Clackmannanshire Fact No2 - The Accidental Smallholder

Tuesday 20 January, 2009

by Rosemary at 10:44am in Anything goes No comments Add your own

Sir William Alexander (1567 - 1640) 1st Earl of Stirling was born in Menstrie Castle, which is now in National Trust for Scotland ownership. In 1621, he was granted land in the New World by James VI, and founded the province of Nova Scotia. Although his attempts to establish a Scottish colony there failed and in 1632, Charles I handed Nova Scotia to the French as part of a peace settlement, in 1732, it was ceded back to Britain and many Scots emigrated there.