It was also interesting to note the close involvement of the clergy with the schools on Lewis. The first SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) schools were founded on the mainland in 1701. Barvas had a school in 1749 (along with Keose, Ness and Carloway). The Academy of Stornoway was opened in 1817 under the Rector Dr Alexander Pollock (where Duncan S MacDonald went to school). The Directors of the Academy were Capt John MacKenzie and Mr Lewis Maciver. See http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/islandspirituality/1980-Murdo-Macaulay-Religious-History-Lewis.pdf p 118

In 1818, the Gaelic School Society , who taught in Gaelic rather than English, was formed. There was a school in Barvas in 1815 (along with 8 others on Lewis). John MacLeod, a visiting evangelist preacher, taught at the Gaelic School in Barvas in 1815. He was not popular with Rev William Macrae and may have been responsible for influencing Lewis MacGregor, to his father’s displeasure.

The school in Stornaway seems to have had quite an impressive alumni. Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764-1820), the Canadian explorer (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mackenzie_(explorer) and http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~coigach/siralex.htm ) and Colonel Colin MacKenzie (1754-1821), the first Surveyor General of India (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Mackenzie) were both pupils. Interestingly, Alexander MacKenzie is recorded as having been brought up on Melbost Farm, which made me wonder if he had a direct family connection with William MacGregor.

The Stornoway Historical Society website (see: http://www.stornowayhistoricalsociety.org.uk/churches-of-stornoway.html) mentions that 'The (Old) Seminary, near the top of Francis Street, opposite St Peter's, was originally built as a school, with a teacher's accommodation in one end. The Hon Mrs Stewart-Mackenzie presented it to the Free Church for educational purposes at a nominal rent of 1 Scots penny per annum, retaining ownership. Sir James Matheson gifted it, and it was used as a Free Church school until a new school was built beside it’. It is quite likely that this is where William MacGregor’s children went to school on account of William's close relationship with the Stewart-MacKenzies.

Gairloch Museum holds a very comprehensive collection of early 1800s school records, which I spent some studying to see if there were any mention of MacGregors. I believe that these records were for the SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge) schools. The records covered a large geographical area but I can’t remember if they went as far as Stornoway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education_in_Scotland gives some background on the schools system in Scotland.

It transpired that there was quite a lot of interaction between Gairloch, Applecross and Stornoway, as there was a ferry service between these points way before the Stornoway/Ullapool ferry went into service.

It was notable that there were often family connections between the teachers and doctors in Stornoway, as both professions obviously required quite high levels of education. Dr Alexander MacIver (1777-1852) married Jean (Jane) Anderson, a daughter of Alexander Anderson, a school teacher in Stornoway (see https://stornowayhistoricalsociety.org.uk/285-2/) , while the Female Industrial School for girl, which was set up by Sir James and Lady Matheson in 1848 (http://stornowayhistoricalsociety.org.uk/female-industrial-school-1848.html), had a teacher named Miss Anabella MacIver. Dr Alexander MacIver may have been Anabella’s father.

The Rev Wiliam MacRae's son, Charles MacRae ( 1818-1909) also trained as a doctor at Edinburgh University before returning to Barvas. This must have been around the same time that Duncan S MacDonald's son, George Alladye MacDonald, was training at Edinburgh to be a surgeon.

Connections to the Custom service also showed up as a common thread during my research, as John MacDonald, the Macivers and Reids were all involved. I was interested to learn that Rabbie Burns was also a Customs Officer in Stornoway, in 1779 (see http://stornowayhistory.wordpress.com/category/history/)