Scotland may vote to leave the United Kingdom next year - but if you've ever wondered what led to Scotland and England uniting in the first place in 1707, one of the key factors was Scotland's failed Darien colony scheme in 1698 and 1699, which virtually bankrupted the country's so called nobles. Only a couple of months ago I researched the story of one of these investors from Ayrshire on behalf of a client - this investor was ironically already getting heavily into debt in the 1690s and so speculated on the scheme in the hope of clearing his burden - a tragic tale.
If you want to know more about the scheme, the University of Glasgow has an interesting post at http://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/scotlands-failed-colony-the-darien-scheme/ outlining papers that it holds within its Spencer Collection. An interesting read.
Chris
Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.
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