[3] During a lifetime punctuated by migration, he settled for periods of time in Australia, New Zealand, California and possibly Canada, but returned home on three separate occasions to live in the small remote community on Hirta,[4] the only inhabited island in the small rocky St Kilda archipelago, which has been described as Scotland's most remote and isolated island community, located in the Atlantic Ocean over 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides.
[3] He sold his croft, furniture and other belongings, raising £17,[1] and they set off in September 1852,[2] first by boat to Skye, then with 400 other emigrants to Glasgow on the steamer Islay, arriving on 1 October.
[2] The owner of St Kilda, Sir John MacLeod, tried without success to persuade some of the group to return to the island, offering to pay for their passage plus two years' living allowance.
[7] Unfortunately, an epidemic onboard resulted in 80 passenger deaths, of whom 18 were members of the St Kilda group, including the Gillies's young daughter.
[2] Gillies and his wife settled near Melbourne in a new area called Little Brighton that had lost most of its labour force in the 1852 gold rush.
[6] The islanders quickly tired of his overpowering self-assurance[1] and his attempts to make them change their ways and introduce modern methods,[4] and they forced him to leave.
[12] Gillies' life story is the subject of Scots song-writer Brian McNeill's song Ewan and the Gold, which is featured on his 1991 album Back O' The North Wind.