Prince Edward Island, formerly called St. John's Island.
European contact with Prince Edward Island began with Jacques Cartier in 1534 and was probably frequent throughout the 1600's as French and Basque fishermen plied their trade in the area. The first permanent settlement on what was then known as Isle St. Jean began with the French at Port La Joie (Charlottetown Harbor) in 1720. With travel accomplished in the main by canoe the population of 450 persons (at its height) centered itself along the shoreline.

In August 1755 a number of the Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy made their way to the island where they lived as refugees until deported by the British in 1758. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 granted Britain full possession of all French territory in the new world and in 1764 the Crown sent Samuel Holland to survey St. John's Island (as it was called now). He divided the island into three counties called respectively Prince, Queens and Kings each with a town site laid out, within the counties he then created 67 township lots of 20,000 acres each. The land was awarded by lottery to petitioners in Britain who were supposed to pay the Crown a sum of money and settle their lot with 100 non British Protestants within 10 years. Few ever attempted to meet the agreed upon conditions, instead horse-trading for profit ensued with the deeds passing from one speculator to the next. Generally this system damaged settlement on the island and was still driving away potential residents 100 years later. St John's Island, which had been administered from Nova Scotia, received its own government in 1769.

The first Protestant settlers from Scotland, 120 persons who arrived on the 'Falmouth' June 1st, 1770 were followed that year by 100 survivors of the nearly 200 passengers carried on the barque 'Annabella' which was wrecked off Princetown upon arrival in October, these destitute people lodged with French families for a period. In 1771 the 'Edinburg' delivered a further 61 settlers to the island.

There was much suffering in the Highlands during the famine years of 1771-72, everywhere rents increased until they became impossible to pay and the Clearances had begun. Captain John MacDonald of Glenalladale was almost exceptional in his purpose amongst those who acquired land on St John's Island; a cadet branch of Clanranald John MacIain Og's family had remained staunchly Catholic. It followed that when his kinsman Colin MacDonald of Boisdale began practicing the 'creideamh a' bhata buidhe' (belief of the yellow walking stick), that is he beat his Catholic tenants into his own Protestant kirk with a yellow walking stick, Glenalladale decided to act. Selling his Highland property he purchased lots 35 and 36 on Malpeque Bay and chartered the brig 'Alexander' to relocate several hundred of the suffering Catholics. They were from Boisdale's estate in Uist, his own estate of Glenalladale in Moidart and Arisaig from whence the 'Alexander departed in mid May 1772 thereafter arriving in St John's at the end of June, these were the first Scottish Catholics to settle in Canada.

28 families, former tenants of MacNeil of Barra arrived on September 20th, 1790 in the 'Queen of Greenock'. Their departure from Scotland had been decided by a dispute with MacNeil who had recently become Protestant and was intent on converting his Catholic tenants also. He refused permission to erect a new church to replace the one the community had outgrown, a quarrel ensued and on March 10, 1790 all the Catholics gave notice that they were quitting their holdings and leaving the country. Through Bishop MacDonald and a Captain Fraser the ship was arranged on condition a mandatory number of 350 persons could be raised, this was done with additions from Uist and the mainland. Originally destined for Louisburg, Cape Breton a violent storm blew them off course; the first land encountered was Point de Roche, St John's Island where the passengers begged to be put ashore. As luck would have it four men were walking the beach nearby, recent arrivals from Scotland themselves one was persuaded to guide the ship into Charlottetown. In the spring of 1792 this community acquired title to the land by Grand River on township lot 14.

Following in the footsteps of the Glenalladale settlers' further emigration from the Clanranald estates to the island occurred in 1790. Two ships the 'Lucy' carrying 142 passengers and the 'Jane' with 186 left Drimindarach, Scotland on July 12th, 1790 and were followed in August by the 'British Queen' from Arisaig with 87 passengers.

One of the settlements that earned Lord Selkirk a place in Canadian history was founded on St. John's Island. On August 10th, 1803 the 'Polly', the 'Dykes' and the 'Oughton' arrived in Queens County carrying some 800 immigrants hailing from Ross-shire, Argyle-shire, Inverness-shire, the Isle of Uist and the Isle of Skye in Scotland. They settled the Belfast area around Orwell Bay and for a century or more afterward remained so isolated, neighbor married neighbor, that every part of their lives possessed the pure influence of the traditions and culture that had followed them from the Highlands.

The population of Prince Edward Island rose rapidly throughout the 19th century, from 4,327 in 1798 to 71,496 in 1853. By the 1830's a great majority of its 32,000 people were Protestant and Catholic Highland Scots followed in numbers by Lowlanders and to a smaller extent English and French settlers. During the 1830's a number of Ulster Irish joined the colony to escape the great famine at home. In the late 18th century the Protestant Scots and English settled the North shore, the French clustered around Rustico and the Catholic Highlanders occupied the lands from Tracadie Bay to St. Peters, these patterns have persisted somewhat into the present day. The first interior roads connected Charlottetown, Malpeque and St. Peters otherwise travel was easiest by water and tended to be primarily east west in nature, by the 1850's Prince Edward Island's basic road network had been completed.

From the mid 19th century, with much of the land held in tenure by landlords in Britain, the young and the newly arrived had difficulty obtaining their own farms and many sought to leave the island. In one instance New Zealand, then in need of settlers and knowing of the difficulties faced by the islanders, advertised freehold lots at very reasonable prices, this attracted enough takers that a boat was chartered to relocate the group. The 'Prince Edward' locally built and registered in 1858 arrived in Auckland on May 13, 1859 and Canada's loss became New Zealand's gain. In 1875 the land monopoly was dealt with in the form of the 'Compulsory Land Purchase Act' that is, anyone owning over 500 acres was forced to sell (an act that Scotland has always been and is presently in dire need of).

On September 1st, 1864 Charlottetown hosted the first of three conferences on the unification of the British North American colonies, which resulted in Confederation in 1867. Included were Canada (Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and with representation from Newfoundland which remained a holdout colony for another 90 or so years. Of the 36 'Father's of Confederation' 24 were Scottish or of Scottish descent.