Our Ancestors In St Kilda, Scotland

1. Our Ancestors In St Kilda, Scotland By K. D.

2. Who am I? • My name is Kylie McQueen • I live in a suburb called St Kilda, it is in Melbourne • My family came from St Kilda, Scotland • I am going to find out all about our ancestral home for future reference My house in St Kilda, Melbourne Scottish flag

3. Where Is St Kilda? St Kilda is the most remote part of the British Isles. It lies 41 miles (66 kilometres) away from Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. It takes 3 hours to get to by boat (from Benbecular). St Kilda is a world heritage site. It is a tiny group of islands in the Atlantic ocean. Scotland

4. Sense Of Place • There have been people on St Kilda since prehistoric times. Although it is not clear when the first settlers came to St Kilda some stone tools were found from the Bronze Age on the main island Hirta. • A small population of about 180 people rented the land from a kind of landlord in Skye, he was called the Marquess of Bute, he later sold the islands to the National Trust for Scotland . They lived in a small Village Bay, depending on the sea for food. St Kilda is a sparsely populated & very windy place where not much can grow but it has a long and interesting history. St Kilda islands

5. General Information • St Kilda is a very isolated island a long way off the shores of Scotland. It has lots of stacs leading into the sea where many types of birds like to nest. The people who used to live on the island used to catch and eat them. The climate is cold and wet and in summer the midges come in off the sea. The island is prised for its mass of land and marine life. great skua - these birds will dive bomb researchers to protect their territory

6. St Kilda is very rocky, with lots of steep slopes & cliffs that the islanders used to climb. Though it also has some flat areas by Glean Mor. It has lots of stacks leading off into the sea. The climate is cold and wet as the island gets a lot of relief rainfall. Clouds often hover overhead and it can be very rare to see a sunny, warm day. In summer the temperature reaches about 10 degrees Celsius and all the midges come in off the sea (Atlantic ocean) if you are a visitor it would be wise to cover up! St Kilda has one of the most important seabird colonies. It has the world's largest colony of gannets and fulmars in the British Isles, they nest on the many stacs. Two of those are the highest sea stacs in Britain. They are also home to many puffins. Soay sheep, from the island of Soay, are a rare breed of sheep that are loved for their wool. There were two kinds of mice called the St Kilda house mouse and the St Kilda field mouse. They used to be found on St Kilda but the house mouse became extinct after the islanders left. Physical Factors Gannets St Kilda House Mouse Great Auk Glean Mor

7. plants • Not many plants can be found on the open parts of Hirta as they are too exposed to the wind and sheep. But on the cliffs where the sheep can’t eat them 152 different types of plants can found. They are fertilized by the bird droppings. Plants like this roseroot flourish in inaccessible places the sheep cannot reach. Primroses on the lower slopes of Oiseval

8. !Splash! • The healthy, unpolluted marine life, underwater caves and clear waters make St Kilda a popular diving place. seaweeds, sponges, sea anemones, dead man's fingers, snails, sea slugs, crabs, starfish, herrings, seals, basking sharks and minke whales can all be found in the area. A grey seal swims in St Kildan waters Divers coming back From diving round the stacs. Clear clean waters

9. The islanders main snack was the puffin that the men caught off the surrounding rocks. They would use every part of the bird, the fat for candles, the beak for nails and the feathers for blankets. In 1876 it was said that the islanders took 89,600 puffins for food and feathers. All of the houses are made of stone and slabs of rock that can be found around the island. There’s no wood on the island due to the lack of trees so the roofs are covered with turf. Food + Houses puffin The same street in the past Old village street

10. Travel • There were no roads on any of the islands due to the fact that they had no cars. All the supplies and food that they had gathered, had to be carried on their backs. No roads to be seen Long distance walking to get to the food stores

11. Every Day Life • Every day life was hard on St Kilda, the men had the dangerous job of balancing on the stacs trying to catch the birds for their family so they could eat. The waves were strong and, if you lost your grip, you could easily be swept away. If the islanders were having a particularly bad and stormy winter they might not be able to get to the stacs at all, and if that happened they would almost starve to death. In times like this the St Kildans would be forced to send out a mail boat as a distress signal. A letter was sealed in a wooden container with a sheep's bladder acting as a float, many of these would wash up on the beaches and supplies would be sent to the island. The islanders each had little enclosures where they would try to grow some vegetables. These enclosures kept the sheep out. Posting the mail boat in 1897 An old vegetable enclosure Rough waves

