Patrick Sellar
(1780-1851)

Sutherland factor during the Clearances

Patrick Sellar was the factor of the Duke of Sutherland, one of the most notorious landlords for clearing off the land tenants whose families had farmed there for generations. Sellar was in the front line of the duke’s dirty work, and showed great enthusiasm and brutality in his ruthless evictions. He was eventually tried for oppression in 1816, and although acquitted, his name became synonymous with the Clearances.