, children, parents, local origins, landholding, and, of course, the source of the information. As was the case with the earlier volumes, there is no certainty that each of the roughly 1,200 persons identified in "Later Scots-Irish Links" or their descendants ultimately emigrated to America; however, undoubtedly many did or possessed kinsmen who did.