Category Archives: Stornoway History

The receipts published here relate to purchases made between 1868 and 1880 by Christina Morrison (Mrs Charles Morrison), then living in Cromwell Street in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, with her shopkeeper husband and growing brood of small children. With their … Continue reading →

It is intriguing to imagine how the Hebridean town of Stornoway would have looked in the 1860s, when Charles Morrison was writing his diary. The Lews Hotel, located close to Macdonald & Morrison’s shop on North Beach Street, was Stornoway’s principal … Continue reading →

Many Stornoway families treasure photographs depicting their Victorian and Edwardian ancestors, attired in their Sunday best. These sepia portraits, usually in the small format of cartes de visite, are often stamped on the border or on the reverse, ‘W. Macleod, Stornoway’. Sadly, … Continue reading →

. . . future generations will speak of it as the blackest day in the history of the island . . .  (Loyal Lewis Roll of Honour 1914-1918, 1920, 311) It was the final day of 1918. After four traumatic … Continue reading →

On Friday 30th October 1863, four young people from the town of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, set off on a short holiday to Callanish, famous – then as now – for its standing stones. They were two unmarried couples: Charles Morrison and  Christina Gerrie; Donald McRae … Continue reading →

Transcribed from 16-year-old Margaret Ann (Maggie Ann) Morrison’s manuscript record of a journey taken in the company of ‘Pa’ – her father, Charles Morrison. In later years Maggie Ann studied music on the Continent and played professionally. She married Alexander … Continue reading →