Crofters on the march – my rather dramatic title for a short talk I did in recently as part of the mini All About that Place online event. My talk focused on crofters from North Walls and Brims, Orkney, Scotland, and their applications for a fair rent following the Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886.. The | more…
The photo below shows my father’s cousin Sandy Barnett harrowing with oxen at the Lythes, Longhope, Orkney, Scotland (parish of Walls). Alexander Barnett (1907-1941), to give him his full name, was probably in his late teens or twenties at the time. That means the photo would have been taken in the 1920s or 1930s when | more…
My father grew up next door to his paternal grandfather John Ross; consequently he knew a good deal about his grand-uncles and grand-aunts, siblings of that grandfather. My father would recount how the oldest brother, Walter, and his three sons were all lost at sea. Apart from Walter himself the details were rather sparse and, | more…
