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This booklet is a guide for family historians who are
interested in researching forebears who emigrated to Argentina and to the
provinces of Patagonia Austral in Argentina and Chile. While it deals
principally with those who went there in the 19th century, it also has
relevance to those who lived there later. Since some readers may be
unfamiliar with the settlement of people of Scottish descent - who they
were, where they went and what they did - the first section of the booklet
offers a general background, both to them and their new country. The
following sections focus upon the means by which forebears may be traced
through records and publications available in the United Kingdom,
Argentina and Chile. Guidance is also given on sources of information on
the lifestyles of immigrants who worked in the cities and towns or made
their living on the land. Attention is given to the great importance of
the internet as a means to accessing sources of information. In addition
to the text, there are illustrations of Argentine documents, listings of
Scots and other information that may be helpful to family historians.
Lastly, there are suggestions for further reading about immigrants and the
history and peoples of these fascinating lands.
In the course of preparing
this booklet I have been helped greatly by correspondents in Argentina,
Chile, the United Kingdom and elsewhere - a process largely made possible
by the internet. In particular, I am much indebted to Maria Eugema Cruset
in Argentina, Duncan Campbell in Chile and Jeremy Howat in England. They
and others have generously provided answers to my many questions about
records in Argentina and Chile, sent me important illustrative material
and added greatly to my general knowledge about those countries, their
institutions, and the Scottish and other British immigrants who settled
there. I also wish to thank the Public Record Office for an extract from
the 19th century Proclamations of Marriages registered at the British
Consulate in Buenos Aires.
Lastly, readers who have
access to the internet may wish to visit the author’s website at:
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/scotsinargpat/ |
