The 1806 voyage of the Spencer from Colonsay Scotland to PEI

 

In 1806, the ship Spencer brought 115 Gaelic-speaking emigrants from the Scottish island of Colonsay to Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. The passengers were primarily from the north of Colonsay and were sponsored by Lord Selkirk to settle his estate on PEI. The colonists were not a random group but were connected through a dense web of kinship. 

Voyage and arrival

• Ship and crew: The Spencer, a brigantine built in 1778, was commanded by Captain Forster H. Brown.
• Journey: The vessel sailed from the port of Oban, Scotland. In September 1806, after a 40–50-day journey, the Spencer arrived in Pinette Harbour, PEI.
• Passenger demographics: Of the 115 passengers who survived the crossing, 64 were male and 51 were female. Among them, 43 were under 16, 68 were between 16 and 60, and only four were over 60.
• Wintering: Since they arrived late in the season, the new arrivals spent their first winter in quarters provided by Lord Selkirk, along with provisions. 

Passenger and family details

The passengers came to PEI with land promised by Lord Selkirk and were mostly related to two prominent families: the McNeills and the McMillans. Key family groups included: 

• McNeills: Grisael "Grace" McNeill, the wife of Malcolm "Hector" McMillan, was the sister of another passenger, Malcolm McNeill. A partial Rootsweb list includes a Malcolm McNeil (51) and a John McNeil (14).
• McMillans: Clan MacMillan was a major family group, with many settling in the Wood Islands area. Their migration is documented by the Clan MacMillan of PEI.
• Munns: Several Munns were on the ship and were connected to the McMillan family by marriage. James Munn and Elizabeth McMillan married just before the voyage, while their siblings planned to marry after arriving in PEI.
• Darrachs: Most families settled in the Wood Islands area, but the Darrachs settled in the Clyde River region.
• Bells: Multiple Bell family members were on board, including Malcolm Bell (65) and several children.
• Other families: Other family names on passenger lists include McEacharn, Brown, Buchanan, Campbell, and Currie. 

Settlement on Prince Edward Island

In the spring of 1807, the Colonsay settlers moved to their new lands, primarily settling in the Wood Islands and nearby Belle River areas, on what was known as "Lot 62". 

What were the main reasons these families emigrated from Colonsay to PEI in 1806?

The emigration of Colonsay families to Prince Edward Island (PEI) in 1806 was driven by a combination of challenging living conditions in Scotland and the promising opportunity of a new life under the sponsorship of Lord Selkirk. 

Push factors from Scotland

• Decline of the clan system: After the failed Jacobite uprisings, particularly that of 1745, the British government dismantled the traditional Scottish clan system. The chiefs of the clans were transformed into modern landlords focused on profitability rather than the welfare of their tenants. This shift eroded the bonds of kinship and security that had long defined life in the Highlands and Islands.
• Rising rents and economic pressure: New landlords sought to modernize their holdings and increase profits, often by dramatically raising rents. This placed intense financial strain on crofters and tenant farmers, making it nearly impossible to sustain their traditional way of life.
• Highland clearances (pre-1815): While the most severe and brutal clearances occurred later in the 19th century, earlier economic changes also displaced some island populations. Before 1815, many emigrants left voluntarily in response to changing conditions rather than outright evictions, though the pressure to leave was immense.
• Overpopulation: In the late 18th century, some areas of the Western Highlands and Islands experienced increased overpopulation, placing further stress on local resources and economic viability. 

Pull factors in Prince Edward Island

• Lord Selkirk's settlement plan: Thomas Douglas, the 5th Earl of Selkirk, was a philanthropist who sympathized with the plight of displaced Highlanders. He sought to establish settlements in British North America as a new home for these struggling families. The Colonsay emigrants were part of this vision and were sponsored by him to settle a tract of his land on PEI.
• Promise of land ownership: For tenant farmers who had little hope of owning land in Scotland, the prospect of securing land in PEI was a powerful draw. Selkirk offered them the chance to purchase land outright or on contract, providing an opportunity for stability and prosperity.
• New opportunities: Emigration offered the promise of a better life, not just for the adults but for their children, providing an escape from the harsh conditions and lack of upward mobility in Scotland.
• Family connections: Many of the emigrants were related through kinship ties, which provided a crucial social network and support system for undertaking the long and challenging journey together. Several families intermarried just before or shortly after the voyage, demonstrating the pre-existing community structure that was transplanted.
• Favorable conditions on PEI: Some families were also attracted by promotional information that depicted the colony as superior to Scotland, highlighting its climate, mineral wealth, and the protection afforded by British rule. 

