Cameron Clearances

[John Alexander Duncan Cameron]

Many Camerons outside Scotland have difficulty tracing their Scottish origins - particularly if they came from humble stock.

I know that I had that difficulty.

Part of the problem has been that little has been spoken of the clearances that took place on the Cameron lands. In fact, many would deny that such clearances even took place. They did take place and to deny it is profoundly disrespectful to the unfortunate souls who were victims of those clearances. They are the ancestors of many of us and we deserve to know the facts of their lives - even if the truth may be harsh.

I have posted a new section on the Wikipedia Clan Cameron page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Cameron#Highland_Clearances

I hope it will be helpful as a starting point for Camerons living outside Scotland trying to discover how and why they ended up so far from their ancestral home.

[Dani Cameron]

The problem  is  not just difficult for families that went "overseas".   I am making a study of the Cameron  "diaspora"  within the Uk - in the course of   tracing my Camerons back to 1749  when they arrived in Teesdale.     They may have been Drovers long before and just  settled,  they may have started walking after 1715 or continued walking after Culloden.   Perhaps they fled for religious reasons,  or did they come as workers on the Strathmore estate....?   Were they connected to John Cameron who exiled to Northumberland for a while?

My hope lies in  the DNA bank and persuading a  male Cameron living in or around Teesdale to take a test  and hope that it matches  somebody  in the ex colonies - to give us a clue as to which area in Scotlannd we came from.     Of the original  couple who turned up at Eggleston County Durham - there are  72 recorded males - annd many more females .....  The problem is that the last few Camerons were driven out of Teesdale proper  by  the flooding of their farm for a reservoir.    

The were farmers, miners,  and in particular stonemasons.  Whether they were stone masons in Scotland is hard to say...  One branch built Sunderland and some of them went to New Zealand.   

I have tried to follow through  male naming patterns.    They are mainly John or George - but  in the third generation  they brought in Jeremiah for the first born son.    Whether they were influenced by local preachers or whether the name was used in Scotland I have yet to ascertain.   I have found one John Cameron -  a clergyman on the borders, who had a son Jeremiah - but that was 50 years after mine were established in Teesdale.

I will be posting   more of my findings on this subject - I am only signed in for news  of the association.  Sad to see so little activity.   What happened to the section for  biographies of Camerons past.?   I had collected several  note worthy  Camerons who are not necessarily related.  The section was called "famous" Camerons, I think - but there were several who were just interesting.