British Immigration to the United States, 1776–1914

Editor: William E van Vugt


4 Volume Set: 1552pp: July 2009
978 1 85196 976 0: 234x156mm: £350.00/$625.00

Between 1820 and 1930 four and a quarter million British immigrants chose the United States as their new home. They took with them technological skills which helped make the United States a major industrial nation by the end of the nineteenth century. Cultural similarities and a common language allowed British immigrants to integrate rapidly and gave rise to a unique Anglo-American culture.

This four-volume reset edition collects immigrants’ letters, immigration guides, newspaper articles, county history biographies, and promotional and advisory pamphlets published by immigrants and travellers, land and railroad companies. This literature advised prospective emigrants on what to expect in America and how best to proceed with their migration. The letters written home reveal unique information about the American way of life in the pioneer age. This body of evidence is vital for the study of migration and modernization during the industrial era in America.

New editorial material includes a general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, footnotes and a consolidated index. It will be essential for those studying Social and Economic History, Transatlantic Migration, Anglo-American History and Culture, Atlantic History and Nineteenth-Century Studies.

  • Includes over 230 previously unpublished letters sourced from public and private archives in the UK and the US
  • Newspaper articles, immigration guides and county history biographies contextualize the letters
  • Sheds new light on the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and America
  • Full editorial apparatus includes a general introduction, headnotes, endnotes
  • Consolidated index in the final volume

Sample pages

Contents

Volume 1: Building a Nation: 1776–1828

Correspondence
Shipton Family (1784–1816); Sharp Family (1812); Revd John Ingle (1813–28); James Matheson (1815); Samuel Mearbeck (1815–21); Saunders Hornbrook (1818–21); Abram Greenwood (1819); James Stott (1820); John Rose (1822)
Biographies
Robert Baldwin (1760); Abijah Moffit (1791); John Larwill (1793); Andrew Jackson Bull (1795); Revd Robert Armstrong (1798); Robert F and William W Wilson (1800); Thomas ‘Priest’ Jones (1800); Samuel and William Tizzard (1801); Revd James Jones (1803); John Makemson (1805); John Ewbank (1805); Thomas H Woolley (1805); Isham Sedgwick (1806); Revd Andrew Heron (1807); John Joel Eakright (1811); Robert Grieve (1812); Joseph M Sutcliffe (1812); Robtton, MD (1819); Captain W W Pearce (1819); George P Morris (1819); James Howard (1819); William Trabor Turner (1820); Thomas Benton Cottingham (1820); William B Hardie (1820); Samuel and William Tell Harris (1821); Samuel Ward (1822); Thomas Edwards (1826)
Other Materials
Journal of Rachel Wilson of Kendal, ‘Visit to America’ (1768); A Concise Account of the Provinces in North America (1784); Thoughts on Emigration (1794); Emigration and America: Candidly Considered (1798); Isaac Smucker, Welsh Settlements in Licking County, Ohio (1869)

Volume 2: The Age of Jackson: 1829–47

Correspondence
Thomas Chalmers (1828–31); Macfarlane Family (1828–32); Jonas Booth (1829); James Robertson (1830); John Rose (1830); Peter McKellar (1830–1); John Ingle (1830–6); Charles Johnston (1833); Randal McDonald (1833); Edward Trayes (1833); Hugh J M Nudham (1834); William Watts (1836); Sharp Family (1836–47); Charles Livingstone (1837); William Crawfurd (1838); Jane Crowley (1838–46); N LePrevost (1840); James Douglas (1840–3); Richard Rowland (1840–4); John Ingle (1841–7); William and Margaret Irving (1841); George and Orange Slade (1841); Clarke Family (1842–5); Robert Shedden (1842–5); Thomas Chalmers (1843); Darnley Family (1843–4); Andrew Mattison (1843); William Walters (1844); Joseph and Elizabeth Cree (1844–6); Edward Gilley (1845); John Hodgson (1845); William Henry Evans (1846); Janet Johnston (1846–7); Thomas Hill (1846–8); Welsh Immigrants in Ohio (1846–7); Owen Family (1847)
Biographies
William Crichton (1833); Thomas Watters (1836); Colonel Thomas Stephens (1840); Alexander Panluna (1841); Mary Harrison (1842); John Spencer (1842); Charles Blackburn (1843); William Broadhead (1843); Samuel Cartwright (1845); Griffith Griffiths (1845); Revd James Jones (1845); William Wetherall (1845); Andrew Davidson (1846); Samson Edwards (1846); Benjamin Beevers (1846); John Dinsdale (1846); George Mollart (1847); William Jewell (1847); Peter Kinnear (1847)
Other Material
Zephaniah Waller, Seven Letters from an Emigrant, to His Friends in England (1831); G Poulett Scrope, Extracts of Letters from Poor Persons who Emigrated Last Year to Canada and the United States (1832); America and England Contrasted: or, The Emigrant’s Hand-Book and Guide to the United States ([1842]); John Smyles, Emigration to the United States (1842); Joseph Crosfield, ‘Letters from an American Journey’ (1845); Excerpts from Bible Christian Magazine (1846–7)

