Assimilation Aborted: Henry Clerk and the Limits of Anglo-Scottish Integration in the Age of Union

Keith M. Brown; Allan Kennedy

doi:10.3366/jshs.2018.0245

Assimilation Aborted: Henry Clerk and the Limits of Anglo-Scottish Integration in the Age of Union

Keith M. Brown
, Allan Kennedy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This article deploys micro-historical analysis to understand an example of abortive diaspora among Scots who failed to make it as immigrants in early modern England. Henry Clerk was the son of a middle-ranking Midlothian baronet who made a doomed effort to build a new life for himself in London between 1698 and 1702. A series of dozens of surviving letters between Clerk and his family members in Scotland allow us to trace his migration experience in unusual detail. This evidence makes his case an excellent candidate for micro-historical reconstruction, and in undertaking such an exercise this article seeks to ask what the nature and circumstances of his failure can tell us about the wider process of migrant assimilation in early modern Britain, as well as the challenges confronted by individuals seeking to make a new life in a new location.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	199-218
Number of pages	20
Journal	Journal of Scottish Historical Studies
Volume	38
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3366/jshs.2018.0245
Publication status	Published - Nov 2018

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

Keywords

Immigration
migration
assimilation
return migration
national identity
micro-history
early modern
Scotland

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10.3366/jshs.2018.0245

Author Accepted Manuscript
This is an Author’s Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Edinburgh University Press in Journal of Scottish Historical Studies. The Version of Record is available online at: https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/jshs.2018.0245.
Accepted author manuscript, 916 KB

Kennedy, Allan
- Humanities - Lecturer (Teaching and Research)
Person: Academic

Cite this

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title = "Assimilation Aborted: Henry Clerk and the Limits of Anglo-Scottish Integration in the Age of Union",

abstract = "This article deploys micro-historical analysis to understand an example of abortive diaspora among Scots who failed to make it as immigrants in early modern England. Henry Clerk was the son of a middle-ranking Midlothian baronet who made a doomed effort to build a new life for himself in London between 1698 and 1702. A series of dozens of surviving letters between Clerk and his family members in Scotland allow us to trace his migration experience in unusual detail. This evidence makes his case an excellent candidate for micro-historical reconstruction, and in undertaking such an exercise this article seeks to ask what the nature and circumstances of his failure can tell us about the wider process of migrant assimilation in early modern Britain, as well as the challenges confronted by individuals seeking to make a new life in a new location.",

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AB - This article deploys micro-historical analysis to understand an example of abortive diaspora among Scots who failed to make it as immigrants in early modern England. Henry Clerk was the son of a middle-ranking Midlothian baronet who made a doomed effort to build a new life for himself in London between 1698 and 1702. A series of dozens of surviving letters between Clerk and his family members in Scotland allow us to trace his migration experience in unusual detail. This evidence makes his case an excellent candidate for micro-historical reconstruction, and in undertaking such an exercise this article seeks to ask what the nature and circumstances of his failure can tell us about the wider process of migrant assimilation in early modern Britain, as well as the challenges confronted by individuals seeking to make a new life in a new location.

KW - Immigration

KW - migration

KW - assimilation

KW - return migration

KW - national identity

KW - micro-history

KW - early modern

KW - Scotland

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DO - 10.3366/jshs.2018.0245

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Assimilation Aborted: Henry Clerk and the Limits of Anglo-Scottish Integration in the Age of Union

Abstract

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Kennedy, Allan

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