Description:The Crofters War kicked off in the Highlands from 1882, and a Royal Commission had been sent around the region in 1883 to hear evidence on land reform and produce recommendations for the government, but nothing was done by government until 1885. There was, therefore, intense debate among Highland circles about land reform throughout 1884; including among the staff of the Sutherland estate. This letter is a good example of the wide range of positions taken on the debate among the staff; although it might have been expected that all the estate staff would agree on a position generally against land reform of any kind, in actual fact there were long running and sometimes bitter disputes between staff as to what approach should be taken. McIver was the most hard-line against any kind of reform, whereas Sir Arnold Kemball tried to persuade him that some degree of reform would be necessary to placate public opinion.
These pages have been researched and written by Dr. Annie Tindley, Lecturer in History at Glasgow Caledonian University.