Farming in Colintraive 1850 to 1913

Farming 1851

The 1851 census lists twelve separate farm tenants with their families and another ten farm worker’s families. In all about 160 men, women and children were occupied in agriculture in Colintraive.

Ardentraive

The largest tenanted farm was at Ardentraive, with seventy-six arable acres. At that time Walter Black was the tenant who lived there with his wife and two children. Living in there was a shepherd, a labourer, a milkmaid, and a domestic servant also employed were two other farm servants.

Upper Altgaltrairg

There were two holdings at Upper Altgaltraig. Duncan Brown and his wife and two children farmed ten arable and forty hill acres. At the other farm, a ten arable and forty hill acres, lived Peter Brown aged eighty-three with his brother, two grown sons, one of whom was a sailor and a daughter and two grandchildren. here was also a living in domestic servant.

South Hall Home Farm

South Hall was the home farm. The family were not at home on census day, but, living in at the Hall and in two nearby cottages were two servants, a dairy maid, a cattleman, and his family, a labourer, a ploughman, and his family. Twenty people in all.

Farming in 1913

By 1913 the number of farms had been reduced to seven. These were all let from the South Hall Estate.

The tenant at the home farm at South Hall was Donald Mcneill.

Glaic Farm

John McLean was in Glaic, now a single farm unit.

Couston and Ardbeg

The Clarks were in Couston and Ardbeg,

Ardentraive

The Simpsons were in Ardentraive.

Milton and Lower Altgaltraig

Andrew McIntyre held Milton and Upper and Lower Altgaltraig,

Fearnoch Farm

The Baxter family were at Fearnoch Farm

The McKellar family were in Feorline Farm

Port an Eilean

The Carmichael family tenanted Port an Eilean, one of Argyll’s few crofts.