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 HomePort  S.S. Neptune which was first Captained by Hon. Edward White  
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Welcome aboard.
Greetings from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and the Scott family. HomePort began as a way for Ian to share family history research, and it continues to grow as a retirement project.  During the summer, we rent a vacation home called Potter's House to visitors, and operate New London Village Pottery.
HomePort is a collection of family history materials, as well as links to family business activities  The materials are grouped by family name with a brief introduction to some of topics covered below.
Nova Scotia ancestral families Newfoundland ancestral families Prince Edward Island ancestral families
Scott@HomePort Bemister@HomePort Lawson@HomePort
Gillmore@HomePort Knight@HomePort Smith PEI@HomePort
Harvey@HomePort Pitts@HomePort Rogers@HomePort
Hunter@HomePort Ayre@HomePort Sinclair@HomePort
Smith NS@HomePort White@HomePort MacKenzie@HomePort
Dill@HomePort Duder@HomePort Large@HomePort



Situated in New London, a north shore fishing and farming community on Prince Edward Island, New London Village Pottery, was founded in 1973 by potter, Daphne Large.  Located in an historic structure dating from the 1850's, the shop features a gallery and studio where pottery is made by three potters.  And sells the work of other Atlantic Canadian artisans, musicians, artists and writers. The shop is a founding member of ArtisanPEI.com
Scott@HomePort

Scott family material related to the family of  Sarah Jean Dalgity & Sergeant David Scott who married in Forfar, Angus, Scotland in 1795 begins is told through Scott@HomePort.  Pictures, source material and biographies are referenced and a historical chronology told through a series called Family From Forfar.


Sermons- Articles by John Redford Scott written between 1935-1958.  A brief biography of Rev. J.R. Scott whose ministry took him from coastal Nova Scotia to the horseback missionary fields of the Canadian North tells of his war-time service as a naval padre on both the Atlantic and Pacific, his graduate studies in Scotland and a ministry which began in Nova Scotia and which eventually brought him home.
Discovering daily devotional material on-line is an introduction to devotional writing tools, Bible search engines to compare various translations of scripture and help in locating contemporary devotional material on the Internet, it includes devotional materials by Ian Scott.
Gillmore@HomePort
Rev. George Gillmore (1720-1811) of Antrim, Ireland a pioneer Presbyterian minister, with his wife Ann Allen and children embarked on a three month voyage from Scotland to America in 1769.  His British allegiances branded him a Loyalist after the American Revolution thus he fled discrimination and followed his conscience north, settling in Nova Scotia on Ardoise Hill in 1786 and eventually returned to active ministry in his adopted land.  A transcription of his journal and a biography of Rev. George Gillmore were both produced by Sidvin F. Tucker in 1960.  A brief biography of Rev. Gillmore  draws from that text and is a recommended introduction. The Gillmore family avoided starvation in Nova Scotia, subsisting on milk and potatoes, with Rev. George (in his late sixties) for three winters carrying hay on his back, through deep woods for four miles to keep the two cows producing milk.
Despite the hardship the family  grew strong and through the eight children of George and Ann a large number of descendants have been recorded in Tucker's manuscript - The Gillmore Saga.  A lasting monument to his efforts stands in the restored and still active Covenanters' Church (see history) in  Grand Pré built during his ministry there. Records suggest that his ministry continued until he was over 90.  A dozen of the descendants have, like their ancestor, entered the Christian ministry including Rev. Dr. John Corston and
 Rev. John Redford Scott.

