1846

1846: The Corn Law is repealed in the face of the failure of the potato crop and the widespread fear of starvation.
Beginning of the ten-year Highland Potato Famine - (Scottish Gaelic: Gaiseadh a' bhuntàta) - how did this affect our populations?? starvation, death, emigration

(from wikipedia) - The terms on which charitable relief was given, however, led to destitution and malnutrition amongst its recipients. A government enquiry could suggest no short-term solution other than reduction of the population of the area at risk by emigration to Canada or Australia. Highland landlords organised and paid for the emigration of more than 16,000 of their tenants and a significant but unknown number paid for their own passage. Evidence suggests that the majority of Highlanders who permanently left the famine-struck regions emigrated, rather than moving to other parts of Scotland. It is estimated that about a third of the population of the western Scottish Highlands emigrated between 1841 and 1861.

1846: Thomas Cook organises the first tourist trips to Scotland.


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