Editing Coll (section)

=== Departure ===
[[File:Derelict house at Sorisdale - geograph.org.uk - 808271.jpg|thumb|Derelict house at Sorisdale]]
[[File:Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1899) (14598330869).jpg|thumb|Map of [[Tiree]] (bottom, southwest) and Coll (top, northeast), 1899.]]
In the late 18th century there were about 1,000 people supported by agriculture and fishing.<ref name=Smith/> However, the collapse in the [[kelp]] market after the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], followed by the [[Highland Potato Famine]], caused a great deal of hardship on the island. By the mid 19th century, much of the population had chosen to leave, many of them moving to Australia, Canada, or South Africa in a process referred to as the [[Scottish diaspora]]. One source indicates that 23% of the island's population relocated.<ref name="Bueltmann">{{cite book | last=Bueltmann | first=Tanja | title=Scottish Diaspora | publisher=Edinburgh University Press | publication-place=Edinburgh | date=2013-11-20 | isbn=978-0-7486-5062-0 | page=}}</ref> The process took place alongside the [[Highland Clearances|clearances]] where many were removed from their land. In Coll, overpopulation was cited as a factor.<ref name="t893">{{cite book | last=Richards | first=Eric | title=A History of the Highland Clearances | publisher=Routledge | date=2023-01-09 | isbn=978-0-367-51450-1 | page=104}}</ref>