WHAT’S THE STORY?
IT was the wartime law passed to benefit returning soldiers and renew the Highlands.
Now a “forgotten” land rule that had a “huge impact” on our country is to come under the spotlight at a three-day conference.
Organisers say the importance of the Land Settlement Act of 1919 must not be underestimated.
THE WHAT ACT?
EXACTLY – and it’s that lack of understanding that the bodies behind the event are trying to address.
The conference is being organised by the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Centre for History in collaboration with the Centre for Scotland’s Land Futures and the Historical Geography Research Group.
While the Crofters Act of 1886 had effectively ended the Highland Clearances by giving crofters legal protection against sudden eviction, poorer people were still locked out of much good quality land.
The 1919 Act helped change that.
WHAT HAPPENED?
When the First World War ended, many Highlands and Islands fighters returned from the front under the belief that they’d be given plots as a reward for their service.
Some began occupying land they believed they were entitled to work when that process stalled.
The occupations put the men in conflict with landowners, with some invoking a historic law which they claimed gave them ownership rights if they could build a wooden shelter and hearth.
The Land Settlement Act was the government’s way to solve the problem.
It led to the creation of new crofting townships and the revival of others across the Highlands and Islands.
It is also credited with laying the ground for the community buyout movement.
According to conference bosses, “part of its legacy today is the ongoing transformation of Highland landownership”.
TELL ME ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
IT’LL be staged on Lewis from Thursday to Sunday next week, with experts from Finland, Australia, Canada and Denmark amongst those set to take part.
As well as discussing its domestic impact, the event will look abroad to show that it was “part of a global impetus aimed at the restoration of a sense of balance in social relations around land and land ownership”.
Dr Iain Robertson of UHI said: “Despite its wide-reaching significance, the 1919 Land Settlement (Scotland) Act is neither as well-known nor celebrated as other key pieces of land legislation.
“By marking its centenary, we have a great one-off opportunity to bring together academia with the local community to celebrate both the huge impact the act had on Highland land and society and its legacy.
“We celebrate also the fact that the act was part of a global impetus aimed at the restoration of a sense of balance in social relations around land and its ownership.”
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