William Anderson Smith in 1891 and 1901

I left my account of the census information with the household of 1881, despite having discovered that William was alive for another two censuses, simply because at the time I couldn't find him!

However, a little further tweaking has produced:

1891

W Anderson Smith, 48, Head, Literature & Journalist, Rugarve Cottage, Ardchattan, Argyll, b. Perth

Mary Anderson Smith, 54, Wife, b. Cromarty

Mary Craig Sutherland, 20, Daughter, b. Inverness

Henry Torcuil Smith, 15, Scholar, b. Garston,

Bessie Anne Napier Smith, 13, Scholar, b. Glasgow

Margaret Elizabeth Gillespie, 32, General Servant, b. Knoydart, Inverness-shire

Rhugarbh, to give it its Gaelic spelling, has proved fairly elusive to locate with precision but it appears to have been between Barcaldine School House Barcaldine Old Schoolhouse and Barcaldine Mill.as seen on this map.

On the subject of language, I was slightly surprised to see that in this census return William definitely states in the column for 'Gaelic, or G&E' the single word 'English' and yet the whole of the remainder of the household are listed as having both languages. Presumably he never 'got the Gaelic', but allowed his offspring to learn their mother's tongue.

Incidentally, this recent article may be of interest: http://ardchattan.org.uk/news/2009/12/15/benderloch-notes-from-the-west-highlands/

1901

Walter Bennett, 44, Head, Compositor (Print), 6 Bond St, Clerkenwell, Finsbury, b. St Andrew's, Holborn

William A Smith, 58, Pressman, b. Perth, Scotland

As was the case with one of the earlier censuses, I cannot be absolutely certain that this is our man, but he's the best fit and, I think, a pretty good one, too!

This Bond Street, in Clerkenwell, London, was renamed Cruikshank Street in 1938. A full account of the history may be read in the 2008 Survey of London.  I hope this brief look at William Anderson Smith in the censuses has been of some interest, it's certainly ended a fair distance from Carloway in Lewis, and I do wonder what William and Walter were working on at the time?