This carefully researched and fully illustrated book describes the background to and details of Government land settlement schemes at the end of the 19th century and during the first decades of the 20th century in the long chain of Outer Hebridean islands south of the Sound of Harris situated within the historic parishes of Barra, South Uist, and North Uist.
During this period, which followed the notorious Highland Clearances, new crofts were created and existing ones enlarged in significant numbers in several of the islands, ranging from Vatersay in the south through South Uist and Benbecula to Grimsay and North Uist. These important initiatives have had a profound and long-lasting impact on population distribution and the crofting landscape today.
The book highlights the differences and similarities between the islands in terms of their characteristics and the conditions that prevailed prior to and during the period of land settlement activity. In total, some 545 new crofts were created and 184 existing ones enlarged in the area covered between 1897 and 1928 – a more concentrated period compared with land settlement activity in Harris and Lewis.