Old Photographs Leverburgh Island of Harris Scotland

Old photograph of Weavers cottages in Leverburgh on Island Of Harris, Scotland. In his 30's, English businessman William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme had taken a boat trip and fallen in love with the Western Isles of Scotland. In May 1918 at the age of 66, he bought the Isle of Lewis for £167,000, convinced that he could resurrect the fishing industry. But his investment floundered in 1919 when servicemen demobilised from World War I and promised land, started occupying plots on the Isle of Lewis. Leverhulme protested and took legal action against the people he considered squatters, but the Scottish Office took the side of the ex-servicemen, leaving Leverhulme's plan in tatters. Still looking to develop his fishing plan, in late 1919 he purchased the South Harris estate from the Earl of Dunmore for the sum of £36,000. Taking in the fishing village of Obbe, derived from a Norse word for a bay, he planned to turn it into a consolidated major fishing centre, with product distributed through the 400+ Mac Fisheries fish monger shops. He chose the site because it gave equal access to the waters of The Minch and the Atlantic and his boats could always find sheltered fishing waters. In 1920, Obbe with local consent was rebranded Leverburgh, and 300 men started work on a new pier and seashore infrastructure for processing the product from 50 berthed fishing trawlers.

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

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