The collaborative
historical-genealogical study known as the
Petworth Emigration Project began almost thirty years ago; it is
still very much alive under the sponsorship of the Jackman
Foundation.
What is it? ... in essence, the identification and
background of English families that came to Upper Canada by means of
an assisted emigration plan in the 1830s. The Petworth Emigration
Committee was organized by Reverend Thomas Sockett of Petworth parish
in Sussex; it was sponsored by George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of
Egremont. Emigrants came from parishes in Sussex and beyond.
Letters written
after their arrival helped to reconstruct many families and revealed
their locations in Canada. Archival sources in England and Canada
contributed yet more contemporary information to the entire story,
and many of the involved individuals.
And at a lovely
reception at the Earl of Egremont's Petworth estate in 2000, the
culmination of ten years' research on about 1,800 families was
published in two volumes by McGill Queens Press. The book launch was
also celebrated in Canada.
The first volume
lists the names and basic information of all known emigrants:
Wendy Cameron and
Mary McDougall Maude. Assisting Emigration to Upper Canada: The
Petworth Project, 1831-1837.
Wendy Cameron,
Sheila Haines, and Mary McDougall Maude. English Immigrant Voices:
Labourers' Letters from Upper Canada in the 1830s.
Detailed information can be seen on our website www.petworthemigrations.com where surname indexes and other compiled indexes aid the curious researcher. There too, descendants can post new family information and connections.
Facebook pages were
adopted early, one to encourage and maintain contact with and between
descendants (Petworth Emigrants)
and one relating to the
parish (Petworth Emigration Project).
We deposited our research material and working papers with the
University of Waterloo in Kitchener, Ontario.
Associated
publications
Sheila Haines, ed.
'No Trifling Matter,' Being an Account of a Voyage
by Emigrants from Sussex and Hampshire ... . UK:
University of Sussex Centre for Continuing Education, 1990.
Brenda Dougall
Merriman. The Emigrant Ancestors of a Lieutenant Governor of
Ontario. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993.
Leigh Lawson. The
Jackman Family in West Sussex 1565-1836. n/a, 1999.
Jane Britton.
Petworth Project GA136 [Finding Aid]. University of Waterloo,
Doris Lewis Rare Book Room, 2002.
Sheila Haines and
Leigh Lawson. Poor Cottages and Proud Palaces: The Life and Work
of Thomas Sockett 1777-1859. UK: Hastings Press, 2007.
Sheila Haines, Leigh
Lawson, and Alison McCann. Elizabeth Ilive: Egremont's Countess.
To be published late 2017.
 |
| Merriman, Cameron, Maude, Lawson, McCann, E.J.R. Jackman; Haines is missing in this photo. |
New descendants,
additions and corrections to family information, photographs, and
even the occasional relevant letter continue to arrive via Facebook
and our website. The Petworth Emigration Project remains healthy and
well in the twenty-first century.
©
2017
Brenda Dougall Merriman
