Émigré

An émigré is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French émigrer, "to emigrate".

Whereas emigrants have likely chosen to leave one place and become immigrants in a different clime, not usually expecting to return, émigrés see exile as a temporary expedient forced on them by political circumstances. Émigré circles often arouse suspicion as breeding-grounds for plots and counter-revolution.

French Huguenots

French Huguenots were forced to leave France following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

The American Revolution

Many loyalists that made up large portions of Colonial America, particularly in the South, fled America during and after the American revolution. Common destinations were other parts of the British Empire such as Upper Canada, Nova Scotia, Great Britain, Jamaica, and the British West Indies. The lands left by the fleeing Tories were often awarded by the new government to Patriot soldiers by way of land grants.