Township of Achrimsdale 1849

December 1849

JANET GILCHRIST – succeeded her husband JOHN MACDONALD about 13 years ago – the houses were built by her husband about 30 years ago – got the timber from the proprietor – they are built of stone and clay and thatched with straw and divots – the dwelling house is still in good condition except that the roof is getting rather frail – the offices are bad – she has a small lot of Upper Achrimsdale – detached from the rest of her land.

WILLIAM MACKAY, Bone Setter – succeeded the Widow of GILBERT SUTHERLAND about 4 years ago – paid £16 for the houses to the heirs of Widow Sutherland – he repaired the dwelling house since and rebuilt the barn and byre – got timber for the purpose from the proprietor – the houses are all now in good condition.

JOHN GRANT – succeeded JOHN SUTHERLAND who went to America about 20 years ago – paid Sutherland £17 for the houses and has since built an addition to the dwelling house – the dwelling house is built of stone and clay and thatched with straw and is now in good condition – the offices are built of dry stones and thatched with divots and now in bad condition.

CHARLES CONNAN – succeeded WILLIAM MACKENZIE who removed to Brora East Muir at Whitsunday last – the houses were built by HUGH FRASER who preceded Mackenzie – paid £29 for the houses to the heirs of Hugh Fraser and lately repaired the dwelling house at his own cost – all the houses are built of stone and clay and thatched with divots and at present in good condition.

ROBERT MACKAY – entered 21 years ago – he built the houses then – got timber for them from the proprietor – they are built of stone and clay and thatched with heather and straw and still in good condition except that the timber of the roofs is beginning to fail.

ISABELLA MACDONALD – succeeded her father 2 years ago – he was the first tenant in the lot and built the houses about 29 years ago – the dwelling house is built of stone and lime and byre and barn of stone and clay and all thatched with straw and at present in good condition – she does not possess all the land that her father had – she has only a small bit of it.

DONALD SUTHERLAND, miller, Clyne Milton – succeeded WILLIAM MACKAY in the mill and croft – paid Mackay a lump sum of £177 for the house and croft, kiln and mill machinery, some household furniture, crop and some cattle – the mill was built by the proprietor about 73 years ago – it was all of stone and clay except the water wheel gable end which is built with lime – an addition was built to the mill for a kiln by Mackay about 20 years ago – the mill and kiln are at present in good working order – the dwelling house and offices were all built by Mackay about 20 years since – of stone and clay and thatched with straw – the dwelling house in still in good condition but the offices are bad.

JOSEPH BRUCE – pensioner – succeeded DONALD MACLEOD 12 years ago and paid Macleod £32 for giving up the lot and for his houses which were about 30 years old and almost in ruins – he repaired the houses thoroughly at his entry and got timber for the purpose from the proprietor – they are built of stone and clay and thatched with straw and at present in good condition.

DONALD MACPHERSON – pensioner – succeeded WILLIAM SUTHERLAND who went to America about 19 years ago – paid Sutherland £12 at his entry – there was only a small black hut on the lot when he got it – he built the present houses 15 years ago of stone and clay and partly lime and all thatched with straw and now in good condition – he got some timbers for these from the proprietor but not all that was required.

ALEXANDER MACKAY – succeeded GEORGE BAILLIE who went to America about 27 years ago – paid Baillie £8 for his lot and crop and for a miserable black hut, the only house then on the lot – built the present houses 24 years ago – the dwelling house of stone and clay and byre and barn of dray stones – all thatched with straw and all at present in good condition – got timber for them from the proprietor.

WILLIAM MACKAY – tailor – succeeded WILLIAM BAILLIE about 21 years ago – paid Baillie £28 for the houses and for an old horse and a cow and some old furniture – does not recollect how much of it was for the houses but he thinks about £20 was for the lot and for the houses – the houses are built of stone and clay and thatched with straw and are frequently repaired by him since he got them – they are now in a frail state – almost worthless – he got no timber from the proprietor for the repairs.

DONALD GRANT – residing at Badinellan succeeded JOHN MACDONALD, who went to America, in his lot at Achrimsdale about 16 years ago and paid Macdonald £15 for the houses and crop of which he thinks £5 would be for the houses – they were not good and have since been allowed to go to ruins.

HENRY SUTHERLAND – entered 30 years ago – has two lots – this one in which he resided at Upper Achrimsdale and another at Lower Achrimsdale – he succeeded a DONALD SUTHERLAND who went to America and paid him £7 for a black hut and some dikes which were worthless – the present dwelling house was built 12 years ago of stone and clay, thatched with bent and is now in good condition – the timber for it was given gratis by the proprietor – the offices are old and ruinous.

MARION MACKAY – succeeded her husband WILLIAM SUTHERLAND 8 years ago – her husband entered the lot 28 years ago and built the houses then of stone and clay and thatched with straw – got timber for them from the proprietor – they are now old and in bad condition.

