Newspaper cutting about a letter from the Marquis of Tullibardine, which was read out at the annual gathering of “the natives of Tiree” held in Glasgow around 1905. The letter/article regards Tiree’s inaccessibility and the lack of a good pier, how one might be funded while the island is up for sale, and whether the Congested Districts Board (1897-1911) could afford to pay for it. The Duke of Argyll attempted to sell Tiree in 1902. Several ministers born on Tiree are also mentioned: Rev. John MacLean, Glasgow, Rev. Hector MacKinnon, Campbeltown, and Rev. Charles Lamont, Saltcoats.
Page from the Official Log Book and Account of Voyages and Crew of the Mary Stewart, 1916, giving the owner and master as Donald MacLean, Scarinish (b.1860). Ports visited during the half-year 22 July 1915 to 27th November 1915 are Ayr, Tiree, Ardrossan and Colonsay. The remains of the Mary Stewart can still be seen in Scarinish Harbour.
Page from the official log book of the Mary Stewart, 1915, listing the crew as Master Donald MacLean (b.1860) and crew John MacLean (b.1885), Hugh MacLean (b.1891) and Neil MacLean (b.1898), all of Tiree. They joined the ship in 1914 and were discharged at Ayr in 1915. The remains of the Mary Stewart can still be seen in Scarinish Harbour.
Colour photograph of a painting of the ‘Mary Stewart’ in full sail. The original painting is in the family of David Roberts (1849-1897), a native of Anglesey, who was the master on the Mary Stewart, and possibly part owner, from about 1886 to 1897. The remains of the Mary Stewart can still be seen in Scarinish Harbour.
Ornate, cast iron tractor seat made by Blackstone & Company Ltd, Stamford, who made farm implements and engines between 1889 and 1937. Mounted on a wooden block by Alan Reid for An Iodhlann in 2008.
Collection of 26 photographic prints of the Sinclair family of Main Road, Balephuil, ca 1930-1970. The Sinclairs were on the donor’s father’s side of the family and include Johnsons and MacArthurs. His mother’s side of the family were MacKinnons of Adavale, Heanish. Seventeen of the photographs are accessioned separately as 2016.53.2~18.
Three original copies of Look and Learn magazine, 1967, containing an article about tea clippers ‘The Romance of the Clippers’, which includes reference to Captain Donald MacKinnon, Heanish, who sailed the ‘Taeping’ to victory in the Great China Tea Race of 1866. Accession includes an enlarged photocopy of the article.
Bound list of Tiree Merchant Seaman Records compiled by John MacLean, Clydebank, in May 2012. Includes (a) a printed extract from the Register of Seamen’s Tickets 1845-1854 (BT113) held at the National Archives in Kew, listing ticket numbers, seaman’s first and last names, place and date born, first date at sea and designation (post held), age, and ticket details, (b) a list of Tiree Mariners 1848-1920 including ship’s name, mariner’s first and last names, age, birth place, current address, designation, voyage, and previous ship. See also 2010.53.14
Photocopy of a typed transcript of a taped interview with sisters Margaret MacKinnon and Katie MacKinnon, Heanish, by Calum MacKinnon of Seattle (and Balinoe), in 1991 at Braeside, Heanish.
Extract: “Auntie Maggie and Auntie Katie agreed to do this tape interview with me on a cold April’s day in 1991. I had dropped by Braeside on the way back from a buisness trip in Europe. It was mostly Auntie Maggie who did the talking with Katie chipping in with the odd comment. They talked about their childhood living on the island and life during the war years.”
Book ‘Twentieth-Century Crofting Schemes on Tiree and Coll’ by Bob Chambers, 2016, with foreword by Prof. Donald Meek, Caoles. Shortly before and shortly after WWI, over 100 new crofts were created on Tiree and Coll, and almost 40 existing crofts were enlarged. The impact on the islands was enormous, wide-ranging and long-lasting, particularly on Tiree.
