Immigration from British Isles

judyallison · Post by **judyallison** » Wed Oct 11, 2023 3:51 pm

I have not been able to find anything about possible immigration to Northern Spain from Ireland and Northern Ireland (Ulster Scots) or Wales. My paternal great-grandmother was from Scotland and this has led me to research about the area. In the course of my reading and several webinars, I have come across the diaspora of the Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most people think they came to the US, which they did. However, they also went to the European continent and I found mention of them going to northern Spain. This was a lightbulb moment for me. Years ago I took an Ancestry DNA test and also had my brother and mother tested. Now ancestry has a feature that supposedly can determine what ethnicity you inherited from each parent. My mother has 38% Spain, 5% Wales, 3% Portugal (no surprise), 2% Basque (no surprise) and 2% Ireland from her father. She has 47% Spain and 3% Scotland from her mother. When I look at the known matches for my mother, Scotland shows up on the same chromosome for her maternal matches and Wales shows up for her paternal matches. Also, my brother has Wales but I do not. I have Scotland but it is from my father’s side.
My grandparents were born in the late 1890’s – locations have been given as San Martín de Laspra, Castrillón and Oviedo. I always found it interesting that my grandmother’s mother had red hair and the prevalence of blue and green eyes in that side of the family.
Was there immigration from the British Isles? If so, when? Because the Welsh and Ulster Scots were known for coalmining, were they recruited? I would appreciate any information or resources I could look at. Thank you in advance.

Post by **Art** » Tue Oct 24, 2023 11:27 pm

Judy, when your family members immigrated to the US, where did they move and what kind of work did they do? I'm guessing that your grandfather probably worked in the zinc industry in the US and may have been recruited from the area around Arnao, which is on the coast near Castrillón, and was the home of a zinc factory.