Crofting - Voices From the Past

[GMac78]

Hi all,

For anyone interested the link is : http://www.highland-elibrary.com/7.html
Search for people or places you're  interested in, no guarantees but i found an ancestor in Raasay who is quoted.
GM.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands

The commission was set up as a response to crofter and cottar demonstrations against excessively high rents, lack of security of tenure on land that had been in families for generations and the forced evictions of crofters.

The demonstrations started in Wester Ross and Lewis in the 1870's, and by the early 1880's had moved to Skye. Local police forces were called upon by the landlords to enforce what they believed to be their rights. However, with limited resources, the police found it difficult to cope with the increasing demands put upon them. Therefore, it became an issue needing the attention of Prime Minister Gladstone’s government and he ordered the appointment of the commission.

Under the orders of William Gladstone, and backed by Royal approval, the commission was appointed in 1883, by the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt. Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier, was selected as chairman, with five other members -   Sir Donald Cameron of  Locheil; Sir Kenneth MacKenzie of Gairloch; Charles Fraser – MacIntosh MP; Sheriff Alexander Nicolson of Kicudbright and Professor Donald MacKinnon of Edinburgh university – making up the panel.

The commission began its work in Braes on the Island of Skye and travelled the length and breadth of the Highlands and Islands (including Orkney and Shetland) gathering evidence from crofters, landlords and others who were familiar with the plight of the indigenous population.

The final report was hastily published in 1884 and led obliquely to the 1886 Crofters’ Holding Act.

The Napier’s Report is a valuable piece of documentary evidence from the Highlands and Islands (including Orkney and Shetland) in 1883, presenting facts and information on the population, as well as the political, historical and social climate of the time.

 

[Arranroots]

Hi GMac

Thanks for posting  potentially very interesting but WARNING - the files are HUGE!!

There doesn't seem to be any kind of index or contents list, so you need to download them to see what they contain - unless you know of a way?

Kind regards, Arranroots 

[GMac78]

No, I couldn't find an index either so i went through them myself. Here are the general areas each volume covers, the list of crofters names and exactly where they're from are just too numerous to list here, sorry!

VOLUME I : p2 SKYE - Braes, p38 Skeabost, p82 Uig, p127 Stenscholl, p156 Waternish, p186 Dunvegan, p224 Broadford, p272 Isle Ornsay p326 Bracadale, p363 Glendale, p439 RAASAY - Torran(covering whole island) p476 SKYE - Portree, p644 BARRA - Castle Bay, p699 SOUTH UIST - Loch Boisdale, p750 BENBECULA - Torlum, p786 NORTH UIST - Loch Eport, p838 HARRIS - Obe.

VOLUME II : p2 HARRIS - Obe(cont), p17 ST. KILDA, p28 LEWIS - Meavaig, p80 Breasclete, p110 Barvas, p147 Ness, p176 Stornoway, p284 Keose, p319 HARRIS - Tarbert, p356 SHETLAND - Lerwick, p379 MIDYELL - Raefirth, p431 UNST - Balta Sound, p468 SHETLAND - Hillswick, p507 Foula, p525 Lerwick, p587 ORKNEY - Sanday, p655 Harray, p670 Birsay, p686 Kirkwall, p747 SUTHERLAND - Bettyhill, p816 Kinlochbervie.

VOLUME III : p2 SUTHERLAND - Kinlochbervie(cont), p19 Lochinver, p77 ROSS-SHIRE - Ullapool, p153 Poolewe, p201 Shieldaig, p235 Balmacara, p293 GLENSHIEL - Letterfearn, p327 INVERNESS-SHIRE - Glenelg, p375 Arisaig, p433 ARGYLL - Tyree, p488 Bunessan, p540 MULL - Tobermory, p585 ARGYLL - Lochaline, p627 Lismore, p664  CAITHNESS - Lybster, p736 SUTHERLAND - Helmsdale, p791 Golspie.

VOLUME IV : p2 SUTHERLAND - Golspie(cont), p10 Bonar Bridge, p69 ROSS-SHIRE - Dingwall, p127 INVERNESS-SHIRE - Inverness, p386 Kingussie, p476 LANARK - Glasgow, p614 EDINBURGH, p806 ARGYLL - Tarbert.

GM.

[Arranroots]

That's great!  You should prompt the site owners to do the same and that would be perfect.

 

Thanks again - many hours of happy reading there.

Kind regards, Arranroots 

[Scottish Janealogy]

This site has the reports grouped by county http://napier-skye.blogspot.co.uk/   There is an index, arranged in date order of the hearings, at http://www.adb422006.com/NapierIndex.htm 

Records of applications to the Crofters Commission for rent reductions from 1886 onwards are also very useful but not nearly so accessible.