Around 450 people from a Scottish island packed up their houses and sailed to New York province on the promise of a new lucrative life – but were to find themselves without homes or promised land after the shaky scheme to get them there went awry.

Dozens of families from Islay fell victim to the manoeuvres of the royal governors of New York who were accused of roguery, deception and heartlessness in their attempts to attract a new settlement of Protestants to the colony. Leading the bid to attract Ileachs to this new frontier was Lachlan Campbell, an army officer from the island who led a company of government soldiers during the 1745 rising.

Read more at: The Scottish islanders conned by a new life in New York – The Scotsman