The Colonsay emigrants of 1806 were not merely passive victims of historical forces. They were active agents who made a conscious decision to leave their homeland for a tangible opportunity that promised a better future for their families. 

Elaborate on the social impact of the Highland Clearances beyond economic factors

The Highland Clearances caused a profound social and cultural devastation beyond their economic consequences, as they shattered the traditional clan system, suppressed Gaelic identity, and inflicted deep psychological trauma. This long-lasting rupture fundamentally changed the fabric of Highland society. 

Cultural and linguistic impact

• Destruction of the clan system: The traditional clan system was based on a mutual understanding of shared kinship and land rights (known in Gaelic as dùthchas) between the chief and the people. The Clearances irrevocably broke this bond, as chiefs began to see themselves as landlords maximizing profits rather than as paternalistic leaders responsible for their people's welfare. This led to a feeling of deep betrayal among the clanspeople.
• Devastation of the Gaelic language: Already under pressure from anti-Gaelic laws following the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the clearances delivered a crushing blow to the language. As entire Gaelic-speaking communities were displaced, scattered, or forced to emigrate, the language lost its geographic heartland. While Gaelic survived in some pockets and in the diaspora, its use diminished significantly.
• Forced assimilation: Many Highlanders who moved to the Lowlands or English-speaking countries were forced to adopt a new, foreign way of life. The state education system actively promoted English over Gaelic, furthering the erosion of their traditional culture.
• Creation of a human wasteland: The evictions fundamentally altered the landscape itself. Ancient settlement patterns, such as the townships (baile), were destroyed to make way for vast sheep farms and, later, sporting estates. This physical emptiness became a powerful symbol of the human loss, with many viewing the region as a cultural "wasteland" rather than a natural wilderness. 

Psychological and social trauma

• Betrayal and injustice: The forced removals generated an enduring sense of injustice and resentment toward the landlords. Witnesses and oral tradition recount instances of extreme cruelty, with some landlords, such as Patrick Sellar in Sutherland, becoming notorious for their ruthlessness.
• Long-term trauma: The psychological trauma of the clearances lasted for generations. The constant threat of eviction, the loss of ancestral land, and the destruction of their way of life created a culture of deep dependency in those who remained. This trauma is reflected in Gaelic poetry and folk traditions from the period.
• Social and political radicalism: In reaction to their dispossession, some Highlanders turned to social and political radicalism. The late 19th century saw land raids and the formation of groups like the Highland Land League, which agitated for land reform and tenant rights. This activism gave rise to the Napier Commission in the 1880s, which ultimately led to the Crofters' Holdings Act, granting some security of tenure.
• A conflicted diaspora: The clearances created a large and conflicted diaspora. While many emigrants carried the trauma and bitterness of their forced displacement, later generations often romanticized their Scottish heritage. This led to a diaspora culture marked by both a deep sense of loss and a nostalgic embrace of traditions like tartan and clan associations, even with the same chiefly families who had evicted their ancestors. 

What role did religion play during the Highland Clearances?

Religion played a complex and often contradictory role during the Highland Clearances, sometimes acting as a tool of the land-owning establishment and other times providing strength and a basis for resistance for the displaced crofters. 

The Established Church: Collaboration with landlords

During the early and most brutal phases of the clearances, the established Church of Scotland often sided with the land-owning elite rather than the crofting community. 

• Preaching submission: Many ministers preached sermons that presented the clearances as God's will or a divinely sanctioned punishment for the crofters' sins. By framing the evictions in biblical terms of submission and repentance, these clergy encouraged passivity among the crofters and discouraged resistance to eviction notices.
• Political alliance: As ministers' appointments often depended on the patronage of the landowners, they had little incentive to speak out against the clearances. This created a political and social alliance between the Kirk, the landlords, and government forces that ensured the crofters had few institutional allies in their struggle.
• Silence and complicity: With a few notable exceptions, the voices of the educated clergy were largely silent or actively supportive of the evictions, failing to use their position to highlight the injustices their people were facing. 

The Free Church and religious dissent: A catalyst for resistance 

The landscape of religious influence began to shift significantly with the rise of dissenting movements and the 1843 Disruption of the Church of Scotland. This event saw roughly one-third of the Kirk's clergy, including many in the Highlands, leave to form the Free Church of Scotland. 

