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Archiver > FERGUSON-UK > 2008-01 > 1201114732


From: Angus Ferguson <>
Subject: Re: [FERGUSON-UK] FERGUSON-UK Digest, Vol 3, Issue 5
Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:58:52 +0000
In-Reply-To: <2dff56a0801230640k4820effdt656d2b7e40e51850@mail.gmail.com>


Colin,

You raise some interesting points. I must also say that I had hoped for
tales of toil, whisky and midnight oil being burnt, but the honesty of the
true and talented researcher held forth. Still, valuable work and thank you.
You said:

>you will in fact see a small cluster (Of FERGUSSON) in the London area which I
>think is in agreement woth your theory on the migration of some of the
>wealthier families.

I would agree and without looking at the map would also bet that they were
focused in the central west of the city, north of the Thames; districts such
as Belgravia, Mayfair and Knightsbridge. The single 's' Ferguson families
would be in in the industrial east and south of the river.

> my 1881 table showed the number one spot in England to be Lancashire with 785
> persons born there. This must be due to Liverpool and I'd bet the
> Ferguson are there for jobs.

I'd agree, but only to a limited extent. Liverpool would mostly have been a
magnet for seafaring and merchant Ferguson as it has never had a strong
industrial base and thus such jobs are limited. I would argue that the
majority of the Lancashire Ferguson were 'pulled' there by 'King Cotton' and
were focused in Manchester and the other textile towns of Preston, Bolton
and Blackburn, as well as their environs. Other Ferguson may have been
attracted by the vital and large coal mining industry in the south west of
the county. As an aside, I would also propose that some of the West Indian
(Caribbean) Ferguson, most of whom are mixed race, would have their European
origins in Ferguson from Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow, all major centres
for the abhorrent slave trade. Liverpool is my home town and I also studied
there.
>
> The number two, three and five spots in England are counties Durham,
> Cumberland and Northumberland respectively. These are on or near the
> border with Scotland and as such I am inclined to think there will be
> some old families here.

Again I would agree with your theory of there being old Ferguson families in
these three counties, but to distinguish them from (and among!) the massive
Victorian influx will be difficult. Most who arrived in the the 19th century
would have engaged with the ancient coal mining industry, particularly in
Durham and south Northumberland (Newcastle upon Tyne), where I now live.
There is also the possibility, again, of seafarers and fishermen, but also
shipbuilders. My mother lives in 'Thomas Ferguson Court' a local 'sheltered'
(supported) complex for old people named after a local character famous for
his fisherman's tales at the North Shields Fish Quay. I must start collating
these local Ferguson families, for whom there are a few decent genealogies,
particularly in nearby Tynemouth.

Given the presence of the 'Great North Road', these families in
Northumberland and Durham may (may!) originally have been from Perthshire
and Edinburgh. This road was and still is, the major land route from
Edinburgh to London along the east coast. The early railway lines followed
the same route.

The Cumberland Ferguson families were probably farmers and possibly involved
in the wool weaving industries. Some may have been employed in the small,
but important coal mines to the far west of the county, where there was also
a small, but significant shipbuilding industry in Barrow. This is where all
of the UK's nuclear submarine fleet were built. I suggest that many of these
Cumberland Ferguson were linked to the Kilkerran family and cluster in south
Ayrshire, which is about 50 miles to the north.

The same possibilities would stand for any Scots emigrants to England.

Angus


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