Flannan Isles Lighthouse Keepers: The disappearance

Though three men dwell on Flannan Isle
To keep the lamp alight,
As we steered under the lee, we caught
No glimmer through the night.
…..
Aye: though we hunted high and low,
And hunted everywhere,
Of the three men’s fate we found no trace,
Of any kind in any place,
But a door ajar, and an untouched meal,
And an overtoppled chair.

Flannan Isle, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson

The Flannan Isles Lighthouse was operational for a little over a year when the Keepers disappeared. 21 miles west of the Isle of Lewis, the Flannan Isles are sometimes known as the Seven Hunters. The lighthouse is situated on the largest of the island group on the 38-acre Eilean Mor (Big Island). Designed by David Allan Stevenson – son of David Stevenson – it sits on a 200-foot cliff, a 75-foot tall white tower; the beacon has a range of 20 miles and flashes two white signals every 30 seconds.

Approval for the construction of a lighthouse on the Flannan Isles was received from the Board of Trade in 1896, but it wasn’t until the 7 December 1899 that work began. Built by George Lawson of Rutherglen between 1896-1899, he constructed the lighthouse as well as the landing places and stairs on the island, and the houses for the lightkeepers’ families at the shore station at Breasclete, on Lewis.

During the Lighthouse’s operation, fortnightly reliefs were carried out until the disaster of December 1900. Prior to the discovery that the men were missing, the light had not been seen on the islands from the nearest point on Lewis, 16 miles away, for 10 days.

At the time three Lightkeepers were on duty at the lighthouse: James Ducat, Principal Lightkeeper; Thomas Marshall, Assistant Lightkeeper; and Donald McArthur, Occasional Keeper, who was on duty for William Ross (Assistant Lightkeeper) who was absent on sick leave. One other Assistant Lightkeeper, Joseph Moore, was on shore duty on Breasclete.

James Ducat was born on 11 August 1856 to James Ducat, Ploughman, and Louisa Ducat, née Guild. He had entered the service of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses on 21 November 1878, at 22 years old, and had served in a number of different lighthouses. His longest duration was at Rhinns of Islay Lighthouse for 7 years and 9 months, and by the time he reached the Flannan Isles he had been promoted in April 1896 from Assistant Lightkeeper, to Principal.

James married Mary Grierson on 9 June 1882 at Hutton Place, Edinburgh. Although James does not appear to be descended from lightkeepers, Mary certainly was with both her father John, and uncle Robert working at different lights. Tracing her through the census records, in 1881, a year before her marriage, she was living with her Uncle Robert Grierson at no. 1 Inchkeith Light, and James Ducat was living at no.2 with his sister and niece. It seems likely that this is where they met and came together, before marrying in 1882.

Thomas Marshall was the Assistant Lightkeeper and had entered the service of the NLC on 27 April 1896 at 27 years old. His entry in the Lightkeepers’ Registers note that he was previously a seaman, and Occasional Lightkeeper when resident on Ailsa Craig. Donald McArthur as an Occasional Keeper, was not recorded in the Registers.

The disappearance

A steamer passing the lighthouse around midnight on the 15 December noted that the light was not lit and reported this when they arrived at port. However, this fact was not communicated to the Commissioners and the disappearance of the keepers was only discovered as a result of the routine visit by the Lighthouse Tender Hesperus, on 26 December 1900.

Captain Harvie was in command of the Hesperus. He reported that there was no sign of life to be seen on the Island, and no response was made to either the horn being sounded, or to a rocket fired from the ship. The relieving Keeper, Joseph Moore, was landed to investigate, but upon entering the lighthouse, found no one there. Moore reported these facts to the Master, and was returned to the island with Mr MacDonald, Buoymaster (who was on board the vessel at the time), and Seaman Lamont and Campbell, all three having volunteered to remain on the Island with Moore to ensure the light was kept in operation.

Further investigation ensued, and it was confirmed that Moore had found the station deserted, with lamps trimmed and ready, the lens and machinery cleaned, the kitchen tidied, and two sets of outdoor clothing missing. No trace of the men was discovered.

From the archives in the National Records of Scotland (NRS) we can trace the correspondence detailing the investigation of the men’s disappearance, with letters written to the Commissioners by Joseph Moore, and a report submitted by the Superintendent Robert Muirhead on 8 January 1901. From these, we know that the last entries in the keeper’s log were for the 13 December, but particulars for the 14 December, and the time of extinguishing the light on the 15 December, along with barometer and thermometer readings, and the wind conditions at 9am on the 15, were all noted on a slate for transferring to the log later. Everything was in order, “the lamp was cleaned. The fountain full. Blinds on the windows etc.’, and clear evidence of the work of the forenoon on the 15 having been completed; all of which suggests the men disappeared on the afternoon of Saturday 15 December.

While no evidence of the men was found, traces of bad weather were present. Robert Muirhead’s report notes:

“…The iron railings round the crane platform and from the terminus of the tramway to the concrete steps up from the West landing were displaced and twisted. A large block of stone, weighing upwards of 20 cwt, had been dislodged from its position higher up and carried down to and left on the concrete path….A life buoy fastened to the railings along this path, to be used in case of emergency had disappeared, and I thought at first that it had been removed for the purpose of being used but… it was evident that the force of the sea pouring through the railings had, even at this great height (110 feet above sea level) torn the life buoy off the ropes”

NRS, NLC3/1/1

It was concluded that the men must have left the lighthouse for some purpose in this weather, perhaps to secure some gear or to ascertain what damage had been done. With Moore’s knowledge of the lightkeeper’s working clothes, Muirhead could guess that they had made their way to the landings:

“When the accident occurred, Ducat was wearing sea boots and a waterproof, Marshall sea boots and oilskins, and as Moore assures me that the men only wore those articles when going down to the landings, they must have intended, when they left the Station, either to go down to the landings or the proximity of it”.

NRS, NLC3/1/1

The conclusion of the investigation suggests that the men had been caught by an unexpected ‘large roller’ (wave) and swept into the sea.

Four volumes from the Lightkeeper Register of the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouse, spanning a total of 84 years (1837-1921) were recently imaged and made available on the National Records of Scotland’s service, ScotlandsPeople. These registers are indexed and can be searched by name, age and the year an individual entered into service. The register entries for Ducat, and Marshall include a note in red ink ‘Disappeared on or about 15 December 1900’, and all three men are recorded in the register of deaths for the district of Carloway, on the same page, with the cause of death noted as ‘probably drowning’.

Keeper James Ducat was survived by his wife and four children, Louisa (16), Robert (13), Annabella (9) and Arthur (6). Thomas Marshall was unmarried and had no children, but was survived by his father, brother and sister. The correspondence records suggest that Donald McArthur was survived by his wife and two children, who are yet to be definitively identified in our records.

There have been many books written about, and inspired by the disappearance of the Flannan Isles lightkeepers, with the film ‘The Vanishing’ released in 2018 based on the story. While it is likely that the mystery behind the keepers disappearance will continue to fascinate, it is worth remembering that three keepers lost their lives in pursuit of their duty, and the families of these men, to this day, do not know for sure what happened.

*This photograph has been published in good faith and for an educational, non-commercial purpose, as a rare example of an image of all the Keepers discussed in this article. While, based on the estimated date of this image, it is out of copyright, we have been unable to locate an owner. If you know, or are the owner of this image, and are concerned about its use here, please contact education@nrscotland.gov.uk.