Old Photograph Whitehall Stronsay Scotland

Old photograph of houses, cottages and children in Whitehall village on Stronsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Whitehall takes its name from a house built in the 1670s by Patrick Fea, a retired privateer, whose descendant John Fea pioneered the kelp burning industry on the island in 1722. The fall of the herring industry came with over fishing, and the outbreak of WWII. At its height, 300 boats were moored in Whitehall harbour, along with fifteen curing stations, and 1500 fishwives. The island of Stronsay itself is now agricultural, but during the 18th and 19th centuries, kelp collection and herring curing employed up to five thousand people. The population, which is high for a Scottish island, was over a thousand for the entire 19th century through the mid 20th century, with the 1891 census recording a population of 1275 people, excluding seasonal itinerants involved in the herring industry.



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