Black and white photogrpah of Willie Maclean in Home Guard uniform around 1942.
Willie Maclean of Balinoe in Home Guard uniform around 1942.
1998.139.1
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Record Type: review
1998.311.1
The wedding of Captain John MacKinnon and Elizabeth Lamont
Photograph of the wedding of Captain John MacKinnon of Vaul and Elizabeth Lamont in Glasgow in the 1930s.
Courtesy of Mrs Anneen Black
Captain John MacKinnon (Teònaidh Dhòmhnaill Bhig) of Vaul, one of MacBrayne’s legendary captains, worked for many years as master of the ‘Lochearn’ and ‘Claymore’ on the Oban-Tobermory-Coll-Tiree-Castlebay-Lochboisdale run.
In January 1953 a ferocious gale swept across Scotland causing the tragic loss of the Stranraer to Larne ferry. The ‘Lochearn’, however, under the command of Captain MacKinnon made safe passage from Castlebay to Oban.
He married Elizabeth Lamont (Lìosaidh Bhàn) of Ruaig in the 1930s, and the couple had one daughter. Captain MacKinnon was awarded the MBE in 1957 and died in 1975. He was well known for his kindness to passengers and is remembered with affection and respect.
Black and white photograph of the wedding of Captain John MacKinnon and Lizzie MacDonald in the 1930s.
The wedding of Captain John MacKinnon (Teonaidh Dhomhnaill Bhig) from Vaul and Lizzie Lamont MacDonald in the 1930s. John was Commodore of the MacBrayne fleet before he retired.
1998.139.2
Black and white photogrpah of Mrs MacDonald, Kilkenneth.
Mrs Marion MacDonald (nee MacKinnon), Kilkenneth with her spinning wheel. She was the last professional weaver in Tiree and died around 1935 aged 93 years old.
She was married 3rd February 1857
1998.138.6
The remains of St Patrick’s Chapel
Photograph of the remains of St Patrick’s Chapel on Kennavara.
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
St Patrick’s Chapel, or Teampull Phàraig as it is known in Gaelic, lies on the Balephuil side of Kennavara within an irregular enclosure measuring one third of an acre. On the north and east boundaries are four scarped platforms, possibly the sites of huts. The site was probably a cashel or monastery of the Early Christian period.
The chapel stands in the south-west quarter of the enclosure and measures some 8 by 3.4 metres. Only part of the east gable survives; the rest of the walls are turf-covered footings. Against the centre of the east wall are the remains of an altar-base roughly one metre square. The visible masonry is of lime-mortared local rubble.
The Statistical Account of 1794 recorded that the walls stood 1.7 metres high. According to Ada Goodrich-Freer in her book ‘Outer Isles’, in 1898 the walls were ‘ruthlessly thrown down by two idle lads “for amusement”’.
Black and white photograph of St Patrick`s Chapel on Kennavara.
St Patrick`s Chapel on Kennavara.
1998.138.20
Black and white photograph of sheep-dipping at Kennavara in 1933.
Sheep-dipping day for Barrapol at Kennavara in 1933.
1998.138.16
The baptism of Christine MacDonald at Balephuil in the 1960s
Photograph of the baptism of Christine MacDonald at Balephuil in the 1960s
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
The Reverend Cowie is pictured here around 1963 baptising Christine MacDonald in Abhainn Bhì, attended by lay preacher, Lachlan MacKinnon. The stream, named after a Columban saint Mo Bhì, has long been associated with Christianity.
For over a hundred years until the 1940s, the Baptist Church was very influential in Tiree and its buildings frequently filled to capacity. In 1874 its membership peaked at a hundred and sixty. By the late 1980s it had fallen to under ten; today there are around a dozen.
There are two small Baptist churches on the island at Balemartine and Baugh. Only the Balemartine one is still in use and Sunday services attract over thirty worshippers.
Black and white photograph of a baptism at Balephuil.
Baptist minister Rev Cowie baptising Teen MacDonald in the burn at Balephuill, with Lachie MacKinnon, Parkhouse in attendance, around 1963-4.
