33257: Malcolm Macleod

Calum Mhurchaidh Iain

Malcolm  (1843-1934) was a son of Murdo Macleod and Margaret Macdonald of 10 Balallan.

In 1869 Malcolm crossed the Atlantic on the SS Prince Rupert and entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as a Boat Builder on a seven year contract. The vessel on which he crossed the Atlantic was so heavily laden with stores that shutters were erected round the bulwarks to prevent the sea water crashing over the deck continually. The voyage lasted 3 months.

Malcolm's job was building boats for the company for use on the river, along with a man from Orkney. They had to fell the trees and cut them into planks in order to build the boats. They worked in Prince Albert and at that time there was only one house there.

Malcolm returned to Lewis in 1874.

In Lochs, in  1878, he married Mary Macleod, of 20b Balallan. Malcolm and Mary settled at 10 Balallan where they had five of their eight children.

The family moved to 4 Kershader in 1890.Two of his sons and one daughter emigrated to Canada and one son to Australia. Overcrowding as a result of the crofter clearances in Park, as well as a lack of work caused a lot of young men to emigrate in the early part of the 20th Century.