Thousands of destitute travellers ‘lost from history’ are rediscovered 150 years later

• Records from Canadian workhouses, asylums and hospitals tell a sad story of the neglected thousands refused entry into the United States
• One man’s mission to document the lives of these forgotten emigrants
• Collection: Irish Emigration to New England through the port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841-1849

Today the story of thousands of lost Irish emigrants is told through historic records, the Irish Emigration to New England through the port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841-1849, at leading social and family history website Ancestry.co.uk.

Following the great famine of the 1840s, about one million Irish left their home nation and moved to countries around the world in hope of finding work, food and respite from the strife that was engulfing their country. Many headed to the United States and are recorded in official incoming passenger lists that were kept by the port authorities.

However, thousands of passengers who were declared destitute, stowaways, or deemed mentally or physically ‘unfit’ were never allowed across the Canadian border into the US, and were instead sent to local hospitals, workhouses or even asylums in and around the port-town of St. John, Canada without being recorded in official documents.

This meant that for their descendants, tracing the whereabouts of friends, family or today – ancestors, was impossible, until one man made it his mission to document these ‘forgotten emigrants’.

Daniel F. Johnson, a keen genealogist and historian based in New Brunswick, Canada, knew of the fate of such destitute travellers and formed a comprehensive list using archived records from the various workhouses, hospitals and asylums that had accepted these emigrants, now known as Irish Emigration to New England through the port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841-1849.

Over several years, Daniel was able to piece together over 7,000 names, including details of why individuals had been committed to various institutions rather than be allowed into the US. Sadly, many of these were widows, orphans or physically disabled - as wives lost husbands, children lost parents and many passengers fell ill during the voyage to Canada.

Those who were fit enough to work but declared destitute were often sent to workhouses, where they would carry out laborious tasks in terrible conditions until they had earned enough to continue on and start a new life for themselves.

Olivier Van Calster, Managing Director of Ancestry.co.uk, comments: “These records tell tragic and often harrowing stories, but without them, so many of the names included would have remained lost to history. Ironically, these records also highlight that for many, leaving Ireland may have been the start of an even worse life than the one from which they were escaping.

“Smaller historical record sets such as these can be hugely significant to family history researchers as they often are the key to solving long-running family history mysteries when members simply disappear and are not traceable in larger collections.”

The records, labelled Irish Emigration to New England through the port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841-1849 can be viewed by visiting www.ancestry.co.uk and searching immigration and emigration records. They complement the already comprehensive collection of international records available on Ancestry.co.uk, which include millions of Irish immigrants who travelled to countries around the globe including the US, Canada, Australia and Germany.