Carloway

I am continuing my little series about vessels in port around the Isle of Lewis at the time of the 1901 census. I was quite surprised to find 68 names in the census return for men on board vessels at Carloway. This village on the west coast of Lewis, has a pier and is a fishing port. Nowadays, there is not much going on around the pier there. 110 years ago, it was a veritable hive of activity.



Or appeared to be. The census enumerators, who wrote up the returns, made a breathtaking mess of the east coast fishermen at Carloway. The total number of names is actually 35, meaning that with one exception, they are all written up twice. I shall endeavour to disentangle the web of confusion.



On that night of March 31st / April 1st, 1901, there are four fishing vessels at Carloway. These are:



White Queen,

Consolation,

Johanna Petrie

Glenalva



The confusion starts when the men are counted more than once in any of the following locations

1. On board their vessel

2. At the quay in Carloway

3. On board their vessel in Loch Carloway



Worse than that, several of the men from the Glenalva are counted with another vessel when ashore at the quay. Some of the names are suffixed with BF 348, which could refer to the vessel's registration. This tallies with the fishing vessel Onward, which carried the BF 348 registration from 1879. However, that name does not appear on the census forms.



All this means that they are counted under different "Household schedules".



Schedule 80: Consolation

Schedule 81: Glenalva

Schedule 82: Johanna Petrie; White Queen, at Carloway Pier or in Loch Carloway

Schedule 83: White Queen; Johanna Petrie in Loch Carloway

Schedule 84: Consolation at Carloway Quay



Well, that is enough to turn anyone's head. Let's clear this up and bring each crew member to his boat.



White Queen

Peter Buchan, 28, St Combs

Joseph Buchan, 48, Buchanhaven, Master

John Buchan, 30, St Combs

Robert Buchan, 23, St Combs

William Cormack, 39, Banff - also quoted with Glenalva

Alexander Glass, 25, Aberdeen, ship's engineer

William Mason, 40, Kincardineshire, fireman

Peter Reed, 45, Burnhaven, Mate

Andrew Strachan, 37, Inverlochy, Cook

William Strachan, 25, Inverlochy



Consolation

George Bruce, 49, Portnockie

William George (or Wiliam J. ) Bruce, 22, Banff

William Innes (or William James), 36, Portnockie

John Mair Johns, 36, Portnockie

James Mair, 34, 6 Fountain Street, Banff - also quoted with Glenalva and BF 348

Alexander Mair, 21, Portnockie - also quoted with BF 348

James Wood Reid, 31, Peterhead, Master

Francis Slater, 48, Portknockie, Mate

George Slater, 19, Portknockie

Francis Slater, 16, Portknockie, Cook

Alexander Watt, 40, Fraserburgh, also quoted with Glenalva

John Watt, 19, Banff - also quoted with BF 348

Alexander Wood, 39, Portessie

William Wood, 39, Portknockie - also quoted with Glenalva and BF 348John Wood, 20, Banff, - also quoted with Glenalva and BF 348



Johanna Petrie

John Buchan, 44, St Combs, Master

Charles Buchan, 38, St Combs, Mate

Andrew Buchan, 24, St Combs

William Davidson, 37, Aberdeen, engineer

Andrew Duthie, 37, Inverlochy

Gilbert Duthie, 27, Inverlochy

Charles Fait (or Fax), 27, Inverlochy

Alexr Milne, 35, Peterhead



Glenalva

Alexander Mair, 27, Portknockie

Alexander Watt, 40, Banff also quoted with Consolation

William Wood, 39, Portknockie, Master also quoted with Consolation and BF 348

John Wood, 22, Banff also quoted with BF 348

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