Volume 3: The Developing Nation: 1848–59

Correspondence
John Haigh (1848); Rutherford Family (1848); Peter McKellar (1848–9); Joseph Cree (1848–53); Isaac and Charlotte Taylor (1848–53); Sharp Family (1848–54); James Warmington (1848–54); John Martin (1849); Matthew Willis (1849); John Wilson (1849); Thomas Johnstone (1849–51); Welsh Immigrants in Ohio (1849–53); Henry Craig (1850); William Tannahill Stirling (1850); John and Mary Thomson (1850); W O Williams (1850); Frederick Hawes (1850–1); Letters from English Immigrants in the Gold Rush (1850–1); Smillie Family (1850–4); Edwin O Kimberley (1850–8); Letter to Penrith, Cumberland (1851); Isaac Goodchild (1851); Joseph Scott (1851); E Chapman (1852); Candler Family (1852–3); Thomas Sheppard (1854); Jane Trattles (1854–8); W H Lancashire (1855); Samuel Mearbeck (1855–6); Revd John Ingle (1855–7); Darnley Family (1857); Peter McKellar (1859); Rutherford Family (1859)
Biographies
John Bailiff (1848); John Bunt (1848); Joseph Collier (1848); Revd William Gill (1848); Christopher Lazenby (1848); James Moon (1848); Francis and William Nicholls (1848); Frederick Robinson (1848); James Woodward (1848); John Allen (1849); Henry S Jones (1849); William T Peny (1849); Jonathan Richardson (1849); Jane Chadwick (1850); James Kershaw (1850); John Lyth (1850); Robert Noble (1850); John Shortney (1850); George Tuffley (1850); William W Whittaker (1850); James W Daniels (1851); Thomas Reed (1851); Henry J Childs (1852); James Fennel Harral (1852); William Goalby (1852); William Jackson (1852); Thomas Catton (1853); Captain James Miller (1853); Joseph Tangye (1853); Thomas Trainer (1853); James Turner (1853); Moses Colwell Bone (1854); John Chipp (1854); John Lomax (1854); John Corlett (1855); John Braid (1857); Charles Bailey (1857); William Roberts (1857)
Other Materials
The Emigrant’s Handbook (1848); Excerpts from Primitive Methodist Magazine and Evangelist (1848–58); Emigration (1849); Excerpts from Cambridge Chronicle (1849–52)

Volume 4: Civil War and Industry: 1860–1914

Correspondence
Thomas Hill (1860–3); M T Williams (1861); Jannet Stewart (1861); Candler Family (1861); Clarke Family (1861–2); Edwin O Kimberley (1861–5); Jane Trattles (1862–4); W H Lancashire (1862–5); Rutherford Family (1862–6); Ann and Alfred Jones (1864); Thomas Stephens (1865–6); Peter McKellar (1866–8); Jane Trattles (1867–8); Sharp Family (1869); Sheldon Family (1871); Thomas Hill (1872); Isaac Taylor (1873–4); Letters in Newspapers (1873–96); Ralph Youens (1877); Ann and Alfred Jones (1880); Lewis Collection (1880); Sharp Family (1880); ‘An English Hosiery Factory in America’ (1885); Isaac Taylor (1885); Sheldon Family (1891); Calvin and Emma Beer (1893); Samuel Clarke (1894–5); William Winterbottom (1895); William Mellor (1911)
Biographies
David Walls (n.d.); Mary Brooks (1860); George Francis Langrick (1860); William Day (1861); Elizabeth Lamb (1863); Gething Jenkins (1865); William Randle (1865); John Collins (1866); William Dodds (1866); Alexander N Henry (1867); Hon James Cousins (1868); George Cotton (1868); William M Bright (1868); William Mitchell (1868); Frank McGarvy (1869); Moses Baldwin (1869); William MacRitchie (1871); John Baird (1871); Thomas J Topham (1872); Arthur West (1875); Edward Devon (1879); Fred K Gresswell (1879); Alfred Shrosbree (1881); John Oborne (1881); Kelso H Sim (1882); Captain Henry Ernest and Antoinette Charlotte Boyes (1883); James R Rosie (1883); Frank T Guess (1884); Thomas Maclay (1884); John W Steele (1887); William K Tulloch (1887); Alexander Fraser (1889); William David Bassett (1893); Lord Wellington Greenwood (1903); William J Richardson (1906); Thomas Eadington (1911)
Other Materials
Harriet Beecher Stowe, A Reply to ‘The Affectionate and Christian Address’ (1863); ‘The Working Men of Manchester and President Lincoln’ (1863); Thomas Rawlings, Emigration, with Special Reference to Minnesota, US, and British Columbia (1864); Harry Jones, Letters from America (1870); Excerpts from Bee-Hive (1870–3); Excerpts from British Newspapers (1869–74); W Wilson Tickle, British Emigration (1883)

Reviews

'This valuable reference work is an important addition to any immigration collection, offering new energy to the once-dormant field of British movement to the US. Highly Recommended.'
– CHOICE

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