History Scottish Australians

1 history

1.1 colonial period
1.2 19th century
1.3 20th century

history

the links between scotland , australia stretch first british expedition of endeavour under command of lieutenant james cook himself son of scottish ploughman. cook navigated , charted east coast of australia, making first landfall @ botany bay on 29 april 1770. reports in cook s expedition lead british settlement of continent, , during voyage cook named 2 groups of pacific islands in honour of scotland: new caledonia , new hebrides. first european die on australian soil scot; forbey sutherland orkney, able seaman died on 30 april 1770 of consumption , first buried on colony captain cook, named sutherland point @ botany bay in honour.

colonial period

the first scottish settlers arrived in australia first fleet in 1788, including 3 of first 6 governors of new south wales john hunter, lachlan macquarie (often referred father of australia) , thomas brisbane. majority of scots arriving in colonial period convicts: 8,207 scottish convicts, of total 150,000 transported australia, made 5% of convict population. scottish courts unwilling punish crimes deemed lesser offences in scots law deportation australia. scottish law considered more humane lesser offences english , irish legal systems. although scottish convicts had poor reputation, convicted of minor property offences , represented broad cross-section of scotland s working classes. such, brought range of useful skills colonies.

from 1793-1795, group of political prisoners later called scottish martyrs , transported colonies. not scots, had been tried in scotland. plight victims of oppression reported , subsequent escape of 1 of them, thomas muir, in 1796 caused sensation , inspired poetry of robert burns. majority of immigrants, free settlers , in late 18th century lowlanders prominent wealthy families. engineers andrew mcdougall , john bowman arrived experience in building corn mills, while others drawn australia prospects of trade. william douglas campbell, robert campbell, charles hook, alexander berry laird of shoalhaven, of first merchants drawn colonies.

19th century

prior 1830, scottish immigrants farmers , landholders chose emigrate willingly due scottish economic recessions of 1820s. economic disruption , riots caused agrarian revolution resulted in second group of scottish radicals being deported colonies in 1820. of them educated , esteemed free colonists. in coming years australia 1 of many countries benefit scottish population exodus of late 18th century. majority of immigrants predominantly edinburgh, dundee , aberdeen, encouraged strong commercial , financial links between scottish east coast , western australia.

at time, several scottish regiments recorded in colonies: macquarie s unit or 73rd regiment, royal north british fusiliers, , king s own scottish borderers. 3 of deputy commissaries-general (the highest rank in colony) 1813 1835 scots: david allan, william lithgow, stewart.

by 1830 15.11% of colonies total population scots, increased middle of century 25,000, or 20-25% of total population. australian gold rush of 1850s provided further impetus scottish migration: in 1850s 90,000 scots immigrated, far higher other british or irish populations @ time. literacy rates of scottish immigrants ran @ 90-95%. 1830s growing number of scots poorer working classes joined diaspora. immigrants included skilled builders, tradesmen, engineers, tool-makers , printers. settled in commercial , industrial cities, sydney, adelaide, hobart , melbourne. migration of skilled workers increased, including bricklayers, carpenters, joiners, , stonemasons. settled in colonies of victoria, new south wales, south australia , tasmania.

in 1840s, scots-born immigrants constituted 12 percent of australian population. out of 1.3 million migrants britain australia in period 1861-1914, 13.5 percent scots. settlement followed highland potato famine, highland clearances , lowland clearances of mid-19th century. 1860 scots made 50% of ethnic composition of western victoria, adelaide, penola , naracoorte. other settlements in new south wales included new england, hunter valley , illawarra.

their preponderance in pastoral industries on australian frontier, , in various colonial administrative roles, meant scottish migrants involved in colonisation of indigenous australians throughout colonial period, including in dispossession of indigenous land, creation of discriminatory administration regimes, , in killings , massacres.

throughout 19th century, scots invested heavily in industries of australian colonies. in 1820s, australian company of edinburgh & leith exported variety of goods australia, lack of return cargo led company s termination in 1831. scottish australian investment company formed in aberdeen in 1840, , became 1 of chief businesses in colonies, making substantial investments in pastoral , mining industries. smaller companies, such george russel s clyde company , niel & company, had significant presence in colonies. before 1893 australian financial crisis, scotland main source of private british loans australia.

20th century

anzac day parade in melbourne, 25 april 2013

a steady rate of scottish immigration continued 20th century, substantial numbers of scots continuing arrive after 1945. between 1910 , 1914, around 9000 scots arrived each year, , in 1921 scottish population of australia 109,000. due economic decline in scotland after first world war, there over-representation of scots among british migrants australia during interwar period, , 1933 there 132,000 scottish migrants living in australia.

by 1920s , 1930s, majority of scottish migrants in australia living in victoria , new south wales. urban working-class background of many british migrants australia in 20th century meant scots settle in industrial portside suburbs, in melbourne , sydney, made notable contributions shipbuilding industry. in late-19th , early-20th century, scottish-born workers had significant influence in labour movement, , played key roles in trade unions , australian labor party, becoming leaders in communist party of australia. in 1928, significant delegation of scottish australians scotland influential in opening of direct trade route between australia , glasgow, , 1932 traders on clyde had reported three-fold increase in imports australia , new zealand.

today, strong cultural scottish presence evident in highland games, dance, tartan day celebrations, clan , gaelic speaking societies found throughout modern australia. in 2000s, number of australians claiming have scottish ancestry increased three-fold; majority of claim scottish ancestry third or later generation australians.