The impacts of 19th Century Scottish immigration to Australia

 For today’s blog post, I thought I’d give an insight into one of my research specialities - 19th Century Scottish migration to Australia. Scottish immigration to Australia has a long history, from the earliest days of settler-colonialism in Australia to the present day. While it is impossible to cover every impact of Scottish immigration on Australia, in this blog post I argue that the swathes of Scots who migrated to Australia in the 19th century have crucially shaped the sociocultural, political, economic, and environmental development of Australia's past and present, with an emphasis on the role of Scottish migrants in Australian settler-colonialism.

Trigger warning: this blog post discusses some of the brutal atrocities committed by settler-colonists against Indigenous Australian people. If these are triggering or difficult topics for you, please do whatever is right for your mental health - you matter. This blog post also contains the names of people who have died.

To understand how Scottish migrants have impacted Australia, it is important to first discuss what the term 'migrant' means in an Australian context. Australia was first peopled by the ancestors of Australian Aboriginal people during the Pleistocene Epoch over 65,000 years ago, when what is now Australia was the supercontinent of Sahul. As First Peoples, Indigenous Australians have created rich cultures and languages rooted in relationship with Country and shaped the Australian landscape over millennia. Given Indigenous Australians’ profoundly ancient spiritual and cultural connection to Australia, it would be incorrect to label them as simply ‘migrants’ to Australia. While there is no global definition of migrants, The Refugee Council of Australia defines 'migrants' as people who "choose to move, mainly to improve their lives, and can always return home safely." (1). However, it is very important to acknowledge that a migrant’s reason for immigrating may stem from negative circumstances, and that they may not always have the means or opportunity to “return home safely”.

Scottish migrants’ choice to immigrate to Australia during the nineteenth century depended on their economic background and the socio-economic environments in Scotland and Australia. While it is impossible to account for every individual's reason for migrating, there are some common themes. Wealthier Scots tended to migrate for the economic opportunities that Australia could provide, particularly in the pastoral industry, whereas poorer Scots tended to migrate for a better life and to escape poverty. While Scottish migration to Australia was initially slow, it began to rise from the 1830s onward as the Australian colonies grew and employers required more labour, which led to assisted immigration, although there was still a reasonably high number of unassisted Scottish migrants in the 1830s and 40s.

In Scotland, the Highland Clearances from the mid 18th-19th centuries and the Highland Potato Famine of the 1840s and 1850s created widespread poverty among the Highland working class. The Highlands and Islands Immigration Society in Western Scotland was established to promote migration, assisting 4919 migrants from 1852-1857. Australia was chosen as their destination as the migrants' experience with cattle and sheep would benefit Australia's pastoral industry. In the Lowlands of Scotland, the rise of industrialisation throughout the 19th century caused overcrowded cities, poor housing conditions and poor sanitation that led to epidemics, all of which were significant factors that pushed Lowland Scots to immigrate, and they formed the majority of Scottish migrants to Australia.

The Australian Gold Rushes were the first time in the 19th century that Scots mass migrated to Australia. In the 1850s, 90-100,000 Scots migrated to Australia out of approx. 600,000 global migrants. A large proportion of these Scottish migrants were young men seeking gold or work opportunities. While Scottish migrants were spread all over Australia, Victoria became the preference and Scots made up a large portion of its population, particularly in the Western District. Victoria's first census in 1854 records that Scottish migrants were the third largest group in the state, and by 1861, there were 60,701 Scottish migrants in Victoria out of a total Victorian population of 540,322, which would also have included people born in Victoria to one or more Scottish parents. This was the highest Scottish-born population that Victoria would reach.

Such high numbers of Scottish immigration to Australia changed the economy, and a significant example of this The Scottish Australian Investment Company, which was formed in 1840 in reaction to the lucrative rise of the Australian sheep and wool industry. The company's aims included the "acquiring of land, either by purchase or otherwise, and of other property, real and personal, for re-sale, or letting out for agricultural or grazing operations … and also, the granting of loans or advances on the mortgage of real property", and it grew to "one of the chief businesses in the colonies." (2). The economic relationship between Scotland and Australia is also an important aspect of Australia's history in a global context, as prior to the Australian Depression of the 1890s, "Scotland was the dominant source of private British loans to Australia."² Scottish funding and personal enterprises, both in Australia and Scotland, also continued to vitally shape Australia’s economic development. Therefore, these three examples demonstrate that Scottish immigration to Australia has profoundly shaped the economic (and therefore settler-colonial) development of Australia.

