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About From the Hebrides to Cape Breton and Beyond
One thing that is apparent is the fact that we are Island People.  Whether it be the connected  islands of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides or the North Shore on the island of Cape Breton;  our family lineage has clung to a life of subsistence fishing and farming existence for many  generations in remote isolation.

This family tree attempts to map the journey of the original Morrison pioneers of the North Shore  region of Cape Breton; specifically Wreck Cove, and focus on tracing their descendants forward as  they spread across Canada and into the United States as well as backward to their native home in  the Hebrides.

In 1779, the Dunvegan MacLeod's who had owned Harris for over 500 years, sold it to the Berneray  MacLeods.  They continued to clear the land of tenants on the west coast and between 1828-1853  nearly all was turned over to grazing sheep.  Then they realised that they need to retain cheap  labour for kelp production. Tenants had to gather seaweed and lay it out to dry before it was burned  in a kelp kiln. The kilns were round, stone lined, pits measuring approximately 1.5 metres in  diameter and 0.5 metres in depth. The fire was left to burn for up to 8 hours with seaweed  continually being added, resulting in the formation of kelp, a dark blue oily substance.This  substance would then be left to cool for several weeks. Throughout the period of the late 18th and  early 19th Centuries the kelp industry reached its height, with the local landowners making vast  profits, while the crofters who did the back breaking labour saw little benefit, and in fact spent  so much of the summer involved in the kelp industry that their crofts suffered.

The clearance of the land for sheep, combined with the decline in kelp production after the  Napoleonic Wars, brought extreme destitution and created a mass exodus to Cape Breton and Prince  Edward Island from Harris and Lewis.  These pioneering Scots faced a daunting voyage and lands  filled with dense forests to be cleared before settling.  Some had sailing and fishing skills on  hand, but none had ever cleared forests before or had any knowledge of how to even begin. In fact,  in the little book 'A Jew in Exile' the author stated that outside of Stornoway, he hadn't come  across a single tree on the island. Houses were made from field stones and peat, and the only heat  source was peat moss, which smoldered away and created thick smoke in all the crofts.

Nothing prepared the earliest emigrants for the struggles for survival ahead of them.  One quote  taken from 'Notes on the Clearances' states: 'The Harmony left Stornoway in 1827 with two hundred  emigrants on board: Thirteen died during the crossing, twenty-two died after being put ashore in an  uninhabited part of Cape Breton and five more died as the vessel reached Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Exposed on the voyage and ashore to disease and starvation these emigrants, like many other evicted  Highlanders and Islanders, who landed from fetid and worm riddled emigrant ships died upon a foreign  strand. There is no record of the number of evicted Highlanders and Islanders who died on board  emigrant ships, drowned on the voyage or shortly after coming ashore overseas.'  
 In Patterson's 'History of Victoria County, on Page 80 'North Shore is as yet very thinly populated. The first settlers were Irish who later moved to  Ingonish. In 1826 and 1828 some settlers arrived but the great bulk of inhabitants came the  following year (1829) from the Isle of Harris.  In that year the barque 'University of Aberdeen'  sailed from Scotland with 560 passengers, who were landed at MacDonald's Beach, Big Bras d'Or, and  from there went and occupied lands along the shore between St. Ann's Bay and Ingonish.  Here, they  did not suffer from want of food, as the fish were plenty and the land fairly good."

The later flurry of emigrants came from other areas.  On the 2nd of September, 1841, the Caledonian  Mercury reported:

EMIGRATION. - There are three ships at Lochmaddy, North Uist, taking in emigrants from the  neighbouring parishes of Harris and South Uist, for Cape Breton. The Earl of Dunmore gives one pound  sterling a-head to the most destitute families from his property.

(Sourced from Inverness Reference Library via Am Baile's newspaper archive search facility)

The Scots To Canada Web Site lists three ships, the Banffshire, the George and the Tay, leaving  Lochmaddy in August 1841 'taking 1300 emigrants from N Uist to Cape Breton. " of the poorest  class".' 
 so I think that we can be reasonably confident that these are the same vessels that appeared in the  newspaper's article.

