Corporate body

Royal Commission on the Highlands and Islands (1893) (Napier Commission)

1875-1884

This Commission, under the chairmanship of Lord Napier and Ettrick, was appointed in March 1883 "to enquire into the condition of the Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and all matters affecting the same, or relating thereto". The Highlands and Islands were defined by the Commission as comprising the counties of Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland. Crofters were defined as persons holding land for agricultural or pastoral purposes, individually or in common, directly from the proprietor, at an annual rent not exceeding £30. Cottars were defined as occupants of houses at an annual rent not exceeding £2, and holding no land or pastoral privileges directly from the proprietor. Holders of long leases or ground rent were not included. The Commission's Report was published in 1884 together with the great bulk of the written evidence. The oral evidence was published in the same year in a further series of four volumes.

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