• A new moral authority: The Free Church ministers were often more responsive to their congregation's concerns and were not reliant on landlord patronage for their livelihoods. They brought a new, more sympathetic moral authority that empowered the crofters.
• Mobilizing tenants: The new religious energy and the separation from the landlords' established church helped prepare the crofters for more organized and successful resistance. While the Free Church did not universally advocate for violence, its existence provided a moral framework and organizational structure that was crucial for the tenant resistance that emerged in the 1880s, including the Highland Land League.
• Places of refuge: When evicted from their homes, some crofters found temporary shelter and spiritual comfort in or around Free Church buildings. Croick Church in Sutherland, for example, served as a refuge for families in 1845, with their names and defiant messages etched into the glass windows.
• A shared identity: The Free Church movement became intertwined with a sense of Gaelic cultural and social identity, providing a source of strength against the pressures of Anglicization and assimilation. 

Catholicism: Persecution and displacement 

For the Catholic minority, largely concentrated in the northwest Highlands and Islands, religion was a source of additional persecution. 

• Post-Jacobite targeting: Following the final Jacobite defeat at Culloden in 1746, the British government targeted Highlanders, in part because of their Catholic sympathies. The pacification of the region included laws designed to diminish clan power and punish Catholics.
• Emigration and displacement: The Catholic community had a long history of persecution, and this continued during the clearances. Facing both economic pressure and religious hostility, many Catholic Highlanders were among the first to emigrate in significant numbers.
• Priests as allies: While the Catholic population declined due to emigration, the priests who remained were often embedded in the community and served as allies to their flocks. They understood the plight of the evicted and sometimes provided direct aid, such as Father Coll Macdonald who offered shelter to evicted families in his garden. 

Elaborate on instances where clergy opposed the Highland Clearances

While many ministers of the established Church of Scotland were complicit in the Highland Clearances, there were notable instances of clergy who spoke out or took action to oppose them. These dissenting voices often emerged from outside the landed elite's sphere of influence, particularly after the 1843 Disruption. 

Catholic priests

Catholic priests, a minority in the Highlands, were less beholden to the Protestant landowners and often acted in solidarity with their communities, many of whom were Catholic. 

• Father Coll Macdonald: In 1853, when tenants were forcibly evicted from their homes and had their villages burned on the Knoydart estate, Father Coll Macdonald provided refuge. He set up tents and temporary shelters in his garden at Sandaig to care for the homeless families. 

Free Church ministers

The Free Church of Scotland, formed in the 1843 Disruption, proved to be a critical source of clerical opposition. Free Church ministers were elected by their congregations, not appointed by landlords, giving them both spiritual independence and a greater stake in their people's welfare. 

• A new moral framework: The Free Church refused to accept financial support from landlords, which gave its ministers the freedom to openly criticize eviction policies and frame the clearances as a moral and social injustice rather than divine will. This empowered crofters and provided a powerful moral justification for organized resistance.
• Refuge at the church: The Free Church building itself occasionally became a symbol of defiance. In 1845, when families were being evicted from the parish of Croick in Sutherland, they found refuge in the churchyard. There, they famously etched their names and messages of despair and defiance into the windows, creating a lasting memorial to their suffering.
• Influence on resistance: Although the Free Church did not actively encourage violence, its ministers and the new, independent structure of the denomination were instrumental in mobilizing tenants. By the 1880s, Free Church ministers were central to the land reform movement that resulted in the formation of the Highland Land League. 

Journalists and public figures

While not all were ordained clergy, some prominent writers and public figures with strong religious or moral convictions used their platform to expose the injustices. 

• John Murdoch: A journalist and Gaelic advocate, John Murdoch wrote extensively about the hardships faced by crofters. His newspaper, The Highlander, published between 1873 and 1881, became a voice for the tenant community and a major catalyst for land reform activism. His stance was deeply influenced by his early life experiences on the island of Islay, where his own family witnessed the social consequences of landlord bankruptcy and the subsequent evictions.
• The Napier Commission: The activism of the Land League and journalists like Murdoch created enough pressure to warrant a government inquiry, the Napier Commission, in 1883. During the Commission's hearings, accounts of the suffering inflicted during the clearances were formally documented, giving validation to the crofters' testimony and forcing a reckoning with the landlords' brutality. 

Our relatives on the “Spencer” passenger list, 22 sep 1806, from Colonsay Scotland:

MALES:

• Dougald McNeil 60 5th great-granduncle ( 1746-1806)

• Alexander McNeil 26 husband of 1st cousin 6x removed (1779-1863) Margaret McPhee 1785-1870 Wife of Alexander McNeill

• Charles McNeil 15 1st cousin 6x removed (1780-1879)

• Dougald McNeil 12 1st cousin 6x removed (1794-1879) Flora MacMillan (McMillan) 1755- Mother of Dougald McNeill

• Duncan Bell 78 father-in-law of 4th great-granduncle (1728-_)

• Dougald Bell 25 Dougald Gilbert Bell brother-in-law of 4th great-granduncle (1780-_)

