In 1843 the last laird, John Macleod, was deep in debt and chose to emigrate to Tasmania having sold Raasay for 35,000 guineas to George Rainy. After the failure of the potato harvests in the 1840s, the new owner decided to convert as much arable land as possible to sheep farming. This required the removal of the islanders, and his solution was to ban marriage. Several townships were cleared including Hallaig and Screapadal. Two boatloads of emigrants left for Portland in Australia in 1854 as a result, and another 165 left for the same destination in 1865. The estate was then sold to Edward Wood, and conflicts between the laird and the islanders grew as he decided to turn the island over to sporting purposes. On 20 September 1862 the steamship "Irishman" ran aground on "Skernataid Rock" between Raasay and Scalpay. A vessel "Spindrift" is also recorded as having become jammed under the ferry pier at the sound end of the island and broken in two by the rising tide at an unspecified date.