Knight@HomePort
When Capt. William C. Knight was hired in 1859 to take an American artist sailing aboard Integrity from Newfoundland to Labrador,  little did he know the ongoing effect the voyage would have.  The artist Frederic Edwin Church was a member of the group known as the Hudson River School.  The year of the voyage Church's monumental painting The Heart of the Andes was first shown to the public illuminated by hidden gaslights in a darkened room - it caused a sensation in New York.
The Labrador voyage with Capt. Knight led Church to paint Aurora Borealis a painting that is now seen as a defining point in the life of the American people when, torn apart as a nation during the Civil War the image captured the hope epitomized by light piercing the darkness.  Many Americans had also seen a similar display in the sky that year and, as, northern had special meanings during that time the painting became imbued with additional symbolism. 
The Icebergs, another painting from the voyage, when it sold in 1979 at auction, brought the highest price ($2.5 million) ever paid for a painting by an American artist, at that time.  Rev. Louis Noble, who accompanied the voyage,  published After Icebergs with a Painter in 1861.  Captain Knight receiving a painting set, from the artist, and may have taken up painting himself, although no paintings have been located to verify this.  A grandson of Capt. Knight - poet, E.J. Pratt  like Church brought the sea and icebergs to life in poetic form during the 20th Century and great great grandson Christopher Pratt today continues Capt. William Knight's interest in ocean sailing.

The Complete Poems and Letters of E.J. Pratt: A Hypertext Edition includes cross referencing between poems and his letters and journals as part of the Pratt Project.

White@HomePort
The 1903-1906 Journal of Walter Edward White,  started at the age of 23 reveals life in the capital of Newfoundland.  Born the grandson of prominent politician and ship's captain, the Hon. Edward White and Anne Weir, young Walter enjoys the family interest is experimental agriculture at their country house near St. John's. He lives with his parents in a  mansard-roofed double house on the South Side of St. John's harbour next door to his cousins and has already entered the world of the Water Street merchants at Bowring Bros.& Co.  He develops his lifelong passion for Methodism and Christian service to others,  and courts his future wife Edith Knight.  Eventually he establishes his own Water Street wholesale firm, continues a leadership role in George Street Church,  raises six children,  gardens actively - following the patterns of a productive 90 year lifetime that are shown in the formative years of his manhood.  Living in the centre of a politically active family he documents the life in the Dominion of Newfoundland,  during a critical transition period now seen as the last golden age of independence - for what was Britain's oldest colony.  Learn more about Walter or read his Journals.
The ships associated with the Hon. Edward White a Newfoundland ship owner and Captain who sailed brigs, schooners and brigantines built in the Atlantic Provinces from Brazil to Labrador. He was Capt. of three large wooden steamers (with sails) constructed in Scotland under his supervision for Job Brothers & Co.  After he retired from the sea at 71, several ships continued to have illustrious careers not only in Newfoundland but also in establishing Canadian arctic sovereignty and in international Antarctic exploration carrying Sir. Ernest Shackleton on his epic voyage of 1907-1909.
Dr. George M. Story, a Rhodes Scholar who taught for 40 years at Memorial University of Newfoundland was a descendant  of Hon. Edward White.  His article Building a St. John's Victorian House describes the process by which Hon. Edward White built The New House in St. John's a house long associated with Story as he was raised in one side of the two family house and upon his return to Newfoundland from Oxford purchased the other side (which had briefly been sold outside the family) making his home there and raising a family, next door to his sister Janet Story,  and once again bringing full occupancy of the double house to the fifth generation of the same family.
Bemister@HomePort
Bemisters of Carbonear, Newfoundland include the Bemister Bulletin and updates on the 2004 reunion in England as well a Vancouver gathering in 2002.  The 1999 reunion celebrating the birthday of John Bemister (1749-1838), was held in Carbonear, Newfoundland. John married Mary Willis (1747-1832) at Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England and through their 79 grandchildren, hundreds of descendants now live throughout North America. The reunion, the first held in Newfoundland where the family immigrated, brought together descendants, their friends and families. And followed an earlier gathering held in 1998 in Toronto.  Ships associated with the Bemister family is a nautical page about family owned schooners, brigs and brigantines. Read about Emma Jane Bemister and visit   Bemister@HomePort.

Vacation Rental on PEI available at Potter's House.

There are sixty pioneer families in the Atlantic provinces, that we are currently researching.

If you are researching any of these families, we are pleased to learn of any shared connections.

Newfoundland Roots

Currently researching sixteen Newfoundland ancestral family names. Fourteen of these lines were in Newfoundland during the 1700's. Some dates of arrival are well known
 but many are not. The first known reference for these Newfoundland ancestral roots are indicated.

