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While The Story of Tingon is the most comprehensive source of the events of the Tingon clearances, it does appear to be inconsistent with other genealogical sources on some minor details. While I have not personally checked the references on Bayanne, in general Bayanne lists sources for all its entries, while The Story of Tingon lists very few, although it can be assumed much of the genealogical information is derived from the 1861 and 1871 censuses. In general, I have decided to side with Bayanne's information, and will list here the inconsistencies and missing information I have identified:

1. Hans Anderson is called Hansi on Bayanne
2. Janet Anderson is called Jane Margaret Anderson on Bayanne
3. John Anderson & Ann Mouat's son Andrew is described as being cleared. On Bayanne he died at age 3 months, before the clearances started.
4. William Harrison being widowed with a daughter Elizabeth. No mention is made of his other daughter born before, Williamina, who was by 1881 a servant in Edinburgh. The mother of Williamina, Agnes Smith went with her sister Margaret to Capout.
5. John Harrison and Grace Robertson's daughter Elizabeth. She is not listed as a daughter on Bayanne, I believe this name has accidentally been duplicated from the census, which lists Elizabeth as a granddaughter (William Harrison's previously mentioned daughter)
6. Donald Laurenson (Ocraness) is listed as Donald Johnson, however Laurenson is noted as an alternate surname. In the 1861 Census he is Laurenson. Two of his siblings on Bayanne are listed as Laurenson, but another is Johnson. So half his family seemed to use patronymics and the other half didn't (for some reason)
7. It is unclear exactly which members of Donald Laurenson's family were evicted, as his niece Mary (or as in the census, Mallay) was staying with them as an agricultural labourer during the 1861 census, and they also had an adopted daughter, Agnes B. Nicolson. My guess is that Agnes probably was, however I'm not sure about Mallay. She has been placed in a dashed box attached to Donald's family.
8. At separate points in the Story of Tingon, it says that Thomas Hawick and Mary Smith moved to Braewick, Eshaness before the clearances, and then afterwards it implies they were cleared to the Manse, Hamnavoe. If they were in Braewick they wouldn't have been cleared. They may well have simply moved.
9. Agnes Smith (widow who briefly avoided eviction) is called Agnes Hanson on Bayanne. She was married to Gilbert Smith, and one of her daughters was named Agnes Smith.
10. Andrew Anderson, brother to Tammie and Black Geordie, is said to have "stayed on" in either Westerhouse or one of the nearby crofts, however is subsequently reported to have been in Northhouse, Heylor after the clearances. It's not made clear whether they were cleared or if they moved themselves. My guess is they were probably cleared.

The name Aurora is believed to have been given to that croft by Magnus Manson (a son-in-law to smallpox inoculator Johnnie Notions), who served as a captain of the foretop in the Royal Navy during the time of Nelson on a ship of the same name. ^[1]

The crofts in Tingon were part of the Tangwick Estate, owned by the Cheynes of Tangwick, who were the lairds. At the time in question, the Tangwick Estate was operated by Henry and Barbara Cheyne. Henry Cheyne was a solicitor who practised in Edinburgh, and as such, they lived there rather than in Shetland. ^[2] The Cheynes' involvement with affairs in Shetland were limited due to the impracticality of communicating at this distance, and only stayed in Shetland during holidays during the summer, so local affairs were therefore delegated to their factor, Arthur Gifford, who was additionally the laird for the Busta Estate. ^[3]

Prior to the clearances, two of the tenants of Tingon – George "Black Geordie" Anderson, and his brother, Thomas "Tammie" Anderson – travelled to Australia and made a small fortune in one of the gold rushes there. When they returned to Shetland, their newfound wealth meant they had the money to pay an annual rent for the whole of the Tingon peninsula ^[2] amounting to £90 (equivalent to £10,900 in 2023), which was more than double the rent paid by the rest of the other tenants living and working in Tingon combined. ^[1] This offer was presumably proposed to Gifford, rather than the Cheynes, who accepted and allowed the rest of the tenants to be evicted to allow the Anderson brothers to use the entirety of the peninsula for the grazing of sheep. This practice was similarly carried out throughout many parts of the Highlands and Islands during this time; the evictions are collectively are known as the Highland Clearances. It is believed that the Cheynes had little knowledge of the evictions, and their previous dealings indicate that they were against clearing their tenants. The Cheynes are known to have traded land with the Busta Estate once before in order to prevent a tenant of theirs being cleared. ^[1]

