When Did Nova Scotia First Appear On The Map?

Nova Scotia only came into existence in 1621 when James VI granted Sir William Alexander of Menstrie a royal charter for the development of a "New Scotland" on the eastern seaboard of what is now Canada.

This colony was called Nova Scotia and consisted of two provinces, New Caledonia, the modern Nova Scotia comprising Prince Edward Island and southern Newfoundland; and Alexandria, made up of what is now New Brunswick, Gaspésie and the island of Anticosti.

The first attempts at settling the area, in 1628 and 1629, were short-lived. It was not until around 150 years later in 1773 that emigration from Scotland took off in any meaningful way. When the passenger ship, The Hector, arrived in Nova Scotia, what began was a long lasting romance between Scotland and Canada.

Many of those who arrived in Nova Scotia at that time and later on were victims of the Highland Clearances. Families that had subsistence farmed small plots of land in Scotland who were forcibly evicted to make way for sheep grazing by the landed gentry who had taken over the estates from the Highland clan chiefs.

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