1930s binoculars given to Archie MacLeod, Carrachan, Kilmoluaig, by one of the officers of the destroyer HMS Sturdy, which was wrecked on rocks at Sandaig in 1940. Archie (Erchie Charrachain) was home on leave from Gourock where he was skipper on one of the troop tenders based there during WWII. He was present at Sandaig during the rescue and carried ashore on his shoulders one of the Sturdy’s navigating officers who, in a show of gratitude, placed the binoculars around Archie’s neck. Archie’s son, also Archie (Gilleasbuig Carrachan), played with the binoculars as a boy. The binoculars remained in Carrachan until they were passed on to An Iodhlann in 2019.
Includes handwritten history of the binoculars by Gilleasbuig MacLeod.
Scanned copy of a telegram sent by Captain John Brown (1902-1986), Balevullin, to his parents in Cornaig, after being shipwrecked on Tuskar Rock off the east coast of Ireland in 1927. Includes a page of background information. John Brown was 25 years old at the time and could not swim.
He met his future wife when his ship, the Baron Belhaven, was being repaired in Barry Docks (west of Cardiff) in 1941. A bomb had dropped down the funnel when sailing in convoy out of Liverpool during WW2.
Printed scans from the register of the Royal Humane Society of London, 1869, showing the entry for Captain Archibald Brown, Mannal, and his crew who saved three of the crew of the ‘Maria & Fanny’ when it was stricken on rocks near Kenavara in August 1868. The Society awarded the Captain Brown the silver medal for bravery and his crew bronze medals. The crew were Neil Sinclair, Archibald MacLean snr, Archibald MacLean jnr, John Black, Duncan MacLean, Thomas Campbell and Archibald Brown.
Black & white photograph of black-roofed houses at The Green, Kilmoluaig, with the wreck of the SS Ingrid on the rocks in the background. SS Ingrid was a Norwegian steamship, which struck rocks off The Green in January 1942 enroute from the Tyne to Hampton Roads and Cuba.
Information about the sailing yacht ‘Oceana‘, which was wrecked at Crossapol beach in 1949. Written in 2018 by James MacGregor, Ullapool, for a book about the men of Lochbroom who served on the boats of the rich and famous in the years around 1900.
Information about Archibald MacKinnon, Balephuil & Mull (1824-1886) and Colin MacDonald, Balephuil & Glasgow (1856-1927). Colin MacDonald’s father (also Colin) died in the Balephuil fishing disaster of 1856, just before he was born. Colin Jnr trained as a doctor then returned to Tiree to start a practice at Balemartine in 1909. Colin’s wife Jessie Maggie MacKinnon was Archibald MacKinnon’s daughter. Archibald MacKinnon survived the Balephuil fishing disaster of 1856.
“Around 1909, a second doctor had come to the island, Dr Colin MacDonald (an Dotair Domhnallach), whose first wife was related to Helen Kennedy (Eilidh bheag, Balevullin), set up a rival practice in Balemartine … but it is unlikely the island could support two doctors and left after a few years to go to Bunessan” [on Mull]. Extract from ‘Water from the Seventh Wave – a history of Tiree’s healers’ by John Holliday.
Five small lumps of coal found on the beach at Port a’ Mhuilinn, Hynish, in 2018. They were probably washed ashore from either the ‘Regina’ or the ‘Marchioness of Lorne’, which were wrecked nearby in 1872 and 1875, respectively.
Large wooden pulley block found at the west end of Crossapol beach in 2008/2009. Thought to be from the schooner ‘Oceana‘, which was wrecked at the east end of the beach in 1949.
Photocopy of the certificate from the French government to Captain Neil MacLean, Caoles, which accompanied the Silver Medal of Rescue awarded to him in 1928 for his part in the rescue of a stricken French vessel in 1927. Includes typed notes by Neil MacLean’s nephew, Archie MacLean, on the French used in the certificate and the English translation.
