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

shown on the Estate Records and then on the census form of 1851 (see above). Duncan Campbell also
lived on the croft, recorded on the 1851 census.
(?)/Croft 22. This croft also forms the land where there were original fisher’s houses and the Estate Plan shows 6
houses (10/11/12/13/15/16/19). In 1851 Charles MLeod (Catechist) was allocated a tenancy on Croft 22 and in
June of 1852 McLeod was <strong>present</strong>ed by Sir Kenneth ‘ex sale of crop.’ (Notes were also made about ‘Colin Fraser
grass’ and ‘Alex Mackenzie from 10 Openham’ but no records from this township can be traced. These men are
shown on the Estate Records of 1852.) Charles MacLeod was registered on the 1841 census as a 36-year old
unmarried Free Church Catechist, with 21-year old Elizabeth Urquhart, his servant.
There are other people recorded on either Estate Records or the 1841 census whose houses cannot be traced.
From the Estate Records only are Murdo MacDonald and his wife Christy with two children. A Murdo
MacDonald is also recorded on the original list of 1815 (on two occasions). William, Donald and Catherine
MacDonald live somewhere together and there is always the possibility that these families are related. Alex
Torrie, a schoolmaster with his wife, Mary, and their five children also have a house (see below in the section on
schools on p.41). A Donald MacPherson is recorded on the Estate Records of 1830 - 1840 and of 1845 and on the
census of 1841 when he was 80 years of age living with his son Murdo, daughter-in-law Catherine and three
grandchildren. But Donald is not shown on the list of 1815. The Estate Records of 1830 - 1840 also show a
Kenneth Macmillan and that name appears on the 1815 list of original fishermen.
There are four other names which are recorded on the 1815 list of Sett but these are not on any other Estate or
census record. These original fisherman are Angus MacDonald, Donald Mackenzie, James MacDonald and John
Campbell.
Port Henderson S.S.P.C.K. School
Patrick Butter had been commissioned by the S.S.P.C.K. (The Scottish Society for the Propagation of
Christian Knowledge) to inspect the society’s schools within the Highlands and Islands and re<strong>port</strong> on
the condition of the buildings, the religious character of the instruction and the teaching quality and
salary of the teachers. Between May 4 th and November 11 th 1824 Butter, a Gaelic-speaking preacher,
recorded his findings on over a hundred schools.
The S.S.P.C.K. had been established in 1709 and had been granted a royal charter in order to
spread the Protestant religion, especially in the Highlands and Islands and the schools were set up to
promote education and eradicate religious superstition. Subjects taught included Christian knowledge,
reading, writing and arithmetic. In later years agriculture and housekeeping (such as spinning and
weaving) were added. The landowners (in the case of Port Henderson this would have been Sir Hector
MacKenzie, the Laird, who died in 1826) supplied a schoolroom and a schoolmaster’s house and the
society provided a teacher. Until 1769 all teaching had to be conducted in English as Gaelic (and Latin)
were forbidden but by the late 1760s the Society began to translate and print bibles in Gaelic as many
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