Ownership

Cathy (Luddie343) asked if the family of Sir James Matheson, drugsbaron avant la lettre, still owned the island. No. It was sold to William Lever, founder of the Unilever empire (of Sunlight Soap fame) in 1918. Lord Leverhulme, as he was to become, had great plans to industrialise Lewis and its southern contiguous neighbour, Harris. There was going to be a whaling station 4 miles northwest of Tarbert (Harris). A fishery station at Carloway, linked by railway to Stornoway, 16 miles to the east. A roadlink between Tolsta and Ness. None of this came about, and Leverhulme was forced to sell up.

In 1923, he offered the island to its people. Only the district of Stornoway took up the offer. The parishes of Barvas, Uig and Lochs, as well as Harris, were snapped up by private landowners. The depredations of World War I, which took more than 1000 lives also led to a large surge in emigration at the same time.

Now, in 2006, a battle is going on to reclaim parts of the island for its communities. The Galson Trust has recently acquired the funding (about £600k) to buy the northern part of Lewis. The villagers of Lochs are locked in a stalemate with an unwilling landlord, who has resorted to legalistics to prevent them from mounting a succesful takeover of the land - which is possible under new legislation.