Why did your ancestor leave his homeland to travel across the ocean to face an unknown land full of dangers? It could have been religious beliefs that spurred the change. It could have been an economic opportunity. Or did your ancestor cross the ocean unwillingly?
The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614 – 1775
Published by Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.
Baltimore, 1988
“Between 1614 and 1775 some 50,000 Englishmen were sentenced by legal process to be transported to the American colonies. With notable few exceptions their names and the record of their trial have survived in public records together with much other information which enables us to plot the story of their unhappy and unwilling passage to America.”
The over 900 pages in this book contain alphabetical lists of emigrants. For each person this book may tell you:
The Surname and Christian name of the emigrant
Parish or Origin
Occupation or status
Sentencing Court, offence, and month and year of sentence
Month, year and ship on which transported
Place, month and year landed in America
English county in which sentenced
My sixth great grandfather, James Theopilous Dillon, crossed the Atlantic Ocean onboard the Dorsetshire. The ship was transporting unwilling passengers. He was sentenced by legal process in Great Britain to be transported to the American Colonies. Vagrants, prisoners and orphaned children were forced to emigrate. In 1655 a formal system was introduced for pardoning felons on condition of their transportation. James was a teenager when he was sent to the colonies. He may have been sent because he was an orphan or an Irish rebel or had broken a law. I have not yet uncovered the exact reason he was sentenced to be transported. But, thanks to this book, I found a piece of the puzzle.
You may want to look through this book to see if you can find a name you know.
At the top of this blog, click on My Library for many more books that I have found useful for genealogical & historical research.
James Theophillous “Jim” Dillon was quite a man. His wife is my is a second cousin.
ReplyDelete