Unfortunately, an “original" Ship Hector passenger list does not exist and
records for the time period are scarce. The two lists that historians have
used to trace the passengers were known as the McKay list and the McKenzie
list, drawn up by William McKay around 1820 and William McKenzie around 1837.
Given the time span between the arrival of the Ship Hector and the lists being
made, it is very possible that either of these lists have errors and/or
omissions.
Fortunately, there are many similarities between the two lists, with only a
few discrepancies. The McKay list groups the names into age groups and
identifies the father of the children under 2 years. Some accounts of the
McKay list in published books and online have the children mistakenly listed
as the father which can make the lists confusing to understand.
Using family genealogies, interpretations by Dr George Patterson (author of
History of Pictou County, 1877) and other (hopefully reliable) sources, the
Ship Hector Descendant Project has organized the known passengers into family
groups and added pertinent information, such as birth & death information.
A few children appear to have been omitted from the lists, and are noted as
such on the family groupings.
Additional source information included gravestones, wills, and obituaries
to try to confirm family members & relationships and solve the passenger
puzzle. Not all pieces of the puzzle have been solved to date. The Passenger List page of the website will be updated as new information is found. If you have
information to contribute, please get in contact.