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

Tuesday 16 November 2010

19thC Teachers don't fit 1920s Schools...

From the 1960 Parliamentary Answer that I had used to create a list and map of Harris Schools between 1919-1959 it is possible to extract those that were not in existence in 1919-20 leaving us with these 8 schools on Harris and three more on neighbouring islands:

Drinishader
Finsbay
Kyles Scalpay
Kyles Stockinish
Manish
Northton
Obbe
Tarbert, Sir E Scott

Scalpay
Scarp

Bernera

From the Census records we have the following list of places where teachers were living:
(NB Previously when conducting these very same searches I had no returns for 1871 & 1881 but, for reasons unknown, some teachers have now appeared in each of those censuses!)

1841 Tarbert, Rodil

1851 Tarbert, Kyles Scalpay, Finsbay, Leaclea, Obbe, Rhenigingdale, Bernera, Borve

1861Tarbert, Direcleit, Finsbay, Bernera, Obbe, Rhenigingdale

1871 Geocrab, Kyles Scalpay

1881 North Harris, Drinishader, South Harris, Strond, Scalpay

1891 Ardsleigh, Borve, Carrigrich, Drinishader, E Tarbert, Finsbay, Geocrab, Grosebay, Kyles Scalpay, Luachies, Manish, Meavig, Rushgary, Scalpay, Scaristavore, N Harris, S Harris

1901Big Borve, Drinishader, Finsbay, Geocrab, Kyles Scalpay, Manish, North Bayhead, Obbe, Scalpay, Stockinish, N Harris, S Harris

So whilst one could attempt to 'fit' some of these teachers into some of the schools, I think it a rather dubious strategy (not least because the earliest census took place some 80 years earlier than the suggested list of 1920s schools) that wouldn't produce a true picture of educational provision across the island through the years.

I shall have to think of an alternative way forward but meanwhile I feel a little progress has been made.

Note: I have incorporated the new findings for 1871 & 1881 into a revised Harris Schooleachers .

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