The Inn at Tarbert

I have previously examined Inn at An-t-Ob and the Harris Hotel and now turn my attention to the Inn at Tarbert as marked on the 1857 Chart of East Loch Tarbert.

This zoomed view shows the Inn clearly in the space that, by 1865, was occupied by the newly-built Harris Hotel.

The chart also appears to identify the school of 1851 as the squat single-storey building shown in the centre of this Streetview image. but I have not seen any reference supporting this assertion and would welcome any additional information. The long building on the left, between the 'school' and the Harris Hotel, is also shown on the chart but is not identified. Again, any further information would be most welcome!

To return to the Inn, we have two sets of census records listing its residents:

1851 Tarbert Inn

FAMILY

Malcolm MacAnby (Macaulay?), 42, Inn Keeper and Crofter (Employing 5 men), b. Harris

Margaret, 37, Wife, b. Fortingall, Perth

Peter, 10, Scholar at Home, Son, b. Harris

Marion A, 8, Scholar at Home, Daughter, b. Harris

Jessie M, 6, Scholar at Home, Daughter, b. Harris

Bessie M, 4, Scholar at Home, Daughter, b. Harris

Catherine, 2, Scholar, Daughter, b. Harris

Frederick J MacAnby, 8, Scholar, Nephew, b. Lochs

John Macdougal, 35, Free Church Student, Brother-in-Law, b. Fortingall, Perth

Ann Macdougal, 22, House Keeper, Sister-in-Law, b. Harris

Emmeline E Maxwell, 22, Teacher, Cousin, b. Edinburgh

EMPLOYEES

Murdoch Morrison, 18, Waiter, Servant, b. Harris

Catherine Macleod, 23, House Servant, b. Harris

Murdoch Macdonald, 29, Ag Lab, Servant, b. Harris

Norman Macleod, 24, Ag Lab, Servant, b. Harris

Angus Mackillop, 18, Herd, Servant, b. Harris

GUESTS

Donald Macdermid, 17, Road Labourer, Lodger, b. Harris

John Macphail, 48, Seaman, Lodger, b. North Shields, Northumberland

Catherine Macphail, 41, Seaman's Wife, Lodger, b. Greenock, Renfrew

Elizabeth Fordeson, 6, Seaman's Daughter, Lodger, b. Greenock, Renfrew

I am almost reaching the point where a familiar name appears in a different context and I'm thinking, 'Oh, that's so-and-so who's the thingamabob from where-do-you-call-it and is such-and-such's relative...' and that is the case with some of the folk in Tarbert Inn.

The teacher Emmeline E Maxwell appears here but I am now wondering if she was teaching the children of the innkeeper rather than at the school down the road? Angus Mackillop the 'Herd' was one of those I did not itemise here because I was uncertain if he was dealing with cattle but he was certainly one of the three agricultural employees that the Inn required. Of the four folk lodging at the hostelry, we recognise Donald Macdermid as one of the roadworkers building the road to Stornoway that was completed three years later but I appear to have missed John Macphail off this earlier list Englishmen and women 'abroad' in Harris.

1861 East Tarbert

FAMILY

John Morrison, 21, Inn Keeper, b. Harris

Betsy, 24, Waiter, Sister, b. Harris

Alexander, 19, Assistant, Brother, b. Harris

Kennethina, 10, Scholar, Sister, b. Harris

EMPLOYEES

Murdo Macdonald, 38, Ag Lab, Servant, b. Harris

John Mclellan, 24, Ag Lab, Servant, b. Harris

Isabella Frazer, 29, Domestic Servant, b. Kintail

GUESTS

William Ferrier, 31, Pedlar, Traveller, b. Ireland

Alexander Bain, 44, Ship Agent, Traveller, b. England

James Shearer, 45, Ship builder, Traveller, b. Dunoon, Ayrshire

Effy Morrison, 20, Domestic Servant, Traveller, b. Uig, Rossshire

Donald Clark, 24, Domestic Servant, Traveller, b. Uig, Rossshire

I presume that the 'Ag Lab' Murdo Macdonald is the same man (Murdoch Macdonald) from ten years earlier but if so he is the only constant from that earlier time. The Morrison family are running the inn and amongst their five guests are Alexander Bain who did make the list Englishmen and women 'abroad' but, because he wasn't from the island, the Ship Builder Shearer is not in my list of Harris Boat Builders .

I think these two households are quite revealing and I am always particularly interested to note those staying at an inn or a hotel as they provide insight into another element of the past; but in fact the thing that is most intriguing me is whether I have correctly identified the school building in Tarbert from1857, for that is where many of my relatives would have trudged the two-miles to each day from Direcleit and that, for me, is rather a nice thought...