The Trent House Association presents a talk by Derrick Johnston of the University of Glasgow in Scotland on Scottish immigrants who came to the American colony of East Jersey in the 1680s. Registration for this Zoom talk can be made at https://tinyurl.com/TalkDec7. A free-will donation in support of this talk can be made at https://www.williamtrenthouse.org/donate.html.
Between 1683 and 1685 several hundred Scots embarked for East Jersey as part of a colonial venture. This was backed at the highest level and sought to ensure that Scotland had a stake in the development of the American colonies. It brought together Quakers, Episcopalians (Anglicans) and Presbyterians, a tense mix of religious affiliations. Many of the Presbyterians were transported Covenanters and the Quakers too had had their share of persecution.
This talk by Derrick Johnstone will set out the background to the venture and address the questions: Who were the immigrants? Why did they leave Scotland? What became of them? Derrick will also introduce his website, East Jersey Bound, which hosts a genealogical database containing details of 600 emigrants and over 2,000 of their kin and associates.
Derrick Johnstone is a Research Affiliate in the Department of History at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, having completed his dissertation on the Scots emigrants in 2025. He is also Secretary of the Old Edinburgh Club, the city’s history society.
The William Trent House Museum is a National Historic Landmark in the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area and on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail. The Museum is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, property, and people with our communities, connecting the past with today and tomorrow. Owned by the City of Trenton, it is operated by the Trent House Association, which is supported by the generosity of its donors; by grants from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the New Jersey Cultural Trust, the New Jersey Historic Trust, the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission with funding from the New Jersey Historical Commission, and the Bunbury Fund and the New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation; and by contributions from NJM Insurance Group and Orion General Contractors. For more information, visit www.williamtrenthouse.org.