This page was last updated on 11 August 2021

Click here to 
Print this page

Biography finder

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

 

Index of first names

Prisoners from the Battles of Dunbar (1650) and Worcester (1651)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



In 1650-1651 the Third Civil War of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms was fought largely on Scottish soil when Cromwell's New Model Army (NMA) invaded Scotland. The Scottish Covenanters' army was heavily defeated by Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar (3rd Sept 1650), and some 5000 prisoners were marched south of the border by the NMA to Durham. During the infamous death march some escaped, some were shot as a warning to the rest, some were set to work around Newcastle and many died of famine fever at Morpeth after eating cabbage raw from the fields. Just 3000 survived to be ordered into their temporary prison of Durham Cathedral, where the dying from infection and fever continued. The order was given to transport 900 of the healthiest prisoners to the American colonies of Virginia and New England to be sold into indentured labour.

It is not clear how many of these were in the end transported, but on 7th November 1650, about 150 Scottish prisoners of Dunbar were transported aboard the Unity. After landing in Charlestown, New England, the ones who survived the voyage were sold for £20-£30 each as indentured servants, 60 of them to the Saugus Ironworks in Massachusetts. Up to 300 more may have been sent to Virginia too, although shipping records have not survived.

A year to the day from Dunbar, the Royalist army under Charles II went down to its final defeat at Worcester, and again several thousand Scottish soldiers supporting Charles found themselves prisoners of war in England. Again, many were ordered for transportation – and on 8th November 1651, the John and Sarah took sail with around 300 Scottish prisoners on board. 272 of them survived to reach Charlestown, where they suffered the fate of the Unity prisoners a year earlier. The names of these 272 prisoners have survived(1) – in time, many of those who survived their indentured labour would settle in the colonies and have descendants today.

 

 

Notes:
1.  As far as I can tell, no members of the Douglas family were on the John and Sarah.  It would be interesting to know what happened to the Douglas prisoners.

 

See also:

The 'Unity', the ship used to transport the Dunbar prisoners to America.

 

Any contributions will be gratefully accepted

 

 




Errors and Omissions

The Forum

What's new?

We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas Archives.

If you spot errors, or omissions, then please do let us know


Contributions

Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing. Can you help?


Copyright

You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites without our express permission and then, if given, only by including our copyright and a URL link to the web site.

 

If you have met a brick wall with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer!

You may also be able to help others answer their queries.

Visit the Douglas Archives Forum.

 

2 Minute Survey

To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of minutes to complete our survey.

 

We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our What's New section on the home page.

We also use the Community Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the Douglas Archives.


Help with costs

Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs.  Any contribution the defray them is very welcome
Donate

 

Newsletter

If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter - Sign up!

 
 
 

 

Back to top

 



The content of this website is a collection of materials gathered from a variety of sources, some of it unedited.

The webmaster does not intend to claim authorship, but gives credit to the originators for their work.

As work progresses, some of the content may be re-written and presented in a unique format, to which we would then be able to claim ownership.

Discussion and contributions from those more knowledgeable is welcome.

Contact Us

Last modified: Monday, 25 March 2024