To all interested Tiree researchers, Following a recent visit to the National Archives Scotland I made the following notes which may be of some general interest to others. If my family connections sound like they may match any of yours please get in touch. Regards Iain Campbell ---------------------------------------------- Notes from my visit to the National Archives Scotland(NAS) on 08th Feb 2006 Iain Campbell, Tullibody, Scotland The purpose of this visit was to search the Tyree Kirk Session Minutes for any mention of Flora McDonald her mother Mary McDonald (nee McLean) or any reference to Archibald Campbell father to her son Neil Campbell born 1853. I know the name of Neil's father and mother as this is stated on Neil's wedding certificate of 1875 and from his stated age here I have a DOB of 1853. The census of 1861 has a Neil Campbell aged 7 as grandson to a widow Mary McDonald (63) and also in this household is a Flora McDonald (36) and shown as unmarried. From this I have concluded she is Neil's mother and my inability to find any marriage for a Flora McDonald and Archibald Campbell on ScotlandsPeople web site has reinforced my view that Neil was illegitimate. Searching this particular record of Tyree Kirk Session Minutes was very simple as the NAS have them available on computer in Edinburgh but not online. ---------------------------------- Entry:- Tyree 1845 The Poor List. Ref CH2/482/1/417 to 419 Mary MacDonald Kirkipoll Old & Sickly 8/- 486 P & C.B (Parish and Church Board perhaps?) Mary MacDonald Balimartin ditto 8/- 481 ditto Mary MacDonald Balefuill Sickly 8/- 481 ditto In the census of 1861 when Mary was shown as 63 yrs old and a Pauper she would have been only 48 yrs old in 1845 so whether she could be classed as "Old & Sickly" is perhaps less likely. Of the 3 Mary's the one described as just "Sickly" from Balefuill may be the most likely of the three. However 16 years have yet to elapse and so she may not yet be the Pauper she describes herself as in the census of 1861. The Kirk Session Minutes detail various illegitimate children up to April of 1851 (CH2/482/1/421) and then there is a break. The minutes then restart "At Helipol Sept 1854.etc.N. MacLean Minister of Tyree" Unfortunately the date I am interested in is in 1853, the period without any minutes, and so it would appear that this is where the trail goes cold and the likelihood of discovering which Archibald Campbell was definitely the father of Neil is now almost nil. From the Statistical Account of 1840 the minister states that there are no Episcopalian or Roman Catholics on Tyree and so I am not likely to find much from those records, however there were Baptists and non conformists on the island so all hope is not lost yet. An example of what might have been is given below, its relevance to my tree may yet be discovered since the family names mentioned all occur in my tree but they are strangers to me at this time! Kirkapol 21/11/1855 Isabella Campbell residing at Cornaigmor is pregnant and Neil MacKinnon, son of Donald MacKinnon crofter at Balmartin, but presently residing with his father-in-law Neil McDonald crofter at Kilmnlnaf(?) is the father of child. The child is expected about 26th November 1855 and Neil formally accepts that he is the child's father. The child was born on 04th Dec 1855 and Neil MacKinnon again acknowledges his responsibility as father of the child. The next entry in the minutes is not until 25th March 1857, which details another illegitimate birth and the appointment of a teacher in 1857. A new minister John Gregorson(?) Campbell is ordained in 1861 and there are some much more formal minutes and various parish posts are formalised back dated to 1851 in one case. The teacher is formally reappointed; salaries, baptismal fees etc are set. But unfortunately the new broom approach to the minutes and paperwork does not last long. Ref CH2/482/1/453 " The minutes of the session do not seem to have been entered in this book from 1865 until now and no record of the minutes during that period now remains" signed Hector MacKinnon, Minister of Tyree, March 29th 1893. An entry that was of some interest was on CH2/482/1/437 that gave details of Tyree population to 1861 but has had later additions to the list made up to 1921. There is no mention as to where these figures originated and they are just year and population number. Year Number 1801 2780 1811 3186 1821 4181 1831 4453 1841 4841 1851 3706 1861 3217 1871 2837 1881 2733 1891 2500 1901 2100 1911 1822 1921 1703 Some of these figures were later corroborated when browsing a book I stumbled upon in the library of the Scottish Genealogist Society, Edinburgh. "Argyll Estate Instructions Mull, Morven Tiree 1771-1805" Scottish History Society 1964 Edited by Eric R Cregeen MA Printed by T&A Constable Ltd. Year Population Source of Information 1747 1500 Chamberlain, quoting catechist list C1750 1509 Webster (his information compiled between 1743-1755) C1765 1793 Dr Walkers Observations. Probably too high an estimate. 1768 1676 James Turnbull, surveyors list. A farm by farm enumeration. 1776 1997 Accurate farm by farm estate census 1779 1881 Accurate farm by farm estate census (men absent at war) 1787 2306 Ministers catechist list 1792 2416 Old statistical account, compiled in March 1792 2443 Accurate farm by farm estate census compiled in October. 1802 2776 Chamberlain 1808 3200 MacDonalds "Agriculture in the Hebrides (1811)" 1831 4453 Official Census. The above book contains a pull out plan showing the location of all farms, acres, population and broken down to tenants and cotters per farm for 1768-9. There is a second pull out map showing the whole Argyll Estate and on this are marked all the main named farms circa 1780. Some other details that would be of interest are the lists of tenants by name and their farms in 1788-9 that were supplied with estate timber from forests in Mull. There are also details about number of ploughs etc on each farm. Another entry details the gross sales made (income generated) from various farms in a two year period before 1794 again giving number of tenants and the size of farms. The units of land are in "Mail-land" which equates approx to "3 Soums" but a useful glossary in the book explains that a "Soum" is a unit of grazing reckoned sufficient to keep a cow. My time with the book was very limited but it appeared to be a fairly readable account of the correspondence between the main estate manager for the Duke in Inverary and his local manager on Tiree. Specific people are mentioned by name when for instance rents are in arrears and evictions / actions are required by the Tiree manager and so this book would be a good reference work for anybody looking for family in the years 1771 to 1805, particularly if they were tenants rather that cottars. It should certainly give a fuller picture of what everyday life on Tiree was like in this period. In time I hope to get a copy of this book through my local library for a more leisurely read. Another book of possible interest to some:- "Scottish Population Statistics" Edited by James Gray KYD Published by T&A Constable Ltd 1952 for Scottish History Society. This book contains Websters Census enumerations for 1755 in its entirety on pages 1-81. Websters population total for Scotland in 1755 = 1,265,380 Elsewhere in the book a figure for England and Wales is given for this time as = 6,278,000 Iain Campbell 11/02/06