Help Us To A Better Land : Crofter Colonies In The Prairie West [Saltcoats, SK, Killarney, MB]

An examination of the government-assisted emigration of crofter families from Lewis and Harris (Scotland) to Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 1888 and 1889, the last large-scale colonisation scheme financed by the British government. Norton traces the origins of the project within debates over land, poverty and emigration in the Highlands, and follows the establishment of the settlements at Killarney, Manitoba, and Saltcoats, Saskatchewan. Drawing on official records and contemporary sources, he considers recruitment, administration, settlement, and the differing fortunes of the colonies, together with the scheme's influence on subsequent British and Canadian emigration policy. Includes maps, photographs, notes, and index.