Westward Cork Migration by Sail 1815-1860 by John Sutton

PART I CALENDAR OF CORK EMIGRANT SHIP SAILINGS 1815-60

The following table demonstrates the distribution of the 430,000 residents of 1806 across BNA, and the impact of subsequent European (mostly British) migration up until 1860.

1806

1830

1840

1850

1860

(French) Lower Canada (British) Upper Canada Nova Scotia/ Cape Breton

250,000

500,267

629,943

835,540

1,106,666

70,718.

210,437

436,436

830,225

1,395,222

65,000.

153,218

202,820

268,481

330,689

New Brunswick

35,000

91,812

131,040

187,026

233,727

Newfoundland 26,000

69,610 27,244

83,343 45,144

99,786 68,037

124,608 80,648

Prince Edward Island

9,676

TOTAL

430,394

1,052,588

1,528,726

2,289,095

3,271,560

Canadian population: 1806 (during Napoleonic Wars), from Britannica, and 1830-60, from MacGregor’s interpolated stats.

Quebec was by far the main BNA port of entry for emigrants, who mostly moved southwest towards the dispersal hub of Montreal, where they had the option of travelling west up the Ottawa River Valley, further southwest along the St Lawrence to Kingston on Lake Ontario with several more days by ship to Toronto, or south to the USA. The major BNA population growth was in Upper Canada, which could also be conveniently reached via the Port of New York on completion of the Erie Canal in 1825.

Fig. 3: The Port of Quebec