The Soap Man: Lewis, Harris and Lord Leverhulme

by Roger Hutchinson

In 1918, as the First World War was drawing to a close, the eminent liberal industrial Lord Leverhulme bought - lock, stock and barrel - the Hebridean island of Lewis. His intention was to revolutionise the lives and environments of its 30,000 people, and those of neighbouring Harris, which he shortly added to his estate. For the next five years a state of conflict reigned in the Hebrides. Island seamen and servicemen returned from the war to discover a new landlord whose declared aim was to uproot their identity as independent crofter/fishermen and turn them into tenured wage-owners. They fought back, and this is the story of that fight. The confrontation resulted in riot and land seizure and imprisonment for the islanders and the ultimate defeat for one of the most powerful men of his day. The Soap Man paints a beguiling portrait of the driven figure of Lord Leverhulme, but also looks for the first time at the infantry of his the men and women of Lewis and Harris who for long hard years fought the law, their landowner, local business opinion and the entire media, to preserve the settled crofting population of their islands.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Scotland, Historical, Biography

Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Graculus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I go through phases of reading non-fiction, peppering those in amongst the SFF I'm mostly reading at the moment, and it's usually about a subject or place that interests me - in this case, I visited the location for The Soap Man a few years ago and had heard a little of the story but wanted to know more...

The book starts with a brief introduction to the life-story of William Lever, who would later become Lord Leverhulme, a self-made industrialist who made his money mostly from soap. His company would later go on to be part of the multi-national conglomerate Unilever. After setting up a model factory and village in the middle of a marsh in Lancashire, which he called Port Sunlight, Lever found himself with the opportunity of buying the entire Hebridean island of Lewis (and later its neighbour, Harris), the economy of which he believed he could revolutionise.

As long, of course, as the people of Lewis did what he wanted and, for a number of reasons, they were not inclined to do so. Lever had bought the island but he'd inherited a bunch of historic issues around land ownership, as previous lairds had spent money on deer and grouse while the island's inhabitants wanted land for crofting. All of this was happening around the time of World War I and the returning servicemen were even less likely to go along with what Lever was proposing.

All in all, I found The Soap Man an interesting example of that old adage about the irresistible force and the immovable object, with Lever as a man who was unable to see that he was half the author of his own problems with the people whose lives he wanted to up-end.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A megolamaniac is taught an important life lesson: don't make assumptions. A fascinating book, made all the more fascinating because I read it immediately before taking a holiday on the Isles of Lewis and Harris; I wanted to find out more about Leverhulme's influence or (as it turned out) lack of influence on the islands. The start of the book is a little dry, with a lot of seemingly unnecessary historical baggage thrown in for good measure. But persist through the first 50 or so pages and the book will start to come to life. At first you feel sympathy for Leverhulme's aspirations for improving people's lives before realising that he was virtually ignorant in respect of the ordinary crofter's traditional way of life and the lack of progress on land reform in the years immediately prior to his proprietorship. I found the book absolutely fascinating, made more so towards the end by actually living on Lewis and seeing places referred to in the book, and I'd heartily recommend it to anyone considering a holiday or even a relocation to Lewis and/or Harris.

[James Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well, researched and presented book covering the attempts of Lord Leverhulme to bring his approach of industrialisation to the Hebrides. The author attempts to outline the underlying issues which lead to the non-acceptance of Leverhulme's efforts and even his offer to hand over the islands for free is rejected by the locals as they seem totally focussed on a single objective: to remain as tenant crofters. While the book is mainly written in a balanced manner and provides insight from both perspectives, there is a slight tendency to side with the locals. Whether Leverhulmes plans which included fish processing plants etc would ever have become a success, we will never know and the only indications that industrialisation ever (almost) came to the Hebrides can be found as rusting iron and decaying wooden piers in Leverburgh. A book which is well-worth reading.

[Johanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, I suspect that to be wildly successful in business you have to be singleminded (there are enough contemporary equivalents!) but when the stubborn single-minded magnate Lord Leverhulme attempted to turn Lewis & harris into Port Sunlight he met his match. His failure to understand the people of Lewis & Harris was equalled by his failure to see how the world had changed and this also contributed to his failures in Africa. Interesting read - as a child we would walk in what were then the lost gardens of Rivington Pike - another Lever venture crumbled to dust.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked the book up from visiting Lady Lever Gallery and grew up knowing about the Leverhulme's attempts on Lewis and Harris but it was never explained in depth. The stand-off with crofters and Leverhulme's stubbornness and refusal to compromise were an embarrassment to all he had achieved. A Victorian industrialist who did care about his employees but unable to adapt to the 20th century or understand people who were not his employees.

[Stephen Mccollum · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read of 20th Century history that impacted the culture of Lewis. It's always good to learn a bit of local history.

[David McNair · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are planning a visit or have a connection to Lewis or Harris and you wish to discover a bit about the history of the islands I can recommend this book. Very good read.

[Chris Wilby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord Leverhulme took on board the mighty Hebrides but all they really wanted was land and crofts to keep their freedoms in a wild landscape.

[Felicity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fresh from an idyllic sunny 5 days in the Outer Hebrides, I declare this book a marvel! Now I understand the history - and delight in the failure of the misguided but not wholly unlikeable Lord Leverhulme's attempt to bring wholescale capitalism to Lewis (he of Lever Brothers /Unilever fame).
Strangely, it echoed with ' Along the Enchanted Way' about the 1990's and early years of 21st century in Romania in that the crofters of Lewis in the 1920's resisted the blandishments of land-ownership which would have destroyed their communities for ever, much as the elderly Romanians regretted that their young people were being lured from the deep satisfactions of a simple rural way of life by the mass-produced 'necessities ' being trumpeted by advertising.

[Moira McPartlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always knew Leverburgh on Harris was named after the Uni Lever founder but I didn't know the extent to his involvement with Lewis and Harris until I read this book. Lord Leverhulme bought the Islands in 1918 and tried to turn them into an industrialised utopia. But the islanders had other ideas. They didn't want to work in factories, they wanted land. What followed was a battle of wills and culture.

This is a fascinating account of Lord Leverhulme's life and the struggle of the Islanders to secure land and homes for themselves and their descendants. At times the book is bogged down with reported historical detail but that didn't spoil my enjoyment the read.

[Guido · Rating 4 out of 5]

When writing about history, it is important to view past events through the eyes of the time. Leverhulme was very much a man of his era, with attitudes to match. I do not fault him for this. It merely serves to explain the eventual outcome of his involvement with Lewis and Harris. To me, Leverhulme was the right man in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Iain Watson]

The Soap Man: Lewis, Harris, and Lord Leverhulme by Roger Hutchinson (2003)

[Duncan M Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less about Lord Leverhulme, more about the struggle for land on Lewis and Harris. A great read for anyone with an interest in the land issues of Scotland.