Blog
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The Scottish Diaspora: Reflections
It has been a few weeks since the course on the Scottish Diaspora ended. The last online discussion was a time for students to offer suggestions and reflections on what we have learned. I would recommend this course to any person who is interested in how the economic, social, and political history of Scotland shaped…
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Week 11: The Homecoming Migrant
The course on the Scottish Diaspora has ended. There will be one more post. For some people who ventured overseas from Scotland, the move was not permanent. About a third of the Scots who emigrated around 1900 returned to Scotland. For some people who went to distant lands based on reports of good farmland, plentiful…
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Week 10: Interwar Exodus
While this is a belated blog entry, the time period between WWI and WWII was a very significant time in the history of the Scottish Diaspora. In WWI, New Zealand lost 17,000 men. Australia lost over 60,000 men with another 150,000 wounded. Lastly, Canada lost over 60,000 men during the war. The loss of men…
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Scot Emigrant Terminology
The terminology used to identify groups who emigrated from Scotland to the colonies in the 1700s and 1800s by authors can be confusing and at times misleading. In this short essay, the terminology used will be presented and discussed. Emigration is defined as the process of leaving one’s country and relocating to another country to…
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Ulster American Folk Park
As an add-on to the Emigration Experiences blog posting, there is a unique opportunity to experience what it was like to emigrate from Ireland to America as so many of our ancestors did. At the Ulster American Folk Park the visitor can see reproductions of Irish homes of the 18th and 19th century and learn…
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Week 8: Emigration Experiences
This week in the course the topic was emigration experiences of Scottish emigrants going to Canada, the USA, and to Australia and New Zealand. Leaving home was not for the weak of heart. The experience began with sadly saying goodbye to family and friends, and watching the land disappear on the horizon. In the early…
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The Battle of Guilford Courthouse and Alexander Leslie
On Saturday March 15, 2025, a group of Revolutionary War reenactors took to the field and marked the anniversary of the Battle of Guilford Court House in Greensboro, NC. The events of the day start with tour of both the British and Patriot Militia and Continental Army encampments near the Guilford National Military Park. This…
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Week 6: Emigration Recruitment
The people of Scotland have been the subject of recruitment ventures since the first effort to populate Ulster, Ireland with English and Scottish peoples in the 1540s, before the time of the Plantation. Later, in about 1609, English were given land in what is now Ulster with the intention of populating the land with Protestants.…
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Week 4: Emigration from the Highlands
This week emigration from western Scotland, considered the highlands, was examined in the course. This is such a complex topic for a week’s study when entire courses are taught on the highland clearances and the famine in Scotland. This week’s study led me to look at the Leslie population on the western coast. But first,…
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Week 3: Northeast Scotland Emigration
Last week the topic of the blog was on the Scottish Emigration to the Wilmington, North Carolina area. This is a region of the USA that had and still has many people with Scots-Irish ancestors. This week the focus of the blog is shifted to the area associated with the beginnings of the global Leslie…
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Scottish Emigration 1730-1780
This week we studied the Scottish Emigration of the 1730-1780 Podcast: Highland Charge: Scots in Cape Fear The North and South Carolina is well known as the epicenter of Scottish immigration during the mid-1700s. In this podcast the listener gains an understanding of the reasons for the influx of Scots into the North/South Carolina region…
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Week 1: What is the Scottish Diaspora?
Week 1 University of Aberdeen course, The Scottish Diaspora. Taught by Dr. Marjory Harper. Diaspora: ( di-az-por-a ) The Scottish Diaspora is a term used to describe both: 1. the Scottish people and their descendants who left Scotland, and 2. the act of leaving (emigration) of the Scottish people. The Scottish Diaspora can be thought…
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Traveling to the United Kingdom (Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Wales)
A friend told me she was going to Scotland next week. I asked if she completed the ETA process. She was unaware of the new requirement. Luckily, I asked or she would have to do the process in the airport As of January 2025, visitors to the UK will need to register their travel with…
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2024 Foundation Annual Report
This is the Annual Report of the Leslie Global Diaspora Foundation (LGDF) It is presented as a blog posting to be displayed on the Foundation website to maintain our commitment to transparency and accountability our mission to serve Leslie descendants worldwide. The Foundation will not post its financials until the IRS publicly posts our filing.…