Duke of Sutherland clearings

[Welsh Chris]

My ancestors lived in Campsie Stirling in the 1850s but by the 1880s I found them in Pendlebury lancs. a new-found relation said they had to leave Campsie because the Duke of Sutherland wanted his land cleared to graze sheep. I thought the clearings were before the 1800s. Can anyone tell me something about this?

[RJ_Paton]

The clearances went on over a much longer period than is realised but have a look at
http://www.tartans.com/articles/highclearmem6.html

which is an online book giving much information about these events

there is one chapter referring to the Sutherland's clearance of their land

But I'm not sure if the Duke of Sutherland owned land as far south as the Campsies area

[RJ_Paton]

sorry that address should be http://www.tartans.com/articles/highclearmemmain.html  as the address above takes you directly to the chapter on the Sutherlands

http://www.scotlandspast.org/highland.cfm  also gives some historical background including other events in the mid 19th Century including a devastating potato crop failure (as in Ireland) forcing many to leave their small farms