Thursday 4th April 2024: A History Student’s View — of the Role of Language and Culture Amongst Highland Emigrants in French‐Speaking Canada

Kate Forbes

Victoria Hall, Cromarty

In the 1800s, thousands of islanders, mostly from the Isle of Lewis, were supported and encouraged to emigrate to the Eastern Townships of Quebec. During the famine years, despite James Matheson (who has links to Cromarty) actively finding work for impoverished and hungry islanders, many chose to emigrate. They arrived in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, which still bear the place names of Lewis. Now it is a francophone area, raising fascinating questions about the retention of language and culture amongst the migrant community.

Kate Forbes has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency since 2016. Kate is from Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands, although she spent part of her upbringing in Glasgow and India. Until she was elected as MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, Kate was employed as an accountant in the banking industry. Prior to that she studied History at the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. In 2018 she was appointed as Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy and was promoted to Cabinet Secretary for Finance in February 2020, a position she held for three years. She ran for the SNP leadership last year, but despite securing 48 per cent of the vote, lost out narrowly to Humza Yousaf. Kate currently sits on the Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands and Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committees and is a columnist for The National newspaper. This talk is offered as that of an historian, not a politician.

Cromarty History Society normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month, September‐April and occasionally during the summer. This talk is supplementary to the season’s programme.