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.
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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.
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