In many ways, the Angus MacAulay family is typical of other Hebrides crofter families in 19th century Scotland. According to the Oxford English dictionary, a crofter is one of the joint tenants of a divided farm who combines farming with fishing or another vocation. Church records, census returns, and civil registration give sketchy details about the family. Far more is known about this Hebrides crofter family and what life must have been like for them through the use of a history of the island of Lewis and through information given in the British Parliamentary Papers. For the purpose of illustration, the information gleaned from the Parliamentary Papers appears in bold print.

Angus was born about 1811 in the parish of Lochs on the island of Lewis, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides (see Scotland map). He died sometime between 1883 and 1891. His wife, Christiana (Christy) McKay, born about three years after Angus and in the same parish, survived him. Both were to live their whole lives in that parish. Angus and Christy married about 1830, two years prior to the time Presbyterian records were kept. As with most Scottish families of that era, Angus and Christy had a large family. To them were born seven sons and two daughters in the span of approximately twenty-two years. Tragically, of their nine children, three were mentally retarded since birth. As such, the children were often classified as paupers on the census returns.

The MacAuley family was Presbyterian, at least until 1840. Their first four children were christened by the parish Presbyterian minister. In 1843, dissension resulted in a separation between the Established Church of Scotland and the Free Church. From then on, the great majority of the population in the Outer Hebrides belonged to the Free Church. It is evident that the MacAuley family did since the rest of their children were not baptized in the Presbyterian church. At least one of their children, a daughter, married in the Free Church.

There were strict laws governing Sunday observance in Scotland. Acts of profanation included holding markets and fairs on Sunday and other holy days, the use of handy labor or work of any kind, gaming and playing, habiting taverns and alehouses, not attending church, merchandizing, salmon fishing, carrying loads, hiring shearers, and all swearing. Penalties extracted for breaking the Sabbath laws included fines, being put in the stocks, or other kinds of punishment including corporal.

In 1841, the young MacAulay family resided in the township of Leumarva (likely Lemreway), Lochs parish. Sometime between 1841 and 1851 the family moved to the township of Crosshost in the same parish, where they remained for the rest of the century and possibly later. It appears that Crosshost did not come into existence or at least was not inhabited in 1841, as the township was not listed as a place (residence) in the 1841 census of the parish of Lochs. According to the testimony of Donald Mackenzie of Crosshost in 1883 (evidence taken by the Royal Commissioners of Inquiry on the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands of Scotland), twenty-seven families were driven away from Lochshell and other families from one other village (possibly Lemreway, which is very near Lochshell) about 1843. The families moved to a smaller village or township called Crosshost. Crosshost was located across the loch (traversed by ferry) and a five mile walk further from the township of Lochshell. The "fire was drowned on the hearths by the officers of the estate" on which they lived. Those who did not leave the villages on the appointed day were fined £50. Likely those people who were living in Crosshost in 1851 came as a result of forced eviction.

According to Mackenzie, the yearly rent for the township of Crosshost in 1843 was £60 (by 1883 it was £88). With the exception of a little spot in the middle where there was one existing house, the land had not been cultivated when the evicted families arrived. A small village where people could herd their animals was located five miles from Crosshost. The number of animals a family could have was dictated by the amount of rent paid. For every £1 in rent, a cow "with her followers" and five to seven sheep could be kept. Since Angus' rent was £1, 3s (he was in arrears in 1884 by £17, 15s, 6p), his livestock in 1884 included a cow, two heifers, two stirks (according to the Oxford English dictionary, a stirk was a two or three year old bullock or heifer--in Scotland it likely was a bullock) and a sheep.

The home inhabited by the MacAulay family was built of stone, as were most, if not all, of the homes in the parish. A thatch roof, which was replaced yearly, covered the humble dwelling. Cattle were housed under the same roof. Because livestock was sold to provide the yearly rent, it was imperative to keep the livestock warm and well fed in inclement weather. There were dividends to this practice. The cattle provided both heat for the house and manure for the potatoes and other crops grown by the family. The two windows in the MacAulay home likely were not in the walls, for such windows were a "rare extravagance." Usually the glass was set in the lower part of the roof providing dim illumination for the humble abode. Furniture was conspicuously absent. Entrance into the home was probably through a rude porch. The stone walls of the home may have been mixed with turf. A peat fire burned in the center of the floor of the home providing both heat and the means to cook the food. The pungent smoke from the fire drifted up to the straw roof and eventually out of the house.

