Pleased to take part in a #BAAS2026 panel yesterday with Florence Petroff and Silvia Giselle. Fascinating on contemporary Scottish perspectives on the American Revolution and Crèvecœur's idealisation of frontier Scots in his Letters from an American Farmer, 1782

Scottish-American Church Connections - ASCH x SCHS The American Society for Church History and the Scottish Church History Society are running their first joint conference.

Next up: my talk on the influences of religious affiliations on who emigrated to East Jersey and what played out there, at the the joint Scottish and American History Societies online conference, 'Scottish-American Church Connections' this Saturday, 2pm-6.30pm www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/scottish-a...

Delighted to have given a talk on Monday to the Scottish Genealogy Society - thank you www.scotsgenealogy.com. Good questions: contribution of women to the East Jersey venture; Barclay family; early settler James Whitehead; connections with the US Constitution; and later Jacobite transportees.

In the 1680s, hundreds of Scots left Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Montrose to settle in New Jersey, part of a politically backed bid to secure Scotland’s stake in America.
 
Now, a new website, East Jersey Bound, reveals their stories: https://f.mtr.cool/yrytzygjcz

Castles in the Sky: Identity, Social and Home Life in Wester Hailes, 1967 - 1990 YouTube video by Old Edinburgh Club

A lecture I gave on the history and social life of Wester Hailes for the Old Edinburgh Club is now available on YouTube!

Keep in mind this is an *old* lecture, there’s some mistakes and the analysis has since been updated - but I’m still happy to share

m.youtube.com/watch?v=y2VK...

Tunnel Vision: How the railways dug their way into the Victorian city YouTube video by Old Edinburgh Club

The @oldedinburghclub.bsky.social has made the move to Youtube and has uploaded videos of its talks from the 2024/25 winter season, including one by yours truly entitled "Tunnel Vision: How the Railways Dug Their Way into the Victorian City". Enjoy! 🗣️🚂⛏️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilkb...

East Jersey Bound: From Scotland to America in the 1680s

SHS and @oldedinburghclub.bsky.social are thrilled to announce a free, online event with Derrick Johnstone on Wednesday 11 Feb from 17:30 (UK)

Register here: uofglasgow.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

scottishhistorysociety.com/east-jersey-...

I write a newspaper column about Scottish history, historians and heritage.

I’m keen to feature more Early Career Researchers. Their work might not otherwise be publicised to a wide audience. Do you know anyone who might like to be in the column?

Donate to REVIVE THE TRINITY STONES, a precious part of old Edinburgh, organized by Jill Harrison Please Help us REVIVE THE TRINITY STONES, a precious and frag… Jill Harrison needs your support for REVIVE THE TRINITY STONES, a precious part of old Edinburgh

REVIVING THE TRINITY STONES

We would love to welcome you to our exciting free exhibition at the Museum of Edinburgh in 2026. We would also be hugely grateful for donations to help us run our 8 week outreach programme of events, walks and talks.

www.gofundme.com/f/revive-the...

Upcoming Between 1683 and 1685 several hundred Scots embarked for East Jersey as part of a colonial venture. This was backed at the highest level and sought to ensure that  Scotland had a stake in the...

Looking forward to my first US talk on Scots Emigrants to East New Jersey in the 1680s, organised by the William Trent House. Join us on Sunday at 2pm Eastern Seaboard Time or 7pm GMT! www.williamtrenthouse.org/upcoming.html

Welcome publicity for East Jersey Bound from Haddington's History Society, bringing out East Lothian connections haddingtonshistory.org.uk/2025/11/a-ne... #eastlothianhistory #newjerseyhistory

Welcome publicity for East Jersey Bound from Haddington's History Society, bringing out East Lothian connections haddingtonshistory.org.uk/2025/11/a-ne... #newjerseyhistory

Whitewash “LIFE to him seemed hollow, and existence but a burden.” So heavy was the gloom that descended upon Tom Sawyer, before his inborn cleverness got other boys believing that to whitewash thirty yards …

Here's a story from Greg Guderian, not about Tom Sawyer but about one of the most influential of the Scots who arrived in East New Jersey in the 1680s, Thomas Gordon. wawhitehead.net/2025/09/30/w...

Using the main Search page - East Jersey Bound Using the main Search page: guidance on how you can generate results from the database by name, date, place, occupation, etc.

East Jersey Bound provides background to these questions and holds genealogical records for 600 emigrants and >2,000 kin and associates. Aimed at researchers and genealogists. tinyl.co/3tQ0 #newjerseyhistory #scottishhistory #emigrants #genealogy #familyhistory #eastjersey

What became of the emigrants? - East Jersey Bound What became of the Scots emigrants to East Jersey?

