The croft at 9 Ruisgarry was created in the 1850 relotting of Ruisgarry by the Harris Estate. The area it lies within is known as Gunhill (Gaelic: Cnoc Gunna). Its name may be as it sounds, 'knoll of the gun', but an alternative suggestion, based on the fact that there was a dùn (fort) nearby, is that the name was originally Cnoc an Dùin or Cnoc Dhùin. 

Kenneth MacAskill was allotted 9 Ruisgarry in 1850. A few years later (either 1854 or 1864) he moved to another croft, passing croft 9 to Norman Paterson. Subsequently it passed down the family line, to Alexander Paterson and Norman Paterson.