1841

 

The Manse

There appears to have been the main manse building, lived in by Rev William Findlater and his Wife Mary and five of their children, three female servants, an Independent person and a male servant, and a second dwelling occupied by George MacKay, an Agricultural Labourer, his wife and four children. Given the size of the Glebe (46 acres/19 hectares) it is not surprising that someone was employed to work it on behalf of the minister.

Knockbreack

 

Cnocbreac consisted of six inhabited buildings.

1. Jane Sutherland (60) Independent and probably her unmarried son Daniel (35) and
   possibly a daughter/granddaughter, Jane Sutherland (12). They were all described as
   'Independent' suggesting a pension was being paid.

2. Duncan MacArthur (50), joiner, Johana MacArthur (30), probably his wife, and their
   children Isabella (10) and Jane (8).

3. John MacKay (40) possibly a Carrier (writing very unclear), Alexiana (30), Georgiana (14),
   John (12), Angus(lO), Thomas (8), Flora (4)

4. Nathaniel Poison (40), mason, Johana (23), William (2) and Margaret (1)

5. William Macintosh (35) Agricultural Labourer, Rachell (20?), John (13), James (15),
   Angus (7)

6. William Ross (55?) teacher

 

The Glebe was enclosed and accepted as such on 25th August 1836. It is notable that of the six households, only William Macintosh is described as an Agricultural Labourer, the rest having trades or professions or independent. This would suggest that the houses in Cnocbreac were still being let, despite there being no land with them. It is possible that three of the houses are the ruin on the east side of the Glebe, the Grasskeeper's House and Achins. The School is the obvious one and the other two could be the double foundation beside the Cnoc.

 

1851

 

Ten years later much had changed. The enumerator of District 5 was lyrical in his description of the area and wrote 'Directly at the upper end of this lake (Croispol) is the abandoned Parochial schoolhouse'! It may have been abandoned, but William Ross was still living there aged 56, described as a teacher and born in Tongue. From the Tongue Presbytery Minutes it is known he was still employed as Parochial Schoolmaster at this time. If the building had been abandoned

as a school, this backs up the story that all the pupils had been removed to other schools. There was no shortage of school age children at Balnakeil at this time.

Knockbreack now consisted of three dwellings:

Jane Sutherland (79), now described as a Pauper who was born in Eddrachilles; Donald Sutherland (53) to whom nothing was ascribed other than he was born in Creich and Jane Sutherland (21), a servant who was born in Isla, Argyllshire. Also living there was Barbara MacKay (32) a niece of Jane's who was a seamstress. It is probable that they were living in what is now the ruin next to the Black Park on the east side of the Glebe - this is away from the arable land, out of sight of the Manse and has a garden and associated lazy beds.

In the Parochial School was William Ross (56), teacher.

And in the Manse was Rev Alexander McColl (52) who was born in Lismore, Argyllshire and was unmarried; James McColl (17) his nephew also from Lismore and a student at King's College (probably Aberdeen); Archibald McColl (24) another nephew, described as a 'manager' and Catherine (15) his niece. Then there were the servants: Hugh MacKay (21) an Agricultural labourer; Catherine Campbell (24) serving maid, Catherine Mclntosh (18) servant and Hughina McKay (27) also a servant.

 

1861

 

Unfortunately the enumerator districts changed for this account and Cnocbreac had become part of Durine. However it is fairly safe to say that the three households occupied the same buildings as 1851. This census began to record the number of rooms with one or more windows, giving an idea of the size of a house.

1. Durine The Manse Rev W.C.M Grant and family, 6 rooms (This seems unlikely as it should be
   a lot more -16?)

2. Durine William Ross (64), schoolmaster, 1 room

3. Durine John MacKay and family, Dyker, 2rooms

As will be seen in 1871, 50 Durine is the school, so why only one room? Had the east gable collapsed and he was living in the west room with two windows blocked up? This could mean the rubbish found at the east end was Ross's!

 

1871

 

In this account there is recorded the 'Parochial Schoolhouse' in Durine, a building with Grooms and home to Torquil Nicholson (27), Schoolmaster (parochial) and Registrar. This is the current Schoolhouse. Nicholson was around for a long time and is recorded in the current school records.

