7 David Souden found the following counties of origin among 2,492 servants who sailed from Bristol during the years 1654-79, compared with apprentices in that town:
|
Indentured Servants |
Apprentices | ||
Area |
n |
% |
n |
% |
Bristol |
272 |
10.9 |
330 |
33.6 |
Somerset |
395 |
15.9 |
158 |
16.1 |
Gloucester |
287 |
11.5 |
201 |
20.5 |
Wiltshire |
225 |
9.0 |
57 |
5.8 |
Monmouth |
241 |
9.7 |
56 |
5.7 |
South Wales |
225 |
9.0 |
52 |
5.3 |
Hereford, Salop, Worcs |
283 |
11.4 |
54 |
5.5 |
Dorset, Hants., Sussex |
74 |
3.0 |
18 |
1.8 |
Cornwall, Devon |
87 |
3.5 |
9 |
0.9 |
London and Home Counties |
135 |
5.4 |
15 |
1.5 |
East Anglia |
18 |
0.7 |
0 |
0.0 |
Beds, Leics, Nhants, Notts, Oxon |
32 |
1.3 |
2 |
0.2 |
Derby, Stafford, Warwick |
26 |
1.0 |
4 |
0.4 |
Ches, Cumb, Lane, Line, Nhum, York |
45 |
1.8 |
5 |
0.5 |
North Wales |
106 |
4.3 |
12 |
1.2 |
Ireland |
36 |
1.4 |
7 |
0.7 |
Other |
5 |
0.2 |
1 |
0.1 |
Total |
2,492 |
100.0 |
981 |
99.8 |
This emigration went mainly (86.1%) to Barbados and Virginia with no major differences in region of origin by colonial destination; Souden, “Rogues, Whores and Vagabonds,” 31.
8 Horn, in “Servant Emigration to the Chesapeake,” suggests that most Virginia migrants came either from wood-pasture districts or from towns and cities—a hypothesis similar to that made by Anderson for the New England migration. I believe that this idea is mistaken, but firm evidence is lacking on both sides of the question.