There are many enquires to the Museum from people tracing their ancestry. The museum will eventually hold a permanent record searchable and themed.
The Medieval province of Strathnaver, comprising present-day northern Sutherland, was a focus for settlement from the early medieval period through the centuries of Viking activity and Norse colonisation, into the medieval period. It corresponds approximately to present-day northern Sutherland and extends from Cape Wrath eastward to the boundary with Caithness and southward as far as Eddrachillis, mirroring the Province’s extent at certain times in the past (Mackay 1906). Documented today as the parishes of Eddrachilis, Durness, Tongue and Farr with the Strathnaver Museum in Bettyhill situated at the head of the Strath of Strathnaver.
Strathnaver Museum has more than its fair share of interesting history with people from all over the Globe quite often travelling to find out more about their ancestry mainly form the result of The Clearances which began in 1760 and ended over a century later. During this time tens of thousands of men, women and children were evicted, from their homes in order to make way for sheep farming. In Strathnaver entire glens incorporating countless townships were cleared. There is an estimated 70 million people worldwide claiming Scottish ancestry and the museum has developed an embryonic genealogy service to support the Strathnaver diaspora.
The area has been divided by parish and information regarding family histories is being collected.
