Object Type: document

2008.61.11

Copy of the birth certificate for Mary Ann MacLean of Middleton, born on 1/5/1870.

Birth certificate for Mary Ann MacLean of Middleton, born on 1st May 1870, the daughter of Alexander MacLean and his wife Flora MacKinnon..

2007.126.8

Photocopied letter from the Kirk Session of Tiree dated 13th June 1821.

Letter dated 13th June 1821, signed by the minister Neil MacLean, the Session Clerk Alexander Mathewson and three others, attesting to the `unimpeached moral character` of Donald MacPhaiden, his wife Catherine MacNaughton and their family and recommending them to `any Christian Society or Congregation` in North America.

2007.93.1

Police report on the theft of peats

Transcription of a police report on the theft of peats from the Tiree peat moss in the Ross of Mull in 1860.

Courtesy of Argyll & Bute Archives

In 1801 the 5th Duke of Argyll instructed his chamberlain of Tiree: ‘No peats to be allowed to crofters from the mosses in the island, which are nearly exhausted, but coals must be imported…They can be allowed to take peats from Ross in Mull if they chuse.’

In the previous century the people of Tiree had frequently resorted to the peat mosses in the Ross of Mull for their fuel, a practice that continued, some say, until the beginning of the 20th century. The men and boys would sail over to the Ross in the spring to cut and stack the peats, returning later in the year to ferry the dried peats back to Tiree.

In 1860 Effy MacKinnon of Ardtun appeared before Sheriff Robertson in Tobermory charged with stealing peats belonging to Gilbert MacDonald of Balemartine. She was found guilty and sentenced to six days imprisonment.

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