36641: Emigration to South America
Emigration to South America, and particularly Patagonia, was a relatively common solution to economic hardship at home in the Hebrides in the first decades of the 20th century. The following gives the perspective from Kinloch, on the east side of Lewis.
Kinloch men seek new pastures
Lewismen, by their very nature, were always great explorers and developers, not only of their own native Island but also in foreign fields in many parts of the world. Due to low wages and the lack of opportunity, many therefore decided to leave home and seek their fortunes abroad.
The most favoured places were Argentina, Patagonia and Chile due to the many opportunities offered on the large “Estancias” or sheep and cattle ranches where pay and conditions were good. The main Estancias where Lewismen were employed belonged to the Compania Menendez Behety and Compania Exploradora de Tierra del Fuego. The latter had over one million sheep and was considered to be the biggest of its kind in the world.
In 1899, Malcolm Kennedy, 9 Balallan; Robert Macleod, 45 Balallan, Donald Mackenzie, 49 Balallan and John Mackenzie, Arivruach were the first people to leave for Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America. The men were on a 3 year contract and their wages were 5 a month, their passage being paid for by the farm. Lewismen were in great demand in Patagonia as they were reliable and not afraid of hard work nor the lonely life on the pampas.
In 1906, over 20 men left Lewis and various parts of the Highlands to work on farms owned by Menendez Behety. He is reputed to have died a millionaire in 1914. On their arrival they were met by an official of Menendez but rival farms also sent representatives and booked the majority of the men on the spot for their own farms, without paying a centavo towards their passage. (See images of the Menendez estancia.)
From 1899 to 1914, Lewismen were going to Patagonia in great numbers. In the years between 1899 and 1937, 60 men left Balallan for South America. Of that total, 31 died over there. Keose, a small village with only 15 crofts, sent 31 of her sons to South America between 1903 and 1927 and 13 of them died out there.
Lewismen were to be found even on Easter Island in the South Pacific, also known as the loneliest island in the world, the nearest land being Valparaiso in Chile, 2,400 miles distant. Lachie Mackinnon, Arivruach, who went to Patagonia in 1913 went to Easter Island in 1922, along with John Mackay, Achmore and stayed there for six years.
Kinloch Historical Society
The electricscotland website gives further details on the lives of Scots in Argentina, and the patbrit website is a useful genealogical source.
Details
- Record Type:
- Story, Report or Tradition
- Date:
- 1899
- Type Of Story Report Tradition:
- Other
- Record Maintained by:
- CECL
Related Media
Estancia workers in South America
Ranching in South America
Ranching in South America