 Beginning in the later 18th century, long before the notorious Highland Clearances of the following century, there were several waves of emigration from Jura.In 1767, fifty people left for Canada, and from that point the population fluctuated, rising to a peak of 1312 in 1831, before gradually shrinking to its 20th century level of just a few hundred.Mercer notes that although relatively few forced clearances on Jura were recorded, the emigrations were far from voluntary, being the result of factors such as hunger and spiralling rents.