Old Photograph Crofters South Uist Scotland

Old photograph of Crofters on South Uist, Scotland. South Uist was sold to Lieutenant Colonel John Gordon of Cluny in 1837 and the fortunes of the island's tenants went downhill from that point. He initiated Highland Clearances to make way for sheep farming, supplanting the crofters with farmers from the Borders, who brought flocks of Blackface sheep. As a result, there was large scale emigration from the island. John Gordon also had six plantations in the Caribbean island of Tobago with 1383 slaves. Gordon died a bachelor without legal issue in 1858; of his illegitimate children, John, his eldest son, was the only one to outlive him.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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