Yachtsmen of Harris

I happened upon these men by chance when extending my family tree and finding that John Maclean (a Nephew of the Wife of my 1^st Cousin 4 times removed!) had been a 'Yacht's Man' in 1891.

Exploring this unusual occupation produced the following records:

1881

(John Mcleod, 52, Yachtsman (Unemployed), 4 Nelson St, Greenock West, Renfrewshire, b. Harris)

1891

John Gillies, 39, Yachtsman, Strond, b. Harris

John Maclean, 23, Yacht's Man, Strond, b. Harris

William Macleod, 40, Yacht's Man, Strond, b. Harris

Norman Paterson, 20, Yacht's Man, Strond, b. Harris

Alexander Paterson, 18, Yacht's Man, Strond, b. Harris

John Morrison, 30, Yachtsman, Scaplay no 36, b. Harris

1901

John Mackay, Sailor's Yachtsman, Obbe, b. Harris

Kenneth Morrison, 21, Yacht Caretaker, Kentulavig, b. Harris

Malcolm Campbell, 25, Yachtsman, Bernera, b. Bernera, Inverness-shire

Alexander Macdonald, 30, Yachtsman, Bernera, b. Harris

John Mclean, 29, Yachtsman, Bernera, b. Bernera, Inverness-shire

John Paterson, 28, Yachtsman, Bernera, b. Bernera, Inverness-shire

(John Campbell, 54, Yachtsman, Kirkpark Cottage, Row, Dunbartonshire, b. Harris)

(John Mcleod, 72, Yachtsman (Retired), 85 Roxburgh St, Greenock West, Renfrewshire, b. Harris)

In all cases, these men were living with their families at the time of the census so it is not the case that a visiting yacht happened to be present at the time.

The two clusters of Yachtsmen, in Strond in 1891 and on Bernera a decade later, are therefore all the more intriguing and I am tempted to consider that in each case a local resident may have been the employer of these men?

What is known is that in later years Sir T.O.M. Sopwith extensively employed Hearachs on both his steam and sailing yachts (I understand that the Skipper of Endeavour II was from Direcleit?) and in doing so was following a precedent set at least 50 years earlier.