Place:Applecross, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Applecross is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is not used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is correctly called 'Shore Street', or simply 'The Street') with the Applecross Inn, lying on the Applecross Bay, facing the Inner Sound, on the opposite side of which lies the Inner Hebridean island of Raasay. The monastery of Applecross was established by St Maelrubha, in the 7th century. A sculptured stone is the only relic of Maelrubha remaining, who built a chapel there. The Applecross peninsula ('The Sanctuary') is a peninsula in Wester Ross, Highland, on the north west coast of Scotland.

Geography

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

This row of houses which is often referred to as 'Applecross', and is marked as Applecross on some maps, is actually called 'Shore Street' and is referred to locally just as 'The Street'. The name Applecross applies to all the settlements around the peninsula, including Toscaig, Culduie, Camusterrach, Sand, and many others. Applecross is also the name of the local estate and the civil parish, which includes Shieldaig and Torridon, and has a population of 544. The small River Applecross flows into the bay at Applecross.

Extremely isolated, Applecross was accessible only by boat until the early 20th century, and for many years after that the only road access was over one of Scotland's most notoriously treacherous roads, the ('Pass of the Cattle'), which crosses the peninsula and reaches a maximum height of , below the high Sgùrr a' Chaorachain. In 1975 the settlement was connected via a winding coastal road which travels around the edge of the peninsula to Shieldaig and Torridon. The road skirts the shore of the Inner Sound and Loch Torridon.

The Parish

Applecross is a parish facing the Inner Sound between the mainland and the Isle of Raasay, which lies in Highland Council Area, some 15 miles (23 km) north of Kyle of Lochalsh and 17 miles (27 km) south of Gairloch.

Prior to 1975 the parish was located in the old county of Ross and Cromarty, which was replaced by the Highland Region and in 1996 by the unitary authority named the Highland Council Area.

The parish has an area of 449.2 sq. km (173.4 sq. miles). As well as the village of Applecross, the parich includes the settlements of Diabaig, Shieldaig, and Torridon, and the smaller settlements of Alligin Shuas, Annat, Ardheslaig, Callakille, Camusteel, Camusterrach, Cuaig, Inveralligin, Kenmore, Lonbain,Toscaig, Uags and Upper Diabaig. All these places are located along the coast, either facing the Inner Sound or Loch Torridon.

The Applecross Estate

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The Applecross estate extends to approximately and covers most of the peninsula.

In the second half of the 16th century, the lands of Applecross came into the possession of Alexander Mackenzie (died 1650), an illegitimate son of Colin Cam Mackenzie of Kintail. With a brief interruption between 1715 and 1724 (a period of forfeiture caused by Applecross's part in the 1715 Uprising), the estate remained in the ownership of Mackenzie's heirs until the mid-19th century, when it was sold to the Duke of Leeds.

In the early 1860s, the estate was sold to Lord Middleton. Following the death of the 10th Baron Middleton in 1924, the estate was sold to the Wills family.

The Estate is now owned by the Applecross Trust, a registered Scottish charity with the declared aim of preserving "the special character of the Applecross peninsula in a responsible and progressive manner whilst acknowledging its wilderness heritage and its importance as an area of outstanding natural beauty". The Applecross Trust is controlled by seven people and chaired by Richard Wills, of Andover, Hampshire. None of the members live in Applecross.

Notes for the Highland Council Area and the Western Isles Council Area

The local archives are held by The Highland Archive Service which is based in Inverness with branches in Stornoway, Fort William and Caithness. It is "responsible for locating, preserving and making accessible archives relating to all aspects of the history of the geographical area of the Highlands."

Family history societies and historical associations covering the Highland Council Area and the Western Isles Council Area are:

• The Highland Family History Society based in Inverness.
• Lochaber and North Argyll Family History Group based in Fort William.

These associations publish their aims on their websites as well as a list of publications. In many cases the publications are also available through the Scottish Genealogy Society (see below).

• The FreeCen Project--Scotland has a searchable (not browsable) transcription for each of the counties in the area. Nairnshire and Caithness have the 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 complete. Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty have 1841 complete with some work on 1851 and Sutherland has not completed 1841.

Transcriptions of Gravestone Inscriptions

• The Scottish Genealogy Society provides a series of monumental inscriptions either in print in booklet form or on CD for each of the counties in the area (Caithness, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Ross and Cromarty, and Sutherland). Some of the booklets cover only one graveyard, others cover a group. Prices vary. In many cases the coverage is of pre-1855 stones only--this is because gravestone inscriptions are often used by family historians as death registration equivalents in the era of the Old Parish Registers (when deaths were not universally recorded).
• The Fearn Peninsula Graveyards Project has a paid website which allows browsing in ten graveyards in Easter Ross. They charge £2.50 for 24 hours of usage with unlimited searches.
• An index of monumental inscriptions from Caithness compiled by D J Ryrie might prove to be a useful start for searching gravestones in that county. GENUKI states "All (?) of the monumental inscriptions (MIs) in Caithness have been collected and are in print currently from Books From Scotland amongst other places." The Scottish Genealogy Society also has a list of their holdings.
• Sutherland cemeteries are covered in Pre-1855 tombstone inscriptions in Sutherland burial grounds by A S Cowper & I Ross, published at Edinburgh in 1989 by the Scottish Genealogy Society.
• There are no specific notes for gravestone transcriptions for either Inverness-shire or Nairnshire in GENUKI. However, the Scottish Genealogy Society lists booklets for both counties.

Sources for Emigration Records

• Hebrides People have a database containing lists of people who emigrated to North America from a number of parishes in the Western Isles.