The Anderson brothers are believed to have themselves carried out the evictions of the other crofts in Tingon, and their process is reputed to have been "utterly ruthless". Several of the tenants were quite close relations to them, including the families of their brother Andrew Anderson, and two of their nephews, Thomas and John Anderson – all three were married and had their own children, and all of whom were cleared. ^[1]

A letter describing the situation was sent to and published in a number of newspapers in Scotland, including the Dundee Advertiser, ^[4] Edinburgh Evening Courant, ^[5] Orkney Herald, ^[6] John o' Groat Journal, ^[7] Renfrewshire Independent, ^[8] Paisley Herald and Renfrewshire Advertiser, ^[9] Orcadian, ^[10] Inverness Courier, ^[11] and Dundee Courier. ^[12] The letter criticised the actions taken as being short-sighted and detrimental to the local economy:

...One tenant may be more advantageous to the landlord than fourteen; but the fishcurers and consumers lose from twenty to thirty fishermen, the shop-keepers some seventy customers and perhaps the British Navy lose a good nursery for hardy seamen. But beef and mutton are at a premium, and men go to the wall to make room for four-footed animals. Scarcely any proprietor in Great Britain or Ireland has made a proper attempt to multiply and improve livestock by means favourable to an increase in the number and substance of the people. All seem to act on the supposition that in order to increase stock they must decrease population, ignoring what is done in some Continental countries where the opposite is the course of things; ignoring too, seemingly, the striking lesson afforded to them in Ireland, where, although for a time the cattle increased as the men decreased, the cattle themselves ultimately declined at an alarming rate, even as the crops had done previously. ^[2]

The situation in which the evicted tenants were placed was exacerbated by the inaccessibility of the Tingon peninsula. The easiest method to move any amount of personal belongings was to transport it by boat. However, the majority of the perimeter of Tingon is surrounded by high sea-cliffs (excepting the two sites of the fishing lodges of Heillia, which are only accessible in calm weather). As such, all belongings had to be carried over land, which was much more difficult. The closest settlements, Braewick and Heylor, were each around three miles away by foot. Despite this, little was left behind, as even several of the grave markers for those who had died prior to the clearances were taken out on the evictees' backs – some of which were placed in the Old Hillswick Cemetery, and others in the Cross Kirk Cemetery in Eshaness. ^[1]

At least seventeen families were cleared, many of which were extended families related to each other, and several of which were close relations of the Anderson brothers who were responsible for the conducting the evictions. (The relationships between many of the families are displayed in family trees below). The circumstances of some of the families are described below.

The family of Donald Tulloch and Mary Harrison ^[i] were one of the first (if not the first) of the families to be evicted. They had a two-year-old son Thomas and an infant daughter Grace ("Gracie"), who was carried out of Tingon in a kishie. They constructed a faellie hoose in Murrion, Eshaness to live in until they were able to get one of the crofts in Braewick, Eshaness. Thomas was killed at the age of 9 after falling over cliffs near the Clavie, Eshaness while collecting birds eggs. Donald died in 1875 age 41, and it is suspected the trying situation following their clearance contributed to his early death. ^[2] Gracie was the last living survivor of the Tingon clearances, having died in 1958 at age 93. ^[14]

When the family of Gideon Hawick and Louisa "Lucy" Ratter ^[i], were cleared from Tingon, their two-year-old son Gideon was (in the same way as Gracie Tulloch) carried out in a kishie. While most other families moved into existing houses, they enclosed a new croft from existing scattald and built a house on the site, known as the Gill (or Pund) of Mangaster. During construction, the family lived in a skeo at the mouth of a burn nearby. They would have undertaken not only the construction of their house, but also outbuildings for livestock and a dry-stone dyke to enclose the arable land – the latter of which would have been necessary for the production of crops for their first winter. Given their situation, it is likely that they would have received assistance from neighbours. ^[14]

The family of John Johnson were cleared from Aurora, Tingon, ^[1] including two of his sons, of whom one was deaf-mute. ^[14] John's clearance from Tingon marked the third time he had been cleared – firstly in 1822 when the crofts of Hillswick Ness were cleared, and secondly in 1834 from either Breckon or Framgord, Eshaness, when the West Park was created after the clearance of six crofts. ^[1] John's wife Mary Cheyne ^[i] died in 1864, ^[15] the year before the Tingon clearances began.

