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Friday, May 3, 2013

Follow Friday ~ Scottish Prisoners of War



I have an ancestor who was a prisoner of war from the Battle of Worcester in 1650.  This was during the English Civil War, when the Puritans were fighting the monarchists for control.  Scots warriors were brought in to fight on the side of the king.  All prisoners were sent into servitude in the New World.  During the battles of Dunbar and Worcester, the prisoners ended up on the ships “Unity” and “John and Sara”.  My ancestor, William Munroe, and his two brothers arrived in Boston, Massachusetts on the “John and Sara”.  William was sold at the docks in Charlestown and served his time in Cambridge before setting in Cambridge Farms (now the town of Lexington).

A new blog has been formed with lots of information on these battles, ships, and “passenger lists”.  I don’t think they were actually listed as passengers, sadly I think cargo is the more accurate term for these lists.  As this blog grows, more and more biographies and information will be added.  It’s a wonderful idea.  If you have an ancestor who arrived as one of the Scots prisoners, or if you are interested in early seventeenth century New England, you will enjoy following this blog by Teresa Rust!

Teresa also told me that there is a Yahoo group on the Scots Prisoners at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scottish_war_prisoners/

The new blog is Scottish Prisoners of War  http://scottishprisonersofwar.com/

Teresa Rust also has other genealogy blogs, one is John Hamilton, Scottish Prisoner of War (he settled in Concord, Massachusetts) at http://johnhamiltonofscotland.wordpress.com/home/  ,  Grandpa’s Family History at http://grandpasfamilyhistory.com/  and Gran’s Family History at http://gransfamilyhistory.com/    She must be busy writing for all these online sites!

My previous blog post about the "John and Sara" passenger list:

A blog post about John Cragin, another passenger on the "John and Sara"

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

4 comments:

  1. Good Morning, Heather! Thank-you so much for featuring my blogs! I do feel a little pressure now...:)...because I still see my blogs as works in progress. I think of myself as still being new-ish to blogging. I am really having a great time getting to know others in the blogging world and I love sharing genealogical and historical knowledge with others interested in the same topics. I am not a professional at anything. I consider myself a amateur, but experienced, family historian with over 35 years (off and on) under my belt. I love history! To me, nothing beats the fun of reading about one's ancestors in an historical setting or event. So, please visit my sites, but check back as there is a lot of information still to post! It would be nice to get feedback on what people like and what can be improved upon. My goal right now is to transmit information in the clearest way, so my family can find and understand information about their history without confusion. Eventually, I want to write our family stories in a more dynamic or dramatic way that captures one's attention and makes our ancestors' stories come alive. That is a bit down the road still, after I gather more facts, and get better organized! Thanks again!

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  2. Heather! Such an amazing list. I'll have to take my time and go through my ancestor list just in case. You should start a "Revered Descendants of the 'John and Sara'" Society.

    Normally the winners write the histories. What a great story!

    Janice Brown

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  3. Thank you for this information, Heather, and I've copied the link for Teresa's blog! Yes, I do have a number of Scottish ancestors, but they would have arrived at Charlestowne, South Carolina. I wonder if the same conditions of servitude would have applied there.

    I did not realize they would not have been listed as passengers. I guess it just goes to show that going into servitude was all the rage in those early centuries. I imagine it was much worse for Africans than for Scots - for Scots could "serve their time" which would be less than a life time.

    Thanks again!

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  4. ... driven like cattle ...
    http://www.americanancestors.org/scots-for-sale/

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