An experimental section with links to a page about each of the crofts or farms along the Crockness shore – well that’s my ultimate aim.
For each croft or farm I plan to include:
- Location (I’ve started an annotated Google map here)
- Who was living there in the censuses – before 1891 or 1901 most are listed as Crockness only. Cross-referencing with other sources further identification is often possible.
- Details of applications to the Crofters’ Commission for rent reductions. The local paper, The Orcadian, reported on later application hearings in some detail too.
- Valuation rolls – useful for detail on who owned or was tenant of a place in the mid-years between censuses (1905, 1915 etc).
- Melsetter estate records. The majority of the records are 1898 or later, from the time when the estate was sold by John GM Heddle to Thomas Middlemore. By no means all rent books survive but the Crockness area is better than many others. Held at the Orkney Archive.
- Photographs – I have our family photos and a few others and would love to fill in gaps for other crofts, at any time.
