SHEDDENS ELSEWHERE

Sheddens are found throughout Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and in the United States. There are none that I am aware of in South Africa but there may be some in India. Certainly, there were some early Sheddens in the Bangalore region when the East India Company operated there.

All of these Sheddens have come from Scottish families, mostly emigrants, or, if they came from English Sheddens, these latter would have themselves derived from Scottish families. Many of these families originated in Beith, Dalry, West Lothian and Perth, and, having subsequently dispersed in part to other parts of Scotland, mainly to Edinburgh and Glasgow, have dispersed in part abroad. This site does not claim to have data for every Shedden family, and those that are described in the site are the ones for which I have most data.

It is convenient to trace the Shedden diaspora from their sources. Thus, for example, the West Lothian Sheddens family trees start in West Lothian but have branches extending into Canada. However, in some cases, the Sheddens arrived directly from Scotland. This was particularly so with the Sheddens in Australia and with the Sheddens/Sheddans in New Zealand.

One publication a few years ago listed the following numbers of Sheddens and the most populous regions as follows:

I assume the New Zealand Sheddens were mostly Sheddans. Presumably more up to date statistics could be obtained by consulting telephone directories but these would not include all the family members. (It is not clear whether the above statistics include all family members either).