The 6th Earl of Dunmore, Alexander Edward Murray, had inherited Harris upon the death of his father  on the 11th of November 1836 and would in turn be succeeded by his son, Charles Adolphus, following  the 6th Earl's death on the 14th of July 1845 . Thus the Earl was about halfway through his  proprietorship of the island when he was providing a pound per person for those electing to leave. There is some dispute as to the equivalent cost of one pound sterling in today's money, but averages  presume it to be close to 10 times it's worth, or 100 pounds sterling.

The first land grants on the North Shore of Cape Breton were given to the following families: Buchanan, John and Murdoch
 MacDonald, Alexander
 MacKenzie, John & Isabella
 MacLean, Roderick (Rory) & Donald
 MacLeod, Alexander
 MacLeod, Malcolm (Wreck Cove)
 MacQueen, Isabel
 Morrison, John
 MacDermid, John

*Many members of our family tree are descended from these first pioneers.

MORRISON, MACLEOD, BUCHANAN, MACDERMID, MATHESON, MACQUEEN, MACLEAN, MACDONALD,  SHAW

In 1919, MacAlpine's Gazatteer had the following entry:
 Wreck Cove, a post village, Victoria Co.  Nearest railway station, express and  and bank, North  Sydney, 40 miles; money order office and port of entry, Englishtown, 20 miles.  Contains store,  lobster factory, grist and sawmill and church. Fishing is the principal industry.  Population 160.

Nearby communities on the North Shore of Cape Breton were also settled by extended family members.   These include:
 SKIR DHU     This is a Gaelic name, meaning “Black Rock.” 
 BRETON COVE  (also called Briton Cove and Breeding Cove in early records) INDIAN BROOK  So named after a Micmac Indian named Joe, a cooper by trade who lived in this  vicinity.
 CAPE SMOKEY  CAPE SMOKY The old French name was “Cape Enfume,” on account of the cloud of mist  which so often envelops this mountain. The Indian name for this cape was “Sakpeedich,” meaning “a  smooth bathing place.”

North Shore poll district- Rear Little River, Barrasois Bridge, Rear Barrasois, Indian Brook, Little  River, Briton Cove, North Shore, Plaster, Wreck Cove, Path End, French River, Birch Plain, Skir Dhu

In Scotland, we also believe that our branch of the Morrison tree, that is so inter-related to the  MacLeods, may have originated from Pabbay, since, "A branch of the clan, the Morrisons in Pabbay of  Harris were the hereditary smiths and armourers to the Macleods of Harris".

DNA test results for our MORRISON line show that the 'MORISON'S (believed to be original spelling)  came from Viking ancestry.  They did not have an actual clan of their own, but aligned themselves  with the MacLeod's.  This may account for their reputation as warriors.

*One final comment:  All the names listed in this Family Tree were Presbyterian Scots unless  otherwise noted and the mother tongue for all first, second and even third generation was Gaelic.

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Getting Around
There are several ways to browse the family tree. The Tree View graphically shows the relationship of selected person to their kin. The Family View shows the person you have selected in the center, with his/her photo on the left and notes on the right. Above are the father and mother and below are the children. The Ancestor Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph above and children below. On the right are the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The Descendant Chart shows the person you have selected in the left, with the photograph and parents below. On the right are the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Do you know who your second cousins are? Try the Kinship Relationships Tool. Your site can generate various Reports for each name in your family tree. You can select a name from the list on the top-right menu bar.

In addition to the charts and reports you have Photo Albums, the Events list and the Relationships tool. Family photographs are organized in the Photo Index. Each Album's photographs are accompanied by a caption. To enlarge a photograph just click on it. Keep up with the family birthdays and anniversaries in the Events list. Birthdays and Anniversaries of living persons are listed by month. Want to know how you are related to anybody ? Check out the Relationships tool.

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