| One
of the first Welsh settlers was Howell Powell who left Brecon for Virginia
in 1642. In 1660 Charles II was restored to the English throne and religious
intolerance increased. The Court of Great Sessions in Bala, north Wales
had threatened Quakers with burning. Welsh Quakers bought 40,000 acres
in Pennsylvania and left for America in 1682. (Phew!)
In 1683 Baptists from Mid
and West Wales settled on the outskirts of Philadelphia and soon bought
30,000 acres further down the Delaware river.
Llanbrynmair became a noted
source of emigrants to America as a result of the enthusiasm of a local
cleric.
19th century emigration was
largely from the industrialised South of Wales (see South
Wales and Monmouthshire).
The arrows on the map do
not, of course, signify actual routes taken. The bulk of emigrants to America
left via the English ports of Bristol and Liverpool. |