ALEXANDER MACLEOD – entered about 28 years ago – has two lots – one, the principal at Lower Achrimsdale and another – a small patch – at the top of Widow DONALD MACLEOD’s lot in Upper Achrimsdale – with no house on either – his house is on Widow WILLIAM SUTHERLAND’s lot, no. 128, and was bought long time ago by his father from a JOHN MURRAY, a sub tenant of Mr Houston’s for £20 – the house was thoroughly repaired 5 years ago with new roof and walls heightened – built of stone and lime and thatched with straw – got the timber for the repairs from the proprietor.

JOHN GILCHRIST – succeeded Widow SUTHERLAND who went to America 18 years ago – and paid £18 for houses and crop –  the houses were not good and are now nearly ruinous – a new dwelling house is just about being completed built of stone and lime and thatched at present with divots – a good house which will cost at least £30 – got no timber for it from the proprietor – old offices are built of dry stones and now very bad condition.

ANN GILCHRIST – entered 30 years ago – built the houses then of stone and clay , thatched with straw – got no timber from the proprietor – the houses have not had any repairs done to them since they were built and are now almost in ruins.

ISABELLA MACKAY – succeeded her husband HECTOR MACPHERSON 17 years ago – her husband built the houses about 30 years ago and they have been repaired by her 14 years ago – they are built of stone and clay and thatched with straw and bent – at present not in a good state of repair.

JAMES MUNRO – succeeded BENJAMIN MURRAY who went to America 18 years ago – paid Murray £14.10 shillings for the crop and houses – the houses were of little value being only ruinous black huts – the present houses were built by him at his entry of stone and clay and thatched with straw – the dwelling house in now getting into disrepair – the roof failing – the offices are still in tolerable good condition – got timbers for all the houses from the proprietor at half price.

CHIRSTY CAMPBELL – succeeded her husband DONALD MACLEOD 14 years ago – the houses were build by her husband 28 years ago of stone and clay and thatched partly with straw and partly with divots – they got no repairs since they were built and the kept in good order – the roofs are beginning to fail – she has two lots.

ELIZABETH MUNRO – widow of DONALD MACKAY and ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND – succeeded Donald Mackay, the deceased husband of Elizabeth Munro 10 years ago – the  houses were built by Donald Mackay about 30 years ago of stone and clay and thatched with straw and partly with divots and repaired again about 12 years ago – got some timber from the proprietor for the repairs – the houses are all at present in tolerable good order except the byre.

JANET MACKAY – widow of ALEXANDER MACKAY – entered 30 years ago – built the houses at her entry at her own cost – of stone and clay – the dwelling house thatched with straw and offices with divots – repaired the dwelling house 4 years ago and got timber for the repairs from the proprietor – built a new barn 2 years since and got timber for it also – still the houses are not at present in good condition.

ANN MACKAY – succeeded her husband ALEXANDER HAMILTON 17 years ago – the first houses built by her husband became ruinous and she built a new dwelling house and offices 12 years ago of stone and clay – dwelling house thatched with straw and offices with divots – got some timber for them but not the whole from the proprietor – she got an additional lot 9 years ago adjoining her own that WILLIAM MACBEATH had – he then removed to Helmsdale – she paid Macbeath £10 for the houses he left which were taken down by decision of the proprietor – it was a condition of taking down the houses that she got the lot.

LILLY SUTHERLAND – succeeded her husband DONALD MACLEOD, elder, 11 years ago – her husband had exchanged lots with JOSEPH BRUCE the year before and got £5 from Bruce for the exchange – the houses were build by ALEXANDER GILCHRIST, Cairn, who preceded Joseph Bruce in the lot about 20 years ago of stone and clay – the dwelling house thatched with straw, and offices with divots – none of them at present in good condition.

WILLIAM GUNN – entered his lot 9 years ago – it was before then possessed by DONALD MACKAY – built the house at his entry of stone and clay – the dwelling house thatched with straw and offices with divots – got timbers for them from the proprietor and also lime for pointing and they are now in good condition.

WILLIAM CAMPBELL – succeeded his mother BETTY ALLAN 3 years ago and she succeeded his father DUNCAN CAMPBELL 22 or 23 years ago – the houses were built by his father about 30 years ago and repaired by his mother 10 years ago – got timber for them from the proprietor – the houses were all built of stone and clay and thatched with straw and are at present in good condition. Their rent was reduced 10 years ago as compensation for surface damage experienced in making a large open drain through the lot.

JOHN CHISHOLM – entered 26 years ago – built a black hut at that time and got timber for it from the proprietor – he is now building a new dwelling house – the half if it is already up and is built of stone and clay and thatched with divots – he got timber for it from the proprietor – there are no office houses of any kind.

ANN MACKAY – succeeded HECTOR SUTHERLAND who went to America 18 years ago and paid £20 for the houses and crop – she cannot say how much of it was for the houses – the houses were built by Sutherland 28 years ago of stone and clay and thatched with straw and are still in good condition.

DONALD MACKAY – succeeded ELSPETH MACPHERSON 26 years ago – paid £9.15 shillings for the dwelling house then on the lot which was built 3 years before my Miss Clunas for Elspeth Macpherson – this house was taken down this year and a new house built of stone and clay, thatched with divots – it is not yet finished inside but has cost already 9 or 10 pounds besides his won labour – he bought the timber for it – byre and barn were built 10 years ago and are at present in good condition – he has a lot at Lower Achrimsdale.

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