DEVELOPMENT OF CROFTING LAW 1911-1955 - EXPANSION ACROSS SCOTLAND, SMALL LANDHOLDERS AND THE SCOTTISH LAND COURT

This is the third of 12 posts serialising my chapter on crofting law which appeared in “Land Reform in Scotland” edited by Malcolm Combe, Jayne Glass and Annie Tindley and published by Edinburgh University Press in 2020. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CROFTING LAW 1911-1955

The next stage in the development of crofting legislation extended the protection given to crofters across the whole of Scotland, by way of the Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911. The protected person was called a small landholder rather than a crofter, and these acts also formed the Scottish Land Court to replace the Crofters Commission, and the Department of Agriculture to replace the Congested Districts Board. The 1911 Act also introduced such familiar provisions as the requirement upon a crofter to cultivate the croft by himself or his family with or without hired labour and also the concept of putting a croft to a subsidiary or auxiliary use.[i] These alternative uses, at this stage, were not permitted to prejudice the agricultural use of the croft. The 1955 Act was amended by the Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961, which provided for the creation of new crofts, and a method of calculating compensation for permanent improvements.[ii]

[i] Agnew, Crofting Law, p. 4

[ii] Agnew, Crofting Law, p. 5

The next post, which covers the development of crofting law between 1955-1976, will be published next week on this website. See note below for details of all 12 posts.

As always, if you need help or wish to discuss crofting law, do get in touch.

Eilidh

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Note Referred To:-

Introduction

Development of Crofting Law

1886-1911

1911-1955

1955-1976

1976-1993

1993-1997

1997-2019

Challenges

Crofting legislation

Crofting law v land reform

The Conflicting Priorities of the Crofting System

The Impossibility of Purchase

Conclusion