One family was briefly spared eviction by the Andersons – that of Agnes Hanson, a resident of the Knowes. During the time of the clearances she was a widow in her eighties, and in previous years had been either a servant or seamstress for the Cheynes of Tangwick – as such, she had been granted permission by the Cheynes to stay in the Knowes for the rest of her life. However, when she died in November 1866, the Andersons immediately presented the remaining family with an eviction notice that read, "Get out, or we will drive you and your livestock over the banks." ^[1] Hanson's daughters, Agnes and Margaret Smith, and Margaret's son Arthur Thomason moved to the Bruggs (also known as Capout), North Eshaness. Thomason was the last survivor to remember the events of the clearances, having died in 1923 at age 76. ^[16]

The following family trees show the families cleared by the Anderson brothers, and how many of the families were related to each other. For the sake of conciseness, additional relations who themselves were not cleared have been omitted from the trees unless to show how they are related to other families, or where they are otherwise mentioned in the article.

The Anderson brothers constructed a house named Newtown upon the Easterhouse crofts following the clearance of the rest of the tenants. Judging by the quality of the house's construction, and the fact that Welsh slate was used for the roof (which would have been difficult to transport there before there was any road to the area), it is thought the house was constructed by professional stonemasons. The brothers and each of their respective families are believed to have lived a somewhat luxurious lifestyle, having "wine with their breakfast". ^[16]

The brothers and each of their respective families are said to have lived in opposite ends of the house. While this was probably by intention initially, this situation was likely reinforced by the fact the brothers were quarrelsome with each other and frequently fell out, leading them to communicate by pushing letters under each other's doors. Beside this, hostility between the brothers is known to have frequently escalated, resulting in fights. On one occasion, a fight between the brothers upon the Glure Beach (between the Scarff and Hamnavoe) escalated to the point where they were at risk of strangling each other, and one "Donald of the Scarff" noticed the altercation and was able to break it up. ^[16]

In The Story of Tingon, genealogist Bruce Benson recounts the behaviour ascribed to Tammie Anderson on two separate instances:

Tammie had gone to Hillswick one day to fetch a ram, the animal had probably come up from south by boat to Hillswick, and most likely had not been used to a tether. Tammie struggled on with him until he reached the north side of Greenfield. By then he was in a rage, and so he took out his pocket knife and cut the throat of the poor beast. On another occasion Tammie was moving a flock of sheep from one park to another in Tingon. There was some snow and ice on the ground, and the sheep were reluctant to proceed over a sheet of ice, which was near to the banks. He set the dog on them and finally got them on to the ice. One by one they slid over the banks. Tammie and the dog returned to the house. By then he was in a rage, and the dog was supposed to turn on him. He got the dog by the hind legs and battered him along the wall of the house until he killed him. ^[83]

• Eshaness
• Ronas Voe
• Heylor
• Highland Clearances
• List of clearance settlements in Scotland

banks

Shetland dialect: sea cliffs ^[84]

factor

Main article: Factor (Scotland)

a person or firm charged with superintending or managing properties and estates — sometimes where the owner or landlord is unable to or uninterested in attending to such details personally.

faellie hoose

Shetland dialect: a house constructed using turves. ^[85] From Shetland dialect: fael – sod or turf. ^[86]

kishie

Shetland dialect: a type of basket traditionally used for carrying peats. ^[87]

scattald

Shetland dialect: common grazings allocated to many crofters. ^[88]

skeo

Shetland dialect: a hut of loosely constructed stone for wind-drying meat or fish. ^[89]