In terms of the environmental impact of Scottish immigration to Australia, colonial pastoralism and the Gold Rush are key factors. For example, colonial pastoralism has transformed the Australian landscape and contributed to modern environmental problems, particularly erosion. Considering the high population of Scottish pastoralists, this is undoubtedly an environmental impact of Scottish immigration to Australia. The Gold Rush has also negatively impacted the Australian landscape, with the land clearance for mines, water pollution, and the harmful methods used to extract gold causing soil erosion and other effects that still impact the Australian landscape and waterways today, particularly around Ballarat. Given the very high proportion of Scottish gold miners, especially in the Western District, this must also be taken into account as an environmental impact of Scottish immigration to Australia, though other groups who mined were equally part of this impact.

Scottish immigration to Australia also had a strong social impact. For example, newly arrived Scottish workers frequently worked for Scottish landholders, particularly in areas where there was a high population of Scottish squatters. Benjamin Wilkie refers to these pastoralists as "newly crowned lairds", who "built grand homesteads" and Malcolm Prentis describes them as "Scottish squattocracy" (3) which is a compelling example of how traditional Scottish society could be rebuilt in Australia, except in this case the introduction of sheep provided work for Scots, not anticipated mass clearances. Non-Scottish colonial society often caricatured Scottish migrants as "clannish"; however, it was this sense of community that often made Scots such successful migrants. As we will see later, Scottish migrants created networks that supported individual endeavours whilst maintaining a sense of community.

“Successful’’ Scottish migrants to Australia have been praised for their ingenuity and determination. Simultaneously, their role in the settler colonialism that enabled them to enjoy this success is frequently ignored. Regardless of their personal views on the subject, Scottish migrants to Australia were part of the larger scheme of British colonisation and imperialism that is integral to Australia's history in a global context, and as a whole Scots did benefit from settler-colonialism in Australia. Lachlan Macquarie is a compelling example of this. Born into a poor Highland family, he eventually became the fifth governor of New South Wales and played a crucial role in shaping modern Australia. His achievements are frequently glorified while ignoring the fact that he ordered killings of Aboriginal people and "ordered the establishment of one of the earliest Aboriginal missions in Australia."(4). As Macquarie demonstrates, Scots immigrating from poverty in Scotland could, in time, find themselves enjoying varying degrees of prosperity and power in the colonies, and this cannot be divorced from the broader topic of Scots immigration to Australia and both Scotland and Australia's history in a global context.

While there are also strong examples of positive relations between Scottish migrants and Indigenous Australians, and Scots campaigning for Indigenous rights, the role of some Scots in acts of genocide and their overall role in the settler colonialism and dispossession of Indigenous Australians must be acknowledged. Additionally, a profession that Scots were particularly prominent in was the European exploration of Australia, which contributed to the spread of European settler-colonialism on the continent and the further dispossession of Indigenous people.

Intersecting with this, Scottish migrants shaped the social fabric of the places they settled, particularly in Victoria; "It was not so much that the English and Scots found acceptance in colonial society; in Victoria, at least, they were colonial society." (5). Scottish migrants maintained and promoted their cultural identity in Australia, creating formal and informal associations and networks to maintain cultural unity and identity in a foreign country and assist new Scottish migrants. Indeed, non-Scots (especially the English) were not allowed to attend Scottish festivals in Melbourne until 1850. However, Scottish migrants to Australia were also part of the broader identity of British imperialism, which is an integral part of both Scotland and Australia's history in a global context. While maintaining their cultural identity, Scots evolved into strong proponents of British Imperialism, and many identified themselves as both Scottish and British. This dual identity was influenced by how Scottish immigration to British colonies, and, therefore, their participation in the British imperial scheme, became beneficial to Scots, including in Australia, which is an important aspect of Australia's relationship with Britain in a global context.

