South Lochs in the Leverhume Era

A Community in Crisis

by Monique Watt

Monique Watt, a recent history graduate of Aberdeen University, was the 2011 winner of the GAMA (Gatliff/Angus Macleod Archive) Award. She spent time in Lewis to undertake research at Ravenspoint into how the small community of South Lochs was affected by and responded to the acute problems and pressures coinciding with Lord Leverhulme’s ownership of the island in the years following the First World War. This booklet summarises the results of her pioneering research – showing for the first time at township and individual croft level how population overcrowding, land raiding, and eventually emigration, played their part in resolving a critical situation.

Published: 2012