port henderson : past & present - Royal Commission on the Ancient ...

Details from the first minutes of Sett, Estate Records, with added information from the Gairloch Estate
Plan of 1844 and the 1841 Census
Not all the tenants’ names from the original minutes can be traced in later records (the first
Estate Records deal with 1830 to 1840 so it is probable that some of the first fishermen had either died
or been dismissed and others, either sons or men from elsewhere, had taken their places). As has been
stated above there were 26 households with 132 people (adults and children) recorded on this 1841
census. However, it has to be remembered that when the 1841 census was taken the crofting township
with its allocation of land had not taken place so all the families would have been living in the fishing
village with their houses on the shoreline. There were seven people who were 70 years old or older
(with three being 80). In 1841 nearly all the heads of households were recorded as being tenants and
they would have paid rent to Gairloch Estate. One schoolmaster and his family were recorded, one
tailor and one woollen HLW (woolen hand loom weaver). Families were fairly large (two families of
eight were the largest).
Where the first families came from is mostly unknown but some analysis of old records show
that people were born in places such as Diabaig, Red Point/Point Crofts and Gairloch.
Also it is not known where these households actually lived although the Estate Records give
former ‘house’ numbers (shown below but these numbers only go up to 23 and these are detailed with
the subsequent croft number beside them. There is also a number 24 which is believed to have been the
school lot). (This analysis also shows how confusing the early records can be with census information
and Estate records not always giving the same details as well as names slightly changing. Therefore
some of these records cannot be confirmed for accuracy).
Original 1/Croft 1. The original house 1 appears to have been on An Sgùmán peninsular and this is shown
indistinctly on the Estate Plan with Murdo McKenzie’s name alongside who was probably one of the original
fishermen on the original list (in 1815 around 26 years of age). From the Estate Records of 1830/40/41-1845
Murdo McKenzie, his wife Betty and two children, became the tenant of croft 1 (with one house) but by 1846 his
rent was abated because of his loss of a leg and by 1847 the rent was again abated because he was a ‘man on Poor
Roll’ with £6.5s.10½d. A note written after 1852 stated that he ‘must work off arrear of interest on ? on own lot
or let it to another - says he can’t’. His family is recorded on the 1841 census, Murdoch MacKenzie 55, his wife,
Catherine, 50, daughters Anne 24, Lexy 20 and Catherine 11 and sons Roderick 18 and Hector 11. By the 1851
census Murdo had died leaving his wife Catherine and children Roderick and Hector who were fishermen and her
daughter, Katharine. A six year old grandson Alex McKenzie was also recorded. The family probably moved to
croft 14 at some time before the 1871 census. However, because of the discrepancy between his wife’s name and
number of children there is no certainty that these assumptions are correct.
Original 2/Croft 2. The Estate Plan indicates that Don? MacPherson was to have been allocated this croft but
Alex MacPherson seems to have been the likely tenant. He also had his rent abated, in 1845 for old age and in
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