Thomas Barr, tenant of Balephetrish Farm 1864-1912
Photograph of Thomas Barr, tenant of Balephetrish Farm 1864-1912.
Courtesy of Mr Angus Munn
In the mid-19th century, the 8th Duke of Argyll was keen to modernise Tiree’s agriculture and introduce dairy farming which he thought admirably suited to island’s pasturage. In 1864 he signed a 19-year lease for £400 a year with Robert Barr, a farmer from Dalry in Ayrshire.
So keen was the Duke for his new tenant to be successful he amalgamated the farms of Vaul, Balephetrish, the Reef, Kenovay and Crossapol to make a sizeable holding of over 3,000 acres. He also repaired the farmhouse and erected byres, stables, cart sheds and other outhouses.
Robert Barr sent his son Thomas to the island to establish the farm. Some cheese was made, but Tom Barr soon found that breeding beef cattle and horses was more lucrative. He introduced the first Clydesdale stallions to Tiree and also introduced the first mechanised hay rake.
Black and white photograph of Thomas Barr of Balephetrish Farm.
Thomas Barr who farmed in Balephetrish from 1864 to 1912.
Black and white postcard of Scarinish harbour ca. 1880
Postcard of Scarinish with the Mary and Effie in the harbour and the hotel in the background taken around 1880. One of the boats is Alan MacFadyen`s smack.
Photocopied speech by Ronald MacDonald, Cornaigbeg given on 26/7/1986 (2 copies).
Speech by Ronnie MacDonald, Cornaigbeg, given on 26/7/1986 at the opening ceremony of Tur Mhic Chaluim to commemorate one hundred years of the Crofters Act and to honour those who fought for crofters` rights. (For sound recording of event, see AC4 – `Tiree remembers` )
Black and white photograph of Flora MacLean at Cornaig machair.
Cornaig machair in the 1910s or 1920s. L-R: Possibly the wife of the Archibald MacLean, the miller at Cornaig, or Amelia Cameron, granddaughter of Allan MacFadyen of Scarinish; Flora MacLean (Floraidh Ruadh), the sister of the miller Archibald MacLean, who had a shop in Cornaig.
Black and white photograph of Donald MacLean, Ardbeg, and his wife Flora.
Donald MacLean of Ardbeg, Cornaigbeg, and his wife Flora MacLean (1837-1912) who were married in Glasgow in 1855. Flora was the daughter of Donald MacLean, Cornaigbeg, and Mary MacFadyen, Miodar.
Born in 1848, Archie MacLean was the son of Charles MacLean and his wife Christina MacDonald, the sister-in-law of Rev. Archibald Farquharson. The youngest of the family, Archie was brought up with his brother Donald and sister Mary on the family croft on Cornaigmore sliabh.
As well farming up to twenty acres, his father Charles was a master wheelwright and turner, skills that he passed on to his younger son. A spinning wheel made by Archie can be seen in the background of the photograph.
Archie, known as Èairdsidh Tuairneir (Archie the Turner), never married and died in 1942 aged ninety-three. A number of his spinning wheels survive in good working condition today; there is at least one in Scarinish, as well as one in Sussex and another in Germany.
Black and white photograph of Archie MacLean, Cornaigmore sliabh.
Archie MacLean known as Archie the Turner (1849-1942) of Cornaigmore sliabh, brother of Donald MacLean (see photo C68)
Black and white photograph of Neil Campbell MacLean, Kenovay.
Neil Campbell MacLean (Neilie Allan) 1864-1927, son of Allan MacLean, Kenovay (who drowned in 1882) and Euphemia MacDonald, Kenovay. A joiner he built Rosssdhu; behind is the original thatched house where he was born and which he latterly used as his workshop.
