In the 19th century the Crabbaberry fishing station in West Voe was opened and the island had a population of 360 people or more . However , fuel shortages and a decline in fishing due to the introduction of steam drifters saw a fall in population from the 1870s on . At this time another duel entered the history of Papa Stour . Edwin Lindsay , an Indian army officer and the son of the 6th Earl of Balcarres , was declared insane and sent to the island in disgrace after refusing to fight in one . He spent 26 years as a prisoner before the Quaker preacher Catherine Watson arranged for his release in 1835 . Lindsay 's Well is a spring at the south of the island where he was allowed to bathe .