Birsay parish records
Lookup searches – Access records in Scottish archives for ancestors in this parish (e.g. Kirk Session Records). Available from £1 a name a year.
Poor Law appeals – Indexed Poor Law appeals with the option to order images of records.
Birth records with no father’s name – Hit a brick wall with no father named in a birth record? Help is at hand: see our list for this parish below.
Male Heads of Families – Free transcripts of rolls of male heads of families from the 1830s
Kirk Sessions Index – Free extracts from Kirk Session records
Lookups
The records of the Kirk Session contain a variety of documents which detail many aspects of the daily lives of all types of people throughout Scotland from the 16th century onwards. We are pleased to be able to offer a search service in some of the records available for this parish. We do not currently have any lookups available for this parish.
Board of Supervision poor relief appeals
The Board of Supervision was established under the 1845 Poor Law Act. One of its tasks was to hear appeals by paupers against inadequate poor relief granted by Parochial Boards. These appeals were recorded in the Board of Supervision minutes. Cases were often heard over an extended period. The minutes may contain a variety of information, including about other family members, medical conditions and other circumstances. For more information about these records, see here.
We are pleased to be able to offer to obtain images of the minutes for each appeal, at the following rates:
We are pleased to be able to offer to obtain images of the minutes for each appeal, at the following rates:
- £3 for a single minute
- £6 for up to 3 minutes for a single case
- £10 for any single case with more than 3 minutes (some cases have as many as 8 minutes)
| Name | Address | Year(s)/ minutes | Order images | Deliverance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessie FRASER | 1876 (2) | Order images | Refused | |
| William FRASER | 1875 (1) | Order images | Refused |
List of Births with no Father's name 1855-1874
Your research hit a brick wall when you discovered a birth record missing this vital name? Choose Find the Father by any birth below to start breaking down that barrier today with our FREE search service. For births outwith this period, click here.
| Child name | Date of birth | Mother name | Order |
|---|---|---|---|
| George FINDLATER | 3 September 1869 | Isabella FINDLATER | Find the father |
| William FINDLATER | 21 August 1864 | Janet Or Jessie FINDLATER | Find the father |
| Catherine Marwick GUTHRIE | 18 July 1860 | Mary GUTHRIE | Find the father |
| Maria JOHNSTON | 25 November 1857 | Catherine JOHNSTON | Find the father |
| Thomas JOHNSTON | 10 November 1864 | Anne JOHNSTON | Find the father |
| Donaldina Graham KIRKNESS | 17 March 1857 | Margaret KIRKNESS | Find the father |
| Helen LEASK | 28 May 1866 | Catherine LEASK | Find the father |
| Bruce MOAR | 3 April 1871 | Catherine MOAR | Find the father |
| Robert MOAR | 20 March 1864 | Margaret MOAR | Find the father |
| James William PHILLIPS | 10 February 1869 | Jessie PHILLIPS | Find the father |
| James SIM | 6 October 1868 | Jane SIM | Find the father |
| Margaret SPENCE | 29 September 1865 | Anne SPENCE | Find the father |
| William SPENCE | 28 August 1874 | Isabella SPENCE | Find the father |
| Isabella Linklater STANGER | 4 July 1868 | Georgina STANGER | Find the father |
| Jane STANGER | 18 April 1857 | Jane STANGER | Find the father |
| Jane STANGER | 7 November 1859 | Betsy STANGER | Find the father |
| Mary Anne STANGER | 7 February 1856 | Elizabeth STANGER | Find the father |
| Charles TAYLOR | 31 December 1856 | Margaret TAYLOR | Find the father |
| James William TAYLOR | 17 December 1863 | Elizabeth TAYLOR | Find the father |
| Margaret Stanger TAYLOR | 2 January 1871 | Mary TAYLOR | Find the father |
Rolls of Male Heads of Families
In 1834, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed the Veto Act, removing the absolute right of landowners to appoint ministers to their parish. The Act gave male heads of families who were communicants with the parish the right to veto the appointment of a new minister if a majority of them objected. To this end, the Assembly instructed kirk sessions to draw up rolls of the male heads of families in each parish. We have transcribed the surviving rolls, and are publishing them here. They are significant as they pre-date the earliest nominal census, which took place in 1841.
In 1834, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed the Veto Act, removing the absolute right of landowners to appoint ministers to their parish. The Act gave male heads of families who were communicants with the parish the right to veto the appointment of a new minister if a majority of them objected. To this end, the Assembly instructed kirk sessions to draw up rolls of the male heads of families in each parish. We have transcribed the surviving rolls, and are publishing them here. They are significant as they pre-date the earliest nominal census, which took place in 1841.
No Roll of Male Heads of Families has yet been found for this parish
Kirk Session Records Index
We have not yet indexed any Kirk Session records for this parish
