02/09/2026
DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE MACLACHLANS OF POOLEWE?
Maclachlan is a name which is not often found in the Gairloch area. However, we know from the 1841 Census, that a John MacLachlan was living at Inveran, Poolewe at that time. He was a farmer, had a wife named Isabel, and they had seven children.
The 1851 Census provides a bit more information. It tells us that John was originally from Argyleshire, and that his children were all born in the parish of Contin. As his youngest son, Angus, was a year old in 1841 John, his wife and children must have moved from Contin to Poolewe around 1840. It is possible that John worked for the Mackenzie lairds in Conan House.
Inveran can be found on the private road from Poolewe Riverside to Kernsary. The original farm building has been replaced but the farm was located beside Inveran House and next to the river Ewe. It was owned by the Mackenzie lairds.
The Gairloch Rental Records of 1845 show John MacLachlan as the tenant but a comment states ‘1852 carried to Poolewe Inn’. This appears to mean that John no longer had the farm tenancy and had moved to Poolewe Inn.
John’s wife, Isabel/Isabella, was the daughter of a Peter MacIntyre who was a farmer and of a Jane Fletcher. She died in July 1857 and was buried in Londhu Burial Ground.
The 1861 Census confirms that John, by then a widower, had become the innkeeper of Poolewe Inn. His daughter, Jessie, was the housekeeper and another son and daughter were also living there.
But by 1871 there were no Maclachlans at the Inn and, in fact, no-one with this surname could be found in the wider Gairloch area. The Maclachlans obviously married or left the Gairloch area.
We know that one MacLachlan daughter, Mary, married a John McLean who was a merchant in Poolewe, but died in 1855 aged 32 years. Another daughter, Jane, married a John Fraser, a police constable. A son, Alexander, was recorded on the 1851 census at the age of 23. After that it appears he married his wife, Margaret, in 1858 in New Zealand. Did he travel to Liverpool or even down to London to get a boat to New Zealand?
Do you know anything about this family to add to what we have found out?
And if you are a MacLachlan living here now, where did you come from? We would love to know!
Did you know? If you are interested in researching people from the Gairloch area, the museum is the place to go! As well as the usual genealogy records, the museum archive holds copies of the family papers of the Mackenzies of Gairloch dating back well before the first Census in 1841. There is also a wealth of research on local families undertaken over the years by museum volunteers, and a library of more than 4,000 photographs.
Photo 1: Current-day signs - the path leading to Kernsary from Poolewe.
Photo 2: Poolewe Inn today.
Photo 3: Maclachlan gravestone in Londhu Burial Ground. The inscription reads: Erected by John McLachlan in memory of his beloved wife, Isabella McIntyre who departed this life 7th July 1857 aged 62 years.
