The Village of Lybster

I'm still waiting to hear back from Mr Lupi of the Solomon Islands with my great-grandfather's death certificate. However, finding his brother's passport application has convinced me that the Edinburgh Sutherlands - Christina and Robert et al - are indeed William's and Robert's family At least I'm going to assume I'm on the right track and I'll continue finding out about them and their background until I discover otherwise.

I've also learnt - thanks Nicola - how to upload images, so my blogs should take on an entire new dimension!

As I mentioned in my earlier blog, Robert (1827) was a sailmaker when he met Christina. He was born in the village of Lybster, Caithnesshire, to Catherine and James Sutherland, a Cooper, and baptised on November 28 1827.


According to the Gazetteer of Scotland vol 2 1847, Lybster is:

A village and a quoad sacra parish* on the west coast of Caithness-shire. The village stands at the head of Amherst bay, a little east of the great north mail road and 13 miles south west of the town of Wick. It was commenced, in 1802, by the late lieutenant-general Sinclair, and, already of considerable size, it promises to become a place of importance. Many of its houses are good, and new ones are annually added.

Most of its inhabitants are maintained soley by the herring fishery, and they have amongst them 100 boats. The village has a post office, a friendly society,* one or two schools, and two fairs.

Population about 400 - the quoad sacra parish lies, quoad civilia, in the parish of Latheron, and is in the presbytry of Caithness, and synod of Sutherland and Caithness. The church is situated in the village and was built in 1836-7 at the cost of stg832. Sittings 805, stipend stg100. The parish comprehends a landward district which, jointly with the village, has a population of upwards of 2,500. Its erection arose from the church extention scheme of the General Assembly, and ranks as the first result of that scheme north of Inverness. A preaching station in connection with the United Secession was commenced at the village in 1835, but has been abandoned. [source: The Top. Stat, & Hist. Gazateer of Scotland Vol 2. 1847]

*A quoad sacra parish is one created and functioning for ecclesiastical purposes only

* Friendly societies are mutual aid organisations designed to help people protect themselves against hardship. For more information about friendly societies see http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/fsrg/

Lybster is described today as an “attractive village” with a main street of dual carriageway proportions from which a steep narrow road winds down to a “striking harbour. The harbour originally had a wooden pier that was built in 1810 to allow fishing vessels to land. In the 1830s the harbour was developed by Temple Sinclair, son of the village's founder, Lieutenant General Patrick Sinclair. Like many Caithness communities, Lybster's growth was through the herring industry. It was at the centre of the herring boom and for a while home to Scotland’s third largest fishing fleet. However, when that trade collapsed in the late 1800’s, so did the village’s properity. Today the village’s economic opportunities are mainly service related and many residents commute to Wick. Today, Lybster has a population of just 530, not very much more than Lybster of 1847.

This information and photos are from http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/lybster/lybster/index.html and http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/28CC1537-34A2-4105-A1B8-208D381D1E4A/0/lybster.pdf