The Argyll Estate
The 5th Duke of Argyll
John Campbell, the 5th Duke of Argyll, succeeded to the title in 1770 and held it until his death in 1806. He was regarded as a progressive landlord, introducing the enclosure of fields and modern farming methods to the Argyll Estates, which totalled about 150,000 acres. In 1779 he ordered the first efficient survey of the estates. Inhabitants of the Argyll Estate 1779 In 1779, the Duke of Argyll commissioned a census of all the people who lived on the Argyll Estates, which included the whole of Tiree, the Argyll Estate in Mull and Iona, and areas of mainland Argyll including Morvern and Kintyre. The people who collected and recorded the information were tacksmen and church ministers, and the style of recording varied between the different areas. In some places, such as Morvern and the Ross of Mull, women were counted but not named. In Tiree, women were listed by maiden name and age, but their relationship to the men listed near them (e.g mother, wife, daughter etc.) was not recorded.The original census lists were transcribed and edited by Eric Cregeen of the University of Edinburgh, an authority on the estates of the Dukes of Argyll, and in 1963 were published by the Scottish Record Society under the title "Inhabitants of the Argyll Estate, 1779". It has become universally acknowledged as a key reference document for genealogists with ancestral links to Argyll. To view the Tiree census data, click here [it will take a little time to load]. Later Argyll Estate Population Counts Eric Cregeen's book also included transcripts of some pages included in the Duke of Argyll's papers that relate to population counts of the Argyll Estate in 1787 and 1792, 8 and 13 years after the original 1779 census. The 1787 population count lists the number of people in each settlement (farm) in Tiree. The 1792 population count lists only the total number of people in Tiree. The data were tabulated by Iain Campbell and are reproduced here with his permission. To view these tables, click here . Argyll Estate Instructions 1771-1805 A second book by Eric Cregeen, "Argyll Estate Instructions Mull, Morvern, Tiree 1771-1805", was published by the Scottish History Society in 1964. It is a collection of letters between the chamberlains of the Argyll Estates and the 5th Duke of Argyll relating to the management of the estates. The letters cover a wide range of matters, including incidents, land improvements, sales of farm produce, orders for timber, accounts of woods supplied, and misdemeanours such as illegal distilling resulting in eviction. They include the name, occupation and place of residence of many people living on the estates. The entries relating to Tiree have been indexed by Iain Campbell in a searchable Excel spreadsheet, which is reproduced here with his permission. To view the index of the Tiree entries, click here .
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