This evolution of Scotland's imperial identity was influenced by another Celtic experience, Irish nationalism in the 1880s: "[t]he imperial elite of Scotland quickly adopted its own language of nationhood and began to articulate a distinctive national role within the British Empire."(7). In Australia, another strong parallel between Scottish and Irish identities centred on religion, with some Presbyterian Scots acting with open discrimination toward Irish Catholic migrants. The dominant religion in Scotland, Presbyterianism, was also deeply intertwined with cultural and social identity and was "one of the few remaining tangible focuses of national identity" (8) for Scotland after the 1707 Act of Union. As Cliff Cumming remarks, Scottish migrants "shared a common national consciousness and in a real sense, therefore, it is reasonable to speak of a Scottish identity and one which was predominantly Presbyterian." (9)

Politically, Scottish migrants have played an important role in Australia. As an example "for more than one-third of the years since Federation, our prime minister has been of Scottish birth or descent." (10). In the early years of Australian settler-colonialism, Scots were found at every level of colonial administration and continued to participate in colonial politics throughout the 19th century in crucial ways. Despite the widespread narrative that Scots were overwhelmingly conservative, they did and do exist at all levels of Australian political ideology. Scots also played an important role in founding the Labor parties and campaigning for worker's rights, which have been a crucial influence in Australian politics.

As Australia's national identity developed through The Federation, the creation of the White Australia Policy and WWI, the idea of a homogeneously White British-descended "Australian" identity became the desired norm. For example, several ethnically Scottish regiments had been formed prior to WWI, but they became absorbed into the AIF at the outbreak of WWI, due in some part to the aversion of ethnic regiments because they were believed to threaten the uniquely "Australian" identity and encourage loyalty to countries outside Australia. Nonetheless, Scottish migrants and their descendants would have naturally comprised many Australian military members in both world wars. After the influx of British (including Scottish) and non-British migrants to Australia in the decades following WWII, Australia has become celebrated as a multicultural nation and today, many clubs, societies and festivals celebrate Scottish culture and identity. According to the 2016 census, 119,420 people in Australia were born in Scotland, demonstrating how Scottish migration has continued into the 20th and 21st centuries, and the 2021 census reveals that Scottish ancestry is in the top 5 of reported ancestries. However, 29.9% of respondents stated that their ancestry was "Australian", which likely includes at least some Scottish ancestry.

In conclusion, Scottish migration to Australia has crucially shaped the development of the modern nation and its place in the global context of history, from the beginning of European settler-colonialism in the continent to present-day political parties. As both a distinct cultural identity and an active participant in British imperialism, Scots participated at every level of Australian society and professions, each a part of the broader scheme of settler colonialism in Australia.

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Quote references:

1. ‘Who is a refugee? Who is an asylum seeker?’, Refugee Council of Australia, 26 December 2016, https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/who-is-a-refugee/3/ .

2.Benjamin Wilkie, The Scots in Australia, 1788-1938 (Woodbridge 2017), p.34.

3.Benjamin Wilkie, The Scots in Australia, 1788-1938, p.35.

4. Malcolm Prentis, The Scots in Australia (Sydney 2008), p.220; Benjamin Wilkie, The Scots in Australia, 1788-1938, pp.47.

5. Nicole Stutton, ‘Who made Australia’s first ever bank deposit? Here’s our unsettling discovery’, The Conversation (5 December 2018), https://theconversation.com/who-made-australias-first-ever-bank-deposit-heres-our-unsettling-discovery-107809, accessed 12 January 2026; ABC News, ‘Fact check: Was Lachlan Macquarie a mass murderer who ordered the genocide of Indigenous people?’, 27 September 2017 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-27/fact-check-did-lachlan-macquarie-commit-mass-murder-and-genocide/8981092, accessed 12 January 2026; Benjamin Wilkie, The Scots in Australia, 1788-1938, pp.53, 58, 65.

6. John William Knott, quoted in Benjamin Wilkie, The Scots in Australia, 1788-1938, p.26

7. Benjamin Wilkie, The Scots in Australia, 1788-1938, p.76

8. Cliff Cumming ‘Scottish National Identity in an Australian Colony’, The Scottish Historical Review (April 1993) , vol. 72, no. 193, p. 31; Ian Breward, ‘The Scottish Character of the Australian Presbyterian Churches.’, in James Jupp (ed), The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins (Cambridge and Australia 2001).

9. Cliff Cumming ‘Scottish National Identity in an Australian Colony.’ p.38

10. Malcolm Prentis, The Scots in Australia, p.121.

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