What became of the emigrants? Some thrived as merchants, farmers, estate owners and craftspeople. Others barely got by, moved or returned to Scotland. tinyl.co/3tPV #Covenanters #Quakers #QuakerHistory #royalists #newjerseyhistoryy #scottishhistory #emigrants #eastjersey #PerthAmboy

Why did the Scots leave for East Jersey? - East Jersey Bound Why did the Scots leave? The reasons were many and overlapping: family ties, religious convictions, ambitions, economic pressures and opportunities, etc.

Why did the Scots come to East Jersey? Visions of a new settlement set out by Quaker Robert Barclay and Presbyterian George Scot. Prospects of economic gain, social mobility & religious freedom. The prisoners: no choice. tinyl.co/3tPR #Covenanters #Quakers #scottishhistory #emigrants

Who emigrated to East Jersey? - East Jersey Bound Emigrant family at Leith (ChatGPT image) Between 1683 and 1685, over 560 Scots made the journey to East Jersey. They came from varied backgrounds—some as free settlers, others as indentured servants o...

Who were the emigrants? Young & diverse. Episcopalians, Presbyterians & Quakers, mainly from east Scotland. Free emigrants, indentured servants & transported Covenanters. tinyl.co/3tPS #Covenanters #Quakers #royalist #newjerseyhistory #emigrants #leith #edinburgh #aberdeen #montrose

There is more to the tale, about what became of the survivors (free emigrants and indentured servants as well as the prisoners), as they took their place in what has been described as Scotland's only successful colonial venture. #EastJersey

The passengers aboard the Henry and Francis were racked by fever and many did not last the crossing. Amongst their number were transported Covenanters who were soon be regarded as martyrs to the cause. #Covenanters #transportedprisoners #martyrs #Dunnottar

The voyage of the Henry and Francis to New Jersey, 1685 - The Old Edinburgh Club The Henry and Francis sailed from Leith in September 1685 to New Jersey. A tragic colonising voyage with Covenanter prisoners on board.

In early September 1685, a ship weighed anchor in the Forth and headed out into the North Sea on a long voyage. You can read more about this voyage on our website. #newjersey #eastjerseybound #covenaterprisoners #1685voyage #17thcenturyleithvoyages #colonies

oldedinburghclub.org.uk/the-voyage-o...

You can't have a list like this without including Jaffa Cakes... introduced by McVities in 1927. I recall that there has been some dispute over who should get the credit for their invention, but it was created in Edinburgh.

And here's another photo of the Portobello Pierrots. Help us to find out about the troupes and who were their members? What did they perform? What stories did they have?
#cityofleisure #portobello #pierrots #PortyHistory #ScottishGenealogicalSociety
#familyhistory #genealogy

buff.ly/5amlnHy

Anybody know anything about pierrots in Portobello or elsewhere in Scotland? I've got a personal interest: my grandfather is in the photograph!

I thought someone should write a brief tribute to Scotland's online archives Canmore and Scran (and their other superb counterparts) in their last days before the move to Trove - and it might as well be me. So here it is. www.jameshamilton.co.uk/uncategorize...

I really enjoyed giving my talk on early Edinburgh football today - thanks to everyone who came along! You can now access the full illustrated text on my website: www.scottishsporthistory.com/sports-histo...

Improving access to the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club - The Old Edinburgh Club Improving access to the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club by making more articles available, adding metadata and enhancing search

Brand new online release of over 60 articles from the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club (2010-2019). The 35 volumes in the Original Series (1908-1985) are now split into over 250 articles for reading and download. Enjoy over 400 Edinburgh history tales!
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/improving-ac...

BOEC New Series Volume 20, 2024 - The Old Edinburgh Club Volume 20 of the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club (BOEC), the journal for the Old Edinburgh Club. Published 2024. Includes articles on extremist Covenanters, virtual photography of Edinburgh's past, boo...

Congratulations to our council member, Dr Tristram Clarke, who has just published a piece in the Book of the Old Edinburgh Club on the Earl of Morton and the eighteenth-century origins of Register House!

oldedinburghclub.org.uk/boec/boec-ne...

There's lots of other interesting stuff in the latest Book of the Old Edinburgh Club @oldedinburghclub.bsky.social
oldedinburghclub.org.uk/boec/boec-ne...

Raising the devil

Read about what happened to members of the Sweet Singers. Some were transported to America. Did their leader John Gibb really engage in diabolical practices with native Americans, as his contemporaries claimed (“much admired by the heathen, for his familiar converse with the devil bodily”)?