12. Smallpox • In 1726 one of the islanders visited Harris & caught smallpox. he died from it & when His clothes were returned to St Kilda they brought the disease with them. Most of the islanders died and only one adult and 18 children survived the outbreak on Hirta, the main island. but three men and eight boys escaped the disease as they had been left on a Stac to collect gannets. The disease had spread while they were there and nobody could go to fetch them. They were eventually rescued by the Steward nine months later! The owner of St Kilda had to send people from Harris to repopulate St Kilda. smallpox

13. My family the McQueens left St Kilda In the 1850s with 42 other islanders. They emigrated to Australia. Many of the people died en-route, but a the rest settled in Melbourne, and that’s why we live in a St Kilda in Melbourne today. I have come up with the push and pull factors that I think contributed to the McQueens leaving St Kilda Scotland. Many young men where attracted to the busy life, women and jobs in the city. The weather and life was hard on the island and many thought they would have an easier life on the mainland. Many men went to war and they saw the outside world. They just didn’t come back. If the islanders left they would leave behind the home they had lived on all their life. Many women had to stay with their fathers as there were no men to marry since they had all moved away. Girls left to live with their fathers Why Leave?

14. Final Years • By the mid 19th century there was more contact from St Kilda. There were regular summer cruises to St Kilda from people who wanted to see ‘real savages’. The St Kildans primitive way of life got them a good deal of publicity and soon they became dependent on money and tourists. Whalers and fishing fleets worked in the surrounding waters and brought supplies to the islanders. The islanders started to produce items for their visitors such as sheepskins, tweeds, knitted gloves, stockings and scarves. Gradually the St Kildans lost their self- sufficiency, relying on imports of food, fuel and building materials and furnishing for their homes. The islanders felt very isolated from the outside world and didn’t like the lack of regular communication. In 1930 the remaining 36 islanders requested evacuation to the mainland. A leaflet giving details of the cruises

15. Album Islanders carrying their belongings to the jetty at the evacuation St Kilda field mouse My ancestors Cambir (a finger of land jutting out towards the island of Soay) Food storage The village bay

16. For Future Reference • This is the story of your ancestors The McQueens. They travelled from St Kilda Scotland to St Kilda Melbourne and so where ever you live this is your past. We are very proud of where we come from and hope you will be to.

17. Us in St Kilda Melbourne By S. W.

18. Where I live! • My name is Kyle McQueen. • I live in St Kilda Melbourne. • St Kilda Melbourne is a suburb in the state of Victoria. • It is on Port Phillip Bay and is 6 km south-east of Melbourne. This is a map of Australia and of St Kilda.

19. Sense Of Place • There are roughly 3,000,000 people living in Melbourne. • It is a cheep and cheerful place with lots of tourists, especially from other parts of Australia. • In the last census there where 45,481 people living in St Kilda Down Town Melbourne

20. St Kilda was first set up by port Phillip bay so people could trade with Tasmania. But when gold was discovered in 1852, there was a huge rush of people from all over the world including Ireland, England and China. So you can find many different people in St Kilda today. Melbourne is has lots leafy parks and gardens. These are home to a wide variety of native Australian birds and animals. Some of these include - red rumped parrots, European finches, sparrows and starlings, ducks, falcons, hawks and water rats! Multicultural Melbourne A native bird

21. landscape • The landscape in St Kilda Melbourne is very flat. The climate is hot and often sunny. Many cafes have eat out spaces as the temperature is 22 degrees all year round. There is no cold winter. • It is low lying coastal ground. Flat land Costal area Sunny weather

22. Most of the work in St Kilda comes from the tourist industry. These are things like cafes, hotels, bed and breakfasts, camp sites an amusement centres such as fun fairs and casinos. Buildings consist of mainly hotels, theme parks, cafes, Gift and souvenir shops, houses, posh restaurants, pier side shops and public houses. Work Buildings Local theme park

23. My family the McQueens left St Kilda In the 1850s with 42 other islanders. They emigrated to Australia, and that’s why we live in a St Kilda in Melbourne today. I have come up with the push factors that I think contributed to the McQueens leaving St Kilda Scotland. Many young men where attracted to the busy life, women and jobs in the city of Melbourne. The weather and life was hard on the island and it was good sunny weather in Melbourne. There was the gold rush and people thought there was a chance of getting some money for their families. To have more contact with the outside world. Why Leave? Australia Scotland

24. A Sporting End • This is the story of your ancestors The McQueens. They travelled from St Kilda Scotland to St Kilda Melbourne and so where ever you live this is your past. We are very proud of where we come from and hope you will be to. The St Kilda Saints are a sports team. They play a game that is a cross between football and rugby.