History:

The info here is a bit skimpy. Hopefully we'll add to it later. The information here has been compiled from various sources including the internet, books, deeds and speaking to the owner and local people. Apologies if any information is display here wrongly.

Island ownership:

1858 - John Stevenson (Whiskey distiller in Oban)

1860 - NLB bought for purpose of sticking lighthouse on.

1976 - A local who runs an Exploration Centre

1977 - Gems Father

The first recorded history of Fladda shows that it was owned by John Stevenson in 1858. John was a whiskey distiller in Oban. How John got Fladda is not known. At the time Fladda would not have been worth much because it had no buildings on it so the deeds weren't kept.

The deeds show that the island was originally spelt Phladda but was changed by the Northern Lighthouse Board around 1900 because there is another island with a lighthouse on it called Phladda quite near in the Firth of Clyde.

Lighthouse:

1860 - First lit using paraffin

At some point it was converted to gas, and then (as currently is) to electricity, powered by rechargeable batteries charged by solar panels, with 2 petrol generators as backup.

People:

We dont yet know about any of the lighthouse keepers who lived at Fladda. We know the late Lachlan MacLachlan of Luing was the attending boatman of Fladda and several other lighthouses nearby until very recently. Before him it was his father, his grandfather and his grandfather's cousin who all had their turn as attending boatmen. They were all fishermen all of whom lived on Luing with Fladda in their view. Their job before it was converted to electricity was to check the light, the lens and the gas on a regular basis. Now it is fitted with sensors which can relay the information back to NLB HQ so maintenance visits are far more infrequent.

There are a couple of names scratched into the window panes from the inside of the principal keepers cottage which may have been people or children living there at the time or possibly just a visitor since the automation. One such name was Jane or Lana (its not clear) Begg who also added 1945 next to her name. The cottages were definitely occupied by keepers and their families then. Underneath her name was Julianna, and the other names scattered around are J R Murray, Jean and Phimie Macaulay. If you know of these people it would be nice to hear about them.

Life there:

Originally there was no grass or soil on Fladda. The garden was created from peat brought over from the return journey from delivering locally mined slate to Ireland. The keepers and family would have been as self-sufficient as possibly by growing vegetables and keeping pigs and chickens. Fladda was known for growing the best carrots in the area and traded these for other locally grown food.

At one stage we read there were a total of 19 people living between the two cottages. There are only 5 bedrooms and the two kitchen/livingrooms.