The Hector in Pictou brought the first Scots to Nova Scotia

First Scots in Nova Scotia on board the Hector in Pictou

She towers proudly in the port of Pictou: the "Hector". In absolute calm, it is reflected in the water of the port of Pictou and gives us a picture from another time - more precisely the year 1773, when the first large group of Scottish immigrants on board such a sailing ship reached the coast of Nova Scotia. The Hector in Pictou is a symbol of Canadian history.

They crossed the Atlantic aboard the Hector in Pictou

This ship was a reconstruction of a British three-master, as it was used for the transport of goods. The Hector in Pictou did not bring the first Scottish settlers into the country. The first attempts at English colonization of Nova Scotia had already been started a good ten years earlier from Pennsylvania, but failed mainly because of the fact that there were no facilities on the Northumberland Coast of Nova Scotia that would make it easier for the new settlers to survive. And the passengers from Scotland who went ashore on September 15, 1773 on board the "Hector" in the Pictou region, did not find much more. They went ashore in a bay where dense forest reached the coast, and where there was no forest, marshland made easy use of the region impossible.

The first task of the Hector in Pictou was therefore to leave immediately for Pennsylvania to fetch provisions for the coming winter. The new settlers first had to deal with the few local residents who prevented them from building accommodation on the coast and demanded that they settle further inland. The first winter was a time of great difficulty for the Scots. They had to walk through pathless terrain to Truro, eighty miles away, to get provisions there, which they dragged back to the coast near Pictou on their shoulders. At the end of this hard first winter, only 78 of the Scots who had immigrated on board the "Hector" the year before were still alive. It was not until the first half of the 19th century that the great wave of Scots immigrated to Nova Scotia began.

The "Hector" was built between 1990 and 2002 in the port of Pictou.

The "Hector" and the information center are open during the summer months in the port of Pictou.

Note: The visitor center, the workshops and the hull are currently open to visitors. The "Hector" itself is currently being overhauled for the 250th anniversary of the Scots landing in 2023.

Travel Arrangements:

Parking at the airport

Here you can reserve your parking space at the airport.

Arrival to Hector in Pictou:

Arrival by plane, bus or train*. Air Canada, Condor and Icelandair fly from Germany to various airports in eastern Canada.

Car Rentals:

Cheap car hire - book quickly and easily!

Hotels near the Hector in Pictou:

Hotels in Pictou * You can book through our partner booking.com.

Do you know this?

• Pictou - the first Scots in Nova Scotia
• Pictou Nova Scotia - Dinner with a view
• That's how the Scots lived in Nova Scotia
• Cape Breton in the footsteps of the Scots
• America's most popular coastline
• Ottawa Winterlude
• Ottawa Winterlude hotels

Source Hector in Pictou: research on site. We would definitely like to thank Tourism Nova Scotia for the invitation. However, our opinions remain our own.

Text Hector in Pictou: © Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos Hector in Pictou: © Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline