Uig is the ancestral seat of the Clan MacAulay (Mac Amhlaigh). Through advanced Y DNA testing of a wide range of males from this family, it has been proven that the ancestor of this family had an Irish origin from well before the advent of surnames. They are distinct from several other unique Macaulay families on the Isle of Lewis, most of whom show Nordic or Scandinavian ancestry. The most famous chief of the Uig Macaulays was Donald Cam MacAulay, and his descendants have included the anti-slavery campaigner Zachary Macaulay and his son Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay who wrote A History of England. A later descendant, T B MacAulay, founded the Sun Life of Canada insurance company. According to Lewis tradition, Uig is the birthplace of Coinneach Odhar, the Brahan Seer, a Nostradamus-type figure of the 16th century.
