The Hector Story

On September 15th, 1773, the Hector landed at Brown's Point in Pictou harbour with 189 passengers aboard. These thirty-three families and twenty-five single men began the first Scottish settlement in Nova Scotia and what is now the town of Pictou. Thereafter many other Scots followed the people of the Hector to New Scotland.

The events leading to the journey of the Hector began on April 16, 1746 with the Battle of Culloden. A fierce battle was fought between the Scottish Highlanders and British Loyalists. The Highlanders were defeated after only one hour and were then forced to live under British rule.  

The Promise of a New Life

A Scottish born Presbyterian minister, Dr. John Witherspoon, along with his acquaintance, John Pagan, were responsible for bringing the settlers to Pictou. These two gentlemen purchased the contracts for 200, 000 acres of Pictou land from the Philadelphia Land Grant Company, whose shareholders included Benjamin Franklin. Witherspoon, Pagan and their agent John Ross made an attractive proposal to the Highlanders, who had been living under British oppression. 

The proposal included a farm lot and a year's provisions, along with a promise of rich and varied land in the New World. An advertisement appeared in the Edinburgh Advertiser 1773 and they secured a shipload of passengers in short order, who were hopeful for a better life. No official passenger list was recorded on the day of sail, but many years later Will MacKay, who had been a passenger of only five years old on the voyage, compiled a passenger list from memory with some of the townspeople.

The Hector

Under the command of English born John Speirs as Master, the Hector left Loch Broom, Rosshire in July 1773.  The "Hector" was a Dutch "Boot Ship", designed for cargo, and originally built in the Netherlands in the mid 18th century. She was rigged as a three-masted ship of 200 tons berthen with an overall length of 110 feet, a breadth of 22 feet and a depth inside the cargo hold of 11 feet, 6 inches. By 1773 the Hector was reported to have been in poor condition.

A Difficult Voyage

The passengers experienced a difficult voyage including a fierce gale off the coast of Newfoundland that blew the ship so far off course that it took two full weeks to recover their former position. Accommodations and provisions were of poor quality, and an outbreak of smallpox resulted in the death of eighteen on board, mainly children. Water had to be rationed during the later stages of the voyage and the food shortage was so severe that the moldy scraps of food that had been earlier discarded were eaten on the last few days of the journey.

Arrival in Pictou

Finally, after almost two and a half months aboard the rotting round bottomed cargo ship, the Hector reached Pictou. The hardy passengers who had endured so much were now able to set foot on land and begin to make a new home for themselves and generations to come. Visitors to Pictou are invited to step aboard our replica Ship Hector and into history at the Hector Heritage Quay.   

Location & Contact

The Hector Heritage Quay and Ship Hector are located on the Pictou waterfront at 33 Caladh Avenue. 

May-October   Hector Heritage Quay  Ph: (902) 485-4371  Email: info@townofpictou.ca

Year-round  Pictou Recreation, Tourism & Culture

40 Water Street, PO Box 479 Pictou, Nova Scotia B0K 1H0

Ph: (902) 485-6057  Toll Free: 1877-5(Pictou) 574-2868 Fax: (902) 485-1923
Email: info@townofpictou.ca