White -  "Fishermen of West Country origin" lived in Newfoundland for a generation prior to marriage record of 1786 in Bonavista Bay. Resided in Catalina c. 1810, Tickle Cove in 1811 and in St. John's c. 1835. Longtime residents of the Southside, St. John's.

Knight - Since 1768 at least, in the Quidi Vidi area.

Brace -  From Keignton, Devon to Quidi Vidi, NL before 1753.

Bemister - Corfe Mullen Parish, Dorset UK to Carbonear in 1810.
 
Pitts - Kennford, Devon UK to NFLD in 1751 settling eventually in Lance Cove, Bell Island.

Ayre - Torquay, Devon UK to St. John's - circa 1880.

Bartlett - in Twillingate, prior to 1790.

Picco - Portugal Cove, prior to 1755.

Spencer -  Bonavista Bay prior to 1788.

Chancey - Cullompton, Devon, UK to Harbour Grace before 1799 - St John's NL in 1799.

Howell - Carbonear before 1715.

Ash - Carbonear before 1755.

Weir - St. John's prior to 1782.

Bradbury - Bay Roberts, prior to 1783.

Greenan - Bonavista Bay prior to 1786.

Elford - St. John's prior to 1782 (connection to Elford ancestors is still unconfirmed)

 Nova Scotia Roots

 We are currently researching eighteen ancestral families in Nova Scotia. Where dates of arrival are known, they are indicated, in other cases the first written reference is the basis of determining Nova Scotia residency.

Scott & Dalgity arrived from Scotland between 1801 and 1803 in Halifax, NS - departing from Woolwich, England. Second generation lived in Ste. Croix by 1823.

Hunter & Martin - (Hunter origins in County Ayr, Scotland) 1769 from Aghadowey, Londonderry, Northern Ireland aboard the ship Admiral Hawke, bound for Philadelphia the ship foundered off Sable Island - they were rescued by the Good Ship Blessing, and taken to Halifax, NS. The family were influenced by Admiral Cochrane who encouraged them to remain in NS. They settled on Willow Hill Rd., Ardoise, Hants County.

Dill - arrived from Northern Ireland. "The Gateway to the Valley", indicates they were also shipwrecked on Sable Island in 1769, along with the Hunters, and other families. Three Dill brothers, held land near the Hunters on the Willow Hill Rd., Ardoise, Hants County with land grant executed in 1784. By 1802 lease arrangments were made followed by purchase (by second generation) in 1811, of a large section of land in Sweets Corner - as well as river front land in Ste. Croix.

Allen & Gillmore - Both were from County Antrim (Northern Ireland), but living in Edinburgh, Scotland prior to their departure on a 80 day voyage on June 21, 1769 with their three children to Philadelphia. Settled in Connecticut. After American Revolution settled at Ardoise Hill, Hants County in 1786 and then Grand Pre, Kings Co. in 1791.

Smith & Duck -  An Osmotherly, Yorkshire family that sailed from Hull on March 14, 1774, on the brigantine Albion (Capt. Thomas Perrott) for Ft. Cumberland/Ft. Lawrence, NS. arriving there on May 17, 1774. A younger generation resided in Ste Croix, NS.

Weighill - from Yorkshire that also sailed from Hull on March 14, 1774, on the brigantine Albion for Ft.Cumberland/Ft. Lawrence, NS. arriving there on May 17, 1774.

Harvie & Boyle - before 1759 from Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland to the American colonies then May 1760 from Rhode Island to Windsor NS, aboard the sloop Sally (Capt. Jona Lovatt), original Newport NS grantees in 1761.

Powers - in Newport NS by 1763

Brightman - from Dartmouth Mass, original Newport NS grantees in 1761.

Bailey - From East Greenwich RI  - arrived in NS by 1760,  original Newport NS grantees in 1761.

Sanford - Probably from Essex, England they arrived in Rhode Island on the Ship Lyon Nov. 1631. They were original Newport NS grantees in 1761.

Fish - English ancestry, resident in RI before 1643. Original grantees in 1761 in Newport NS.

