This book identifies residents in the adjacent counties of Dundee and Angus, as well as emigrants from there, between 1800 and 1850. Dundee and Angus now form distinct Scottish administrative units but were formerly a single district known as Forfarshire. The main towns were Brechin, Forfar, and Kirriemuir in Strathmore, with Dundee, Broughty Ferry, Monifieth, Arbroath, and Montrose along the coast. From the medieval period to the Victorian era Forfar was the administrative center of Angus or Forfarshire, while Dundee, still within Angus, was fast becoming the main industrial and port city. By the late 19th century Dundee had become one of the biggest cities in Scotland.

The information in this book is derived from a wide range of sources, such as count records, contemporary newspapers and journals, monumental inscriptions, and documents found in archives. The entries bring together emigrants, their destinations–especially in North America, the West Indies, and Australasia–with their kin who remained in Scotland.