The Hector in Pictou: Experience Scottish History

Scottish immigrants to Nova Scotia were on board the Hector in Pictou

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

Scottish immigrants came to Nova Scotia on board the Hector in Pictou

This ship was a reconstruction of a British three-masted ship, such as those used to transport goods. The Hector in Pictou did not bring the first Scottish settlers to the country. The first attempts at English settlement in Nova Scotia had been made from Pennsylvania a good ten years previously. They failed, however, mainly because there were no facilities on the Northumberland Coast of Nova Scotia that would make survival easier for the new settlers. And the passengers from Scotland who disembarked in the Pictou region on board the "Hector" on September 15, 1773 did not find much else. They disembarked in a bay where dense forest extended right up to the coast, and where there was no forest, swampland made easy use of the region impossible.

History of the Hector

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 immigrating to Nova Scotia began.

Pictou attractions at Hector Heritage Quay

The “Hector” of today was built between 1990 and 2002 in the port of Pictou. An information center, the ship and associated workshops are located at the Hector Heritage Quay.

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

Learn more:

• Nova Scotia Archives
• Wikipedia

Travel Arrangements:

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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
Video Hector in Pictou: © Petar Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline