Autumn 11 - The Clan Cameron Association Scotland.

the women and girls had left the church. In the winter, each family was
lighted to church by a hurricane lantern, or a ship’s lantern; and these were
carefully placed on the floor, with the flame turned down, until the service
was over, when they were turned up for the homeward journey. There was
something very comforting about the string of twinkling lights which pierced
the darkness as the congregation walked home.”
The daily routines of the young Cameron sisters were intertwined with the
heart of the St. Kildan community, and their
parents served important roles within the
community. However, they did not live in isolation
on the island as they worked, prayed and
played alongside the other St. Kildans as is
illustrated in another account left by Mary
Cameron.
“We were sometimes taken of an evening, with
our parents when they went visiting in the village.
There were no electric torches, so we took
a paraffin lantern, which cast the most exciting
shadows as we walked along. The dogs at each
house hailed us with loud barking, and when we
The Cameron Family outside
were ushered inside, there would be quite a
the church:
scene of industry round the fire. There would be
Cameron collection
the purr of the spinning wheel, operated by the
woman of the house. The men and boys might be teasing the wool
(cireadh).”
During their seven years on St. Kilda, the Camerons would, no doubt, have
built up close friendships with all the families on St. Kilda, many of which
would be resumed when both the Camerons, and the last remaining
St. Kildans resettled on the mainland.
The expected term of office for a missionary was three years when the
Camerons moved to St. Kilda, after which they were usually moved on to
another church or parish. Reading through old church records, it seems
Donald and his family were very happy with their life on St. Kilda – so much
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SIR DONALD CHARLES CAMERON K.C.M.C., K.B.E.
TANGANYIKA’S SECOND BRITISH GOVERNOR 1924 - 1931
Contributed by Colin Cameron
The British Empire existed for about four centuries and, at its height,
governed one quarter of the world’s population. When you browse
through these records Scots names appear and often. Throughout
these you will find the name “Cameron” in many capacities, and
connected with so many different countries.
One of these was Donald Charles Cameron who was born on 3 June,
1872 in the then British Guiana. He was the son of a sugar planter of
the same name whose forebears came from Lochaber. For his
education he returned to Britain and to Dublin. He did not proceed
to university, but returned to British Guiana to work. However, in
1904 he joined the Colonial Service, and served in Mauritius and then
moved to Southern Nigeria in 1908. There, he worked under Sir
Frederick Lugard, and was influenced by his ideas of Indirect Rule.
After a successful period there, he was knighted and became the
second Governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika in March
1925. Tanganyika had been a German East African Protectorate from
1885 until 1918 and at the end of the WWI the League of Nations had
mandated it to Britain.
On his arrival in Tanganyika he was faced with two conflicting groups
of people. First of all there was the African population, and secondly
the group of European settlers and Asians. He recognised the
economic benefit of the settlers’ contribution to the economy, and he
needed their support. However, in a remarkably liberal and far
sighted policy for 1925, he made the following principle the basis of
his policy in the country. He said “we are here on behalf of the
League of Nations to teach Africans to stand by themselves. When
they can do that, we must get out. It will take a long time, yet
everything must be based on this principle.” He continued “we must
determine from the start the place of the African in the political
structure and how he is to achieve it. We must not allow the
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