Walker - possibly from Ireland but resident in Halifax, NS by 1774

Prince Edward Island Roots

We are researching the ancestral families of Betty Rogers, including sixteen Island family names.

Smith - from Helmsley and Harome,Yorkshire they left Hull, Yorkshire around 22 March/26 Apr., 1817 and arrive in d PEI - June 25, 1817 on brigantine Valiant (Capt. John Ezard)

Alley - from Ireland they were resident on PEI by 1821.

Lawson - from NS but resident on PEI by the 1820's. Prior to 1750 family resided in Boston MA

Fowle - from Highgate, England but resident in NS prior to 1820 and in PEI during the 1820's.

MacKenzie - from Applecross, Scotland but resident in PEI prior to 1830.

Macrae & Matheson -  from Rosshire, Scotland parents and family of 10 took passage in an emigrant ship bound for Montreal, intending to go to Glengarry, ON. The ship [which may have been called Good Intents] encountered stormy weather, and their voyage across the Atlantic lasted seven weeks. When the Captain put in at Pictou, Nova Scotia, the Macraes were so sick of the horrors of the long sea voyage, that they found their way to Prince Edward Island, and settled on a farm at the head of Wheatley River instead.

Rogers - from Carmarthen, South Wales emigrated to Bedeque PEI in 1832 via NS.

James - resident in PEI by 1823

Burrows - from Cornwall, England immigrating to Long River, PEI in 1837

Cockran - in PEI prior to 1816

Sinclair - Glendaruel, Argylshire, Scotland left July 27, 1770 from Campbellton, Scotland on barque Annabella (Capt. Dugald Stewart). Ship stranded on shoales October 1770 at Malpeque PEI "having lost all their possessions found welcome shelters in French homes."

Ramsay - from Ugadale near Campbeltown, Argyllshire, Scotland - also immigrated on the Annabella to Malpeque PEI in 1770.

Carruthers - in PEI prior to 1845.

Tuplin - from Tawstock, near Westleigh, Devonshire, UK to PEI in 1840. Resided in Long River.

McKay - in Malpeque PEI by 1773.

We are researching the ancestral families of Bob Large, including eleven PEI family names.

Large - 11 Jun 1817, left Dublin, Ireland on the brig Harriet (Capt. Hannah) landing at New London PEI on 22 August after leaving passengers on Gaspe Quebec. Previously family was from Ballykilcavan, Queens County in Ireland. In 1818 John Large became agent for Sir John Allan Johnson-Walsh of Ballykilcavan in Foxley River. By 1838 family had settled in Little York, PEI (York).

Mabey - from Dorsetshire, England - United Empire Loyalists who resided in Bedeque, PEI by 1790

Hamilton - in Bedeque, PEI by 1790

Macdonnell - resided in Charlottetown prior to 1825

Crawford - resided in Charlottetown prior to 1825

Bell - from Saintfield, County Down, Ireland, in Charlottetown PEI prior to 1862.

Evers - England or Ireland, in Charlottetown PEI prior to 1862.

Campbell - in North Wiltshire PEI prior to 1832.

MacKinnon - emigrated from Isle of Mull, Scotland in 1810 to Highfield/North River area.

MacKinnon - emigrated from Scotland to PEI prior to 1865. Resident at Colville Rd., New Haven PEI.

McLean - prior to 1838 were resident at Colville Rd., New Haven PEI.

Can't find a link you are looking for ? You could search the site, or check on material grouped under the following names :
Nova Scotia families Newfoundland families Prince Edward Island families
Scott@HomePort Bemister@HomePort Lawson@HomePort
Gillmore@HomePort Knight@HomePort Smith PEI@HomePort
Harvey@HomePort Pitts@HomePort Rogers@HomePort
Hunter@HomePort Ayre@HomePort Sinclair@HomePort
Smith NS@HomePort White@HomePort MacKenzie@HomePort
Dill@HomePort Duder@HomePort Large@HomePort



Do you have information that could be helpful in correcting or adding to content of HomePort ?  We appreciate your comments, suggestions and additions.
Sincerely, Ian Scott, Charlottetown, PEI
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