1998.138.15
The Met. Station at Cornaig School
Postcard of the Met. Station at Cornaig School.
Courtesy of Mr Donald MacKinnon
In 1924 the Meteorological Office proposed to establish an official telegraphic weather reporting station on Tiree at Cornaig School.
However, they first needed to bring a telegraph line to the post office at Cornaig which the GPO would only do if it was guaranteed an income of £60 per year. The Treasury offered to pay more than half of this and the line was installed in 1926 when five local people put up a guarantee of £5 a year each.
The headmaster Donald O. MacLean agreed to become the Met. Office Observer on Tiree for the sum of £52 a year and John MacPhail of Cornaigmore, was appointed Deputy Observer. The first report was filed in September 1926.
Black and white postcard of the Met Station at Cornaig School.
Postcard showing the Meteorological Station at Cornaigmore. Built by Hugh MacKinnon, Crossapol in 1926. The Headmaster of Cornaig School, D. O. MacLean first took charge of it, followed by Headmaster Mr. Morrison until he left in 1938. John MacPhail, crofter at Cornaigmore, took charge of the Met Station during the war years and, after his death, his wife Marion MacPhail took over responsibility. In around 1945 the Meteorological Office opened at the Reef, Crossapol, and the Cornaigmore station was closed.
1998.137.1
Black and white postcard of a painting of Moss.
Postcard painting of Moss around 1900 with Heylipol Church in the distance. The figure is possibly the grandmother of Johann MacKinnon nee Brownlie of Barrapol. Houses L-R: Allt Mor, Catriona Rowan`s grandmother`s house; Alex MacPhail`s house; Johann MacKinnon`s grandparents` house.
1998.132.27
Rev Hector MacKinnon
Photograph of Rev Hector MacKinnon.
Courtesy of Ms Elsie MacKinnon
Rev. Hector MacKinnon was born at Lodge Farm in Kirkapol in 1866, the son of Donald MacKinnon and his wife Ann MacLean. He studied at Edinburgh University where he won prizes in several Arts and Divinity classes and was awarded three bursaries.
In 1891 he was licensed as a minister and the following year chosen as the successor to Rev John Gregorson Campbell in Tiree. From 1894 to 1897 he ministered in Stornoway and then in Campbeltown until 1905 when he was called to the parish of Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow.
His eloquence as a preacher in English and Gaelic earned him the soubriquet of ‘Spurgeon of the North’. He died in 1913 aged forty-six from influenza complicated by pneumonia. A plaque in Kirkapol church commemorates his life.
Black and white photograph of Rev. Hector MacKinnon of Lodge Farm, Kirkapol.
Rev. Hector MacKinnon (1866-1913) of Lodge Farm, Kirkapol. Born at Lodge Farm, Kirkapol, he studied at Edinburgh University, was ordained as a minister in 1890 and served in Tiree in 1891. He ministered in Shettleston in the east end of Glasgow where he died unexpectedly aged 46.
1998.132.6
Black & white photograph of Rev. Duncan MacFarlane (1822-1908), Balemartine, and his family around 1900.
Courtesy of Ms Elsie MacKinnon
Rev. Duncan MacFarlane (1822-1908), Baptist minister at Tobermory and Tiree, his wife Catherine and their children, the Very Rev. Dr. Dugald MacFarlane (1869-1956), former Moderator of the Church of Scotland, and his sister Anne, probably taken around 1900.
John MacFarlane, Duncan’s brother, was the first Tiree-born Baptist pastor. In 1851 John succeeded Rev. Duncan MacDougall, a devoted itinerant evangelist who, along with the Rev. Archibald Farquharson of the Congregational Church, was prominent in the religious awakening of 1839-1846.
Duncan MacFarlane, who had converted through the preaching of Rev. Farquharson, left Tiree to become a merchant in Tobermory. He was accepted as a Baptist missionary in 1856 and proved influential in the revival of 1874 in Tiree. In 1879 he succeeded his brother as pastor of the Tiree Baptist Church, which he served until his death in 1908.