The Lot System of Prince Edward Island – Part 2

In Part 2 of this blog, I will continue a discussion of how to use the Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) Lot system as a means to help identify where your ancestor was from in Ireland.

Research Strategies Using the Lot Number

Using the assumption your ancestors settled in P.E.I. because they had family and friends already there from Ireland, you can narrow this further by grouping potential associates by Lot number. In this case, you would pick a source, such as a census or a published compilation to see who was actually living in that Lot. Then between all the sources, you would see if a pattern emerges with the “neighborhood” being from the same area of Ireland.

Reconstructing a Neighborhood of Immigrants From Ireland

One of my favorite sources for doing this is combining my census work or church register with Peter Gallant’s work From Ireland to Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society, 1990). In this work, Gallant uses tombstone inscriptions and obituaries from newspapers to reconstruct the Irish community. Many of these records tell the Lot the person was residing, and they often reveal what county or townland the person was born in Ireland. This is an easy way to reconstruct migration patterns out of Ireland. For example, it is know there was an Irish migration from the area of Donagh Parish, County Monaghan to around Lot 35 and Lot 36. This can be substantiated through Gallant’s compilation.

If you think locally in your research, by reconstructing a “neighborhood” where your ancestor lived, then you may be able to solve some difficult research problems. It may be the “neighborhood” all came from the same general area of Ireland. In the case of P.E.I., the Lot number is the key.

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