40. Networks of Emigration: Scottish Pioneers to Patagonia
by Dr Liz Forrest
Synopsis
Scotland is known as a country donating emigrants to the world for centuries. None of these emigrant journeys happened in isolation, all required networks within Scotland and the host countries to enable a successful move, help the newly arrived immigrant settle in and facilitate a return to Scotland, if required.
This talk examines some of these networks, both formal and informal, in the context of the Scottish pioneers who travelled to the Patagonia region of southern South America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This emigration was unlike some other emigration episodes in Scotland. It wasn’t the result of famine, formal emigration schemes or government initiatives but an individual response to opportunities overseas.
With family connections in Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, Liz Forrest travelled to Chile to meet up with family in 2013. What she found there caused her to embark on a small project to investigate the reasons behind their decisions to emigrate. This morphed into more extensive research and Liz was awarded her PhD by the University of the Highlands and Islands in October 2024.
Image caption: Forest Image.jpg
About the speaker
Liz Forrest graduated in Geological Sciences from Birmingham University in 1984 and then worked as a geologist in the oil industry based in Llandudno, North Wales. She has lived in the Highlands for over 30 years gaining her Masters Degree in Scottish Cultural Studies from Aberdeen University in 2011. She has a lifelong passion for local and family history combined with a love of travel to remote places which has crystallised into this research.
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