Robert Forrest

Scots-Irish Origins Robert Forrest

Scots-Irish Origins: Plantation of Londonderry c1600-1670. This volume sheds light on a segment of the 100,000 Scotsmen who were encouraged to migrate to Ulster as part of the British plantation scheme during the 17th century. Drawing upon primary source material from the vast archives of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland in Belfast, Mr Forrest has sourced seventeenth century muster rolls and summonister court records that provide the names of hundreds of mostly Lowland Scots who settled in Ulster prior to 1670. Within a few generations, the descendants of these Ulster Scots emigrated in substantial numbers across the Atlantic, where, as the Scots-Irish (Scotch-Irish) they made a major contribution to the settlement and development of colonial America. This book makes available for the first time two important genealogical sources, the 1630 Muster Roll and the Summonister (Court) Rolls c.1615-1670 for county Londonderry. Mr. Forrest has utilized the Summonister Court Rolls, the 1622 survey by Phillips and Hadsor, the 1630 muster roll and the 1641 depositions to write a short history of the 'Plantation of Londonderry c.1600-1670.' In his history of the Londonderry plantation, Mr. Forrest attempts to trace the origins and development of the Scottish colony in Londonderry. Londonderry was attractive to the Scottish given its close proximity with Scotland's western seaboard. Mr. Forrest traces several migratory waves of Scots colonists during the seventeenth century. Many of the settlers were, undoubtedly, economic migrants forced to leave Scotland with its expanding population, rising prices and rising unemployment. The increasing numbers of Scots, especially from 1630, was vital to the maintenance of the Ulster plantation. In this unique work, Mr Forrest provides an appendix of over 1,700 different surnames mentioned in this volume.