Fortunately the Enumerator Districts had been rearranged again making individual house easier to identify. However there were now two households on the Glebe!

The Manse - Rev Grant was still there

Old Schoolhouse William Ross (84? Should be 74) Schoolmaster (superannuated - parochial), 1 room

Glebe  Neil MacLeod and family, Farm servant, 2 rooms Glebe   Hector MacKay and family, Farm Servant, 2rooms

There is no doubt that something had happened to the school building - it is clearly stated as the 'Old Schoolhouse', but only one room. Which room? Had some of the windows been blocked up? Maybe the east gable had not collapsed and he was living in that room. It may be that the 'house' was just one room, the east room which has only one window. As the rest of the building was the school- abandoned as mentioned in 1851, it would not have been included in the description of the 'house'.

The two houses on the Glebe are also a problem. There was no record of uninhabited houses in previous census accounts. One is the house John MacKay and family were in ten years previously, but the other one? It may be that a ruin on the Glebe, perhaps the one at the Cnoc had been reroofed - had it not had a roof in 1861 it would not have been recorded as 'Uninhabited' as it would have been a ruin - uninhabitable. It may, of course, be the Grasskeeper's house.

 

1881

 

Now there are only two inhabited house - The Manse (with 19 rooms) where Grant was still the occupant and The Glebe (2 rooms), home to George MacKay (44), Agricultural Labourer and his family. There was a third building recorded as uninhabited - it's either the school or the second house of 1871. It probably is the school - there is no record of William Ross, so it is likely he died between '71 and '81. There is no tombstone in Balnakeil to him (or in Tongue or Melness).

 

1891

 

George MacKay and family were still in the house on the Glebe, but it now had three rooms. Could it be the Grasskeeper's and not the east side ruin? The Grasskeeper's was extended by a room at some point with an addition put on to the north end of the original building.

The Manse was still occupied by Grant - his son William CM. Grant was described as a farmer and employer. There were six family members aged 16 - 30 living at home unmarried and six others (servants etc) living there as well. Extending to over 40 acres with 100 sheep on Keoldale farm, the Glebe was similar in size to many small family farms elsewhere in Scotland so could easily have kept Grant's son employed.

There was no mention of an uninhabited building.

 

1901

 

Grant had gone - he died in 1900 after 44 years as minister. Now it was occupied by James Duff MacDonald (28), his widowed mother Jane (53), his sister Christian (25) and a servant. The days of the Manse throbbing with the coming and goings of many people were past and the 20th century was to see its demise as a religious building.

George and Mary MacKay were still there in their 3 roomed house as a General Farm Servant, but the house was described as 'Farm Servant's House'. Was there a cottage in the now demolished range of buildings beside the Manse? Or is it the east side ruin? That might explain why this ruin has no name - it was just on the Glebe and was for a farm servant.

What does this tell us about the school? William Ross was there as a teacher in 1841. Ten years later it was described as the abandoned parochial school. The Durine school had been built by this time and from the Campbell Court Papers we know that the children had been withdrawn. However the building was still described as the Parochial School and William Ross aged 56 was living there. In 1861 all we know is William Ross, now 64, schoolmaster, was still there, but we now know the dwelling had only one window. The most likely explanation is that he was living in the east room which has only one window and the rest of the building was classified as an abandoned school and not counted as accommodation. This was also the year of an Act of Parliament which allowed the Tongue Presbytery to retire William Ross because of old age and infirmity which they did along with his brother George Ross in Edrachilles. By 1871 the building was called the 'Old Schoolhouse', still with one window, Ross was 74 and described as 'superannuated - parochial', in other words he had a pension from his job as parochial

schoolmaster. By 1881 he was gone, probably dead and there was no mention of the schoolhouse, only an uninhabited building. From 1891 there was no mention of an uninhabited building, probably because it had become ruinous. Evidence from the archaeological excavation possibly backs this up as late Victorian/Edwardian rubbish was found in the east room on top of the collapsed ceiling plaster.

William Ross was born in 1797 and probably became teacher at the parochial school of Durness when he was 16 about 1812. Apart from four years in the 1820's as a result of the Findlater Affair, he remained there for the rest of his life.