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

Acts which began in 1832) and the 1894/95 list would have been primarily for the first County
elections but there might have been less encouragement to get the crofters to register for these.
Certainly the Port Henderson rents were not as much as £10 per year.
Those registered were ‘inhabitant occupiers of a dwelling house’, crofters Duncan MacKenzie (3
and 4), Hector MacKenzie (10), John MacKenzie (14), Donald MacPherson (11), Kenneth MacPherson
(half of 7), Kenneth MacPherson (20), Alexander MacRae (5) and Alexander Watson (13). Also
registered was John MacKenzie, a boat carpenter (15). Checking with the 1891 census it can be seen
that Duncan MacKenzie, Hector MacKenzie, Donald MacPherson, Kenneth Macpherson (7),
Alexander Watson and John MacKenzie (15) were heads of households at that time. Kenneth
MacPherson (20) and John Mackenzie (14) must have taken over their croft after the death of their
fathers between the censuses of 1891 and 1901. It is interesting that Alexander MacRae in 1891 lived
with his two unmarried brothers and his widowed mother and that his older brother, John, was the then
named head of the household. By 1901 although Alexander still lived with brother John he had
assumed the role of head of household, remaining unmarried, whilst John had married a younger
woman and there were four children. Why the other male heads of households were not eligible for
registration or why they had not registered is, of course, not known.
Rent Books
Rent Pass books were set up as a contract between Sir Kenneth Smith Mackenzie, Baronet, his
Heirs and Successors with a named tenant and his Heirs and Successors. Rent was paid on November
11 th of each year (Martinmas).
Croft 10’s book began in 1881 and the tenant was Hector
MacKenzie when he was 54. In 1897 Murdo MacKenzie, his son, took
over the tenancy. In 1936 another Hector MacKenzie became the
tenant. A note written on page 97 stated :
‘Hector died intestate and unmarried 19/10/43, succeeded by
immediately younger brother George who ? holding to younger
Croft 10's rent book
brother, Duncan Mackenzie.’
This was dated 22/12/52 and signed by the factor 9/1/53. Mrs. Elizabeth A. Taylor became the tenant
in 1980, as she was the widow of Duncan Mackenzie and the book is still current with her husband,
William (Billy), succeeding.
Croft 13’s rent book was started in 1888 and the tenant was Andrew
Watson. The Watsons were first recorded on the 1871 census
(MacKenzies were tenants prior to this) and Andrew was shown to be the
head of the household on the 1881 census. He paid £2. 10s for the first two
Croft 13's rent book
48