To provide for his large family, Angus had to do more than farm the meager three acres he rented. He also was a fisherman. It is not known if Angus had his own boat or was part of a crew of others from the village of Crosshost. Many of the men worked for larger companies, such as the one at Stornoway. A number of men from Lochs parish went to the Caithness fishery in summer. The fishing season generally started between May 1st and 10th and continued until July 12th or 15th, sometimes longer. Herring was the principle catch of the crews and usually provided the men with enough money to see them through the year supplemented by what they could raise on their crofts. Drift nets made of hemp or cotton were used to catch the herring. The average pay per cran (a measurement equaling about 750 herrings per barrel) was 10-15s. Fresh herring was sent to England. Cured herring was sent to other countries and used for local consumption throughout the rest of the year until the next fishing season.

Ling is another fish that was caught by the fishermen of Lochs parish. Lobster fishing was also prevalent. It is possible that Angus was involved with ling and lobster fishing rather than herring.

Because no fish were caught by one of the sons living at home the previous fishing season, the family had no money. They also had no tea.

Since three of the MacAulay children were mentally retarded and therefore paupers, those children entitled to government relief. According to the 1884 report, each received 3s a month for pauper relief. Rather than send the mentally retarded to distant asylums, parents usually boarded or had relatives or other families on the island board their insane. The retarded MacAulay children were not always listed with Angus and his wife in the census returns. It is therefore likely they were boarded out part of the time. The mentally retarded paupers did not seem to fare as well as those who were not destitute. The county of Ross and Cromarty, which contains the Outer Hebrides, had 102 cases of people with congenital mental disease (given the fact that there were three retarded children in the MacAulay family, there likely was a congenital factor involved). One of the factors for the high rate of congenital mental disease was the fact that much intermarrying took place between relatives in this rather isolated area of Scotland. A review of fourteen insane people from the county of Ross and Cromarty was made in the 1857 report of the Royal Commissioners on Lunatic Asylums and the Laws Relating to Them in Scotland. Of those fourteen, half were paupers. The paupers, for the most part, were not well fed or clothed. Perhaps such was the fate of the retarded and pauper MacAulay children.

As youngsters, the MacAulay children (with the exception of the three who were mentally retarded) were educated in the local primary school. Crosshost, and many other areas on the island of Lewis, was a Gaelic speaking area. Therefore, many of the schools were Gaelic. In the parish of Lochs, there was one parochial school and nine non-parochial (meaning Free Church) schools. Two school buildings were erected in the parish since 1851, and another one was enlarged. According to the second report of the Commissioners on Schools in Scotland in 1867, 364 boys and 237 girls in the parish of Lochs were enrolled in school. Of that number 212 boys and 140 girls actually attended. The school buildings were built with a double wall of stone, which was filled with earth. The inside was plastered with clay. The roofs were thatched with straw. Subjects taught by the schools in the parish of Lochs included religious instruction, reading, writing, arithmetic, needlework, geography, English grammar and history, Latin, Greek, algebra, and euclid (geometry). It is not known if the school the MacAulay children attended taught all of these subjects.

In 1888, conditions in the Outer Hebrides were desperate. There had been a measles epidemic. Although not usually fatal, a number of people, mostly children, died as a result of the epidemic. And though crops had been good, the poor fishing conditions over the past several years meant that many families were in debt. Stores were not able to extend credit, and the bank account of Lochs parish was overdrawn almost £600. Had it not been for the good harvest of potatoes and corn on the island, many people would have starved. It appears that the MacAulay family weathered this crisis as the family was still somewhat intact in the 1891 census. Although Angus, the father, died sometime between 1884 and 1891, it is likely that he died of causes incident to old age rather than the measles epidemic or starvation.

Because the Family History Library does not have records for Scotland after 1891, it was impossible to complete this case study of the Angus MacAulay family. Civil registration records at the Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh, and church records in local custody would help complete this family history. Onsite research would also undoubtedly result in locating people either associated with or related to the family. But even without these sources, it is clear from this case study that much more is known about the family as a result of the British Parliamentary Papers. Those records would undoubtedly add more to your own family history as well.