Fàilte! (Welcome!)

Fàilte! (Welcome!)
This blog is the result of my ongoing research into the people, places and events that have shaped the Western Isles of Scotland and, in particular, the 'Siamese-twins' of Harris and Lewis.
My interest stems from the fact that my Grandfather was a Stornowegian and, until about four years ago, that was the sum total of my knowledge, both of him and of the land of his birth.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of everything that I have written (not least because parts are, perhaps, pioneering) but I have done my best to check for any errors.
My family mainly lived along the shore of the Sound of Harris, from An-t-Ob and Srannda to Roghadal, but one family 'moved' to Direcleit in the Baighs...

©Copyright 2011 Peter Kerr All rights reserved

Monday, 20 September 2010

West Coast Missionaries in Harris

There were about half-a-dozen missionaries on Harris at the time of each of the 1881-1901 censuses but I have extracted these four because each specified that he was a  'West Coast Missionary'.
I have yet to learn anything about the West Coast Mission (other than that there are very few other members to be found elsewhere in the census records).

1881
Donald Campbell, 40, Strond, b. Islay

1891
Malcolm McLeod, 37, 5 Marig, b. Lewis
Donald Matheson, 48, Strond, b. Skye

1901
Edward Mackay, 39, No 32 Scarp, b. Easedale, Argyleshire

It appears that the West Coast Mission came under the auspices of the Glasgow Reformatory Institution (at least, they published reports from it), a reference to which appears here: http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/161952/details/glasgow+211+duke+street+house+of+refuge+boys/ and which someone attempted to burn down in 1861 according to the National Archives of Scotland.

2 comments:

  1. My grandfather Donald MacLeod was the missionary on Scarp in 1891 and in Cromore in 1901

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  2. Also he was married to a Catherine Kerr from Kilfinan, but reputedly originally the family was from Harris.

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