Blog posts with the tag 'crofter'

Crofters’ Commission records for family history

Photo of ruined house on the croft of Moness, Crockness, Hoy, Orkney

Were your ancestors crofters? That is, living in one of the seven crofting counties of Scotland – Shetland, Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness-shire and Argyll – with a holding of not more than £30 in annual value or rent. If the answer is yes and they were there from 1886 onwards there’s a  |  more…

“I have the worst croft on the estate”

An American ‘Labor Day’ theme this week for #52Ancestors: work.  The vast majority of my ancestors were crofters and farmers, combined in varying proportions with fishing or, less frequently, a trade. This time I’m focusing on James Nic(h)olson, my paternal granny’s father, so one of my great grandfathers. (The ‘h’ creeps into the family name  |  more…