I presented to the Clan MacLennan Worldwide about the Neptune. If you are interested you can find a more in-depth presentation discussion about The Neptune’s 1802 voyage.
The 1802 Voyage of the Neptune: Glengarry’s Hector? Mayflower?
In 1802 the Quebec built ship Neptune, captained by Captain Boyd, sailed from Loch Nevis, Scotland to Quebec City, Canada with upwards of 600 individuals – men, women, and children. Some of the common names amongst these passengers were McLennan, McRae, McCuaig, Morrison and McDonald.
The culmination of this 9-week voyage left a number of these passengers with very little money. In fact, the Quebec Gazette from September 30, 1802, references a collection of money that was deemed necessary to assist some of these families on their way to their new homes. Soon after these Highlanders journeyed to Glengarry County (and area) in Eastern Ontario and a smaller portion staying in Quebec. The much smaller Quebec portion went first to Sir John Johnson’s settlement near present day St. Jean-sur-Richelieu with most eventually forming the Scotch settlement in South-Western Quebec (south of Ste. Martine).
Sadly, only a complete passenger list has ever materialized. This project is being undertaken with two goals in mind: 1) to re-create a passenger list 2) to track their descendants as to who there are and where they eventually moved to (if they indeed didn’t remain in Glengarry which is the case for many).
Adding to a list of passengers developed by Marianne McLean* and Robert Sellar, are names of passengers that family histories have identified as passengers aboard the Neptune.
- *For a more detailed analysis of the reasons for the rationale for the passengers embarking on this journey and the events around the voyage it is highly suggested that you read Marianne McLean’s The People of Glengarry: Highlanders in Transition, 1745-1820. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1991. (ISBN 0-7735-1156-3). Much of the introduction above derived from this excellent resource.
- Another book one should read is this book which focusses on the Scottish emigrants to Quebec: Les Écossais: The Pioneer Scots of Lower Canada, 1763-1855 by Lucille H. Campey Toronto: Natural Heritage Books, 2006
If you believe that your ancestor was indeed a passenger on the 1802 sailing of the Neptune, please contact me with a rationale for your belief and ideally a descendant family tree (not containing any living descendants). Your threshold is NOT extremely high to prove that your ancestor(s) were passengers as that is almost an impossibility. Rather it will be sufficient to show the plausibility of them being passengers on this 1802 voyage.
Each family will have a separate page for a rationale for believing why their ancestors were passengers and a list of descendants (and possibly a brief overview of the history behind each family – this is up to you as contributors).
Many of you will have no doubt used Wikipedia in your quest for knowledge (knowledge building). This project is of the same mind that many contributors will make for a greater breadth of knowledge and to engage as many people as possible.
I look forward to our journey together as we discover more about our ancestors, who they voyaged with and who are the descendants of these people who made the decision to leave Scotland and come to Canada in 1802 aboard the Neptune.
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