• Duncan Bell 1728- Father of Dougald Gilbert Bell

• Duncan Bell 7 nephew of wife of 4th great-granduncle (1797-1877)

• Malcolm McNeil 51 5th great-grandfather (1755-1821)

• John McNeil 14 4th great-granduncle (1792-1822)

• James Currie 25 husband of 1st cousin 6x removed (1775-1843)

• John Bell 40 4th great granduncle (1762-_)

• Duncan McDuff 54 husband of 5th great-grandaunt (1752-1849) Mary McNeil 1766-1859 Wife of Duncan McDuff

• Dugald McDuff 17 1st cousin 6x removed (1789-_)

• Donald McDuff 21 1/2 1st cousin 6x removed (1784-1861)

• James Currie 30 husband of 1st cousin 6x removed (1771-1843) Annie Nancy McDuff 1787-1882 Wife of James Currie

• Duncan Munn 60 5th great-grandfather (1746-1821)

• Malcolm Munn 23 4th great-granduncle (1783-1837)

• Neil Munn 28 4th great granduncle (1778-1868)

• James Munn 20 4th great-granduncle James Hector Munn* 1784-1868

• Angus Munn 31 4th great-grandfather (1774-1837)

• Donald McNeil 34 4th great-granduncle (1772-_) Malcolm McNeill DNA match 1755-1821 Father of Donald McNeill

• Malcolm McNeil 5 1st cousin 5x removed (1801-1889)

• Donald McNeil 2 1st cousin 5x removed (1805-1877)

• Duncan Darroch 28 husband of 1st cousin 6x removed (1777-1853) Margaret (Peggy) MacMillan 1781-1853 Wife of Duncan Darrach

• John Darroch 3 2nd cousin 5x removed (1802-1874)

[25 of a total 64 Males are in our family tree]

FEMALES:

• Flora McMillan 51 wife of 5th greatgranduncle (1755-_)

• Isabella McNeil 7 1st cousin 6x removed (1805-_)

• Mary Bell 26 sister-in-law of 4th great-granduncle (1780-_)

• Flora Bell 9 niece of wife of 4th great-granduncle (1796-1850)

• Mary Livingston 51 5th great-grandmother (1755-1833)

• Jannet McNeil 20 4th great-grandaunt (1786-1806)

• Mary Bell 15 3rd great-grandmother (1791-1878)

• Nelly Bell 12 3rd great-grandaunt (1794-1806)

• Catherine Bell 10 wife of nephew of husband of 5th great-grandaunt (1796-_)

• Grissel McNeil 40 5th great-grandaunt [Grisael "Grace”] (1758-1833)

• Flora McMillan 8 1st cousin 6x removed (1798-1867)

• Cathrine McMillan 1 1st cousin 6x removed (1803-1881)

• Mary McNeil 40 5th great-grandaunt (1766-1859)

• Margaret McDuff 20 1st cousin 6x removed (1786-_)

• Janet McDuff 14 1st cousin 6x removed (1792-_)

• Cathrine McDuff 9 1st cousin 6x removed (1797-_)

• Effie McDuff 5 1st cousin 6x removed (1801-_)

• Nancy McDuff 19 1st cousin 6x removed Annie Nancy McDuff (1787-1882)

• Mary Currie 7 months 2nd cousin 5x removed (1806-1880)

• Flora Brown 58 5th great-grandmother (1748-1820)

• Ann Munn 17 4th great-grandaunt (1788-1870)

• Effy Munn 15 4th great-grandaunt Euphemia (Effy) Munn (1791-_)

• Cathrine Currie 22 wife of 4th great-granduncle Catherine Currie (1784-1862)

• Betty McMillan 18 wife of 4th great-granduncle Elizabeth Betty McMillan (1786-1873)

• Margaret McNeil 21 4th great-grandmother (1783-1871)

• Catherine Munn 7 months 3rd great-grandmother (1806-1882)

• Marion Bell 34 wife of 4th great-granduncle (1772-_)

• Mary McDuff 72 mother-in-law of 4th great-granduncle (1734-_)

• Catherine Currie 26 wife of 4th great-granduncle (1784-1862)

[29 of a total of 51 Females are in our family tree]

GRAND TOTAL 115 passengers, of which 54 were relatives in our family tree.

MORE: At Drifting Cowboy Blogspot, Sunday, August 17, 2014 Great Granddad Was A Prince Edward Island Fisherman

https://a-drifting-cowboy.blogspot.com/2014/08/great-granddad-was-prince-edward-island.html

Dedicated to Reverend Ryan courtesy of Grok xAI and Drifting Cowboy.