The Scots venture to East Jersey
East and West New Jersey origins
New Jersey’s origins trace back to 1664 when England seized New Netherland from the Dutch. James, Duke of York granted lands between the Hudson and Chesapeake to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, rewarding them for their role in the takeover. Their territory was divided in half, creating East and West Jersey.
In 1674 Berkeley sold his share to a London-based Quaker consortium, including William Penn, Gawen Lawrie (a merchant of Scots descent), and Lawrie’s son-in-law William Haige from the Bemersyde family in Roxburghshire. These investors, known as Proprietors, governed under a royal charter that granted them rights over land distribution and legal authority. The Quakers aimed to establish a colony based on religious freedom, democratic governance, trial by jury, and debtors’ rights. Their first ship, Kent, sailed to West Jersey in 1677, and within 18 months, around 800 Quakers had settled there. While this development interested Scots Quakers, none emigrated at the time.
Scots investment in East Jersey
In 1680, Carteret’s heirs put East Jersey up for sale and it was bought in 1682 by Penn and 11 other Quakers. Their attention, however, had shifted to the potential of colonising Pennsylvania and they sought another 12 investors to share ownership. This opened the door for Scots, whether they were Quakers or not.
These early Scottish investors included James Drummond, Earl of Perth, and his brother John Drummond of Lundin who each purchased a 1/24th share. They were both Privy Councillors and close confidantes of the Duke of York. Three other Scots — Robert Barclay of Ury, his brother David, and their uncle Robert Gordon of Cluny — also became Proprietors. Both Barclays were Quakers and had experienced persecution in Aberdeenshire. Robert was a notable Quaker leader and his Apology for the True Christian Divinity (1676) was highly influential in the contemporary development of Quakerism, in Britian and abroad.
Recognising his leadership, the Drummonds persuaded Barclay to become the governor of East Jersey in September 1682. In return, he was granted 5,000 acres to develop, and he was not required to travel to the colony. The following year, more Scots joined the venture, including a first cousin of the Barclays, Sir John Gordon of Durno and another Aberdeenshire Quaker, Robert Burnet of Lethintie. Perth later sold part of his share to Sir George Mackenzie of Tarbet, a fellow Privy Councillor, while Gawen Lawrie acquired half of Cluny’s stake.
Barclay’s connections proved valuable. As a direct descendant of James IV (his five times great-grandfather), he had access to court, and he developed a genuine friendship with James, Duke of York. While also finding the demeanour of Quakers irritating, James was sympathetic to Quakers, as tolerating them aligned with his broader pro-Catholic policies. Barclay’s father had also supported James’s father, Charles I in 1648, which further bolstered his standing.
Scottish government officials backed the venture for economic and political reasons. They saw East Jersey as a way to boost trade and national revenue, enhance Scotland’s pride and standing in the world, and provide a destination for Covenanters they wanted to exile.
Extending ownership to fractioners
The initial Scots investors sought to expand Scottish involvement by selling subdivisions of their holdings. Between 1683 and 1685, 34 new investors (so-called fractioners) joined, with the majority (20) in 1684. Of these, 10 bought shares from Burnet, eight from Barclay, and five from Durno.
Nearly two-thirds (21) were merchants, often younger sons of landowners (eight). Other investors included five landowners, four doctors, three lawyers, a manufacturer, and a university bursar. The average age was 36, with 10 under 30.
Seven fractioners had ties to the royal court or government, either through noble birth, patronage, or marriage. This group included John Barclay (Robert’s brother), Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheil (Robert’s brother-in-law), and several associates of the Earl of Perth such as David Toschach of Monzievaird and John Campbell of Duncrosk. Others were prominent merchants, including John Dobie (who married the daughter of the King’s Master Mason) and James Johnstone (whose family was closely linked to the Maitlands of Lauderdale, powerful in the 1660s and 1670s). Combined with the Scots Proprietors, this group made up about a third of East Jersey’s initial investors.
The largest fractioner group came from Aberdeen and northeast Scotland, though Edinburgh was the most common residence (10). Eight were Quakers who had faced persecution in Aberdeen, including David Falconer, Andrew Galloway, John Laing of Craigforthie, and Andrew Jaffray of Kingswells.
Falconer, a key figure, had strong ties to the Barclays, having managed Robert Barclay’s father’s estates, and married to Robert’s sister-in-law, Margaret Molleson. Falconer had helped promote the first Quaker emigration to West Jersey and helped to fund the subsequent Scottish voyages. Other Quaker investors included James Miller of Gartshore and Charles Ormston of Kelso, a textile merchant described as “banker and merchant for one half the Border gentry”. Miller emigrated though Falconer and Ormston did not.
Occupations of the initial fractioners
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East and West Jersey origins
Scots investment in East Jersey
George Pratt Insh, Scottish Colonial Schemes, 1620-1686 (Maclehose, 1922)
Ned C. Landsman, Scotland and Its First American Colony (Princeton University Press, 1985)
Cameron Macfarlane, ‘“A Dream of Darien”: Scottish Empire and the Evolution of Early Modern Travel Writing’ (unpublished Doctoral, Durham University, 2018)