Genealogy and Family History in Scotland
  • Home
  • Records
    • Board of Supervision
    • Fathers Found
    • Asylum Patients
    • Sheriff Court Paternity Decrees
    • Sheriff Court Extract Decrees
    • School Leaving Certificates
    • Crown Office Cases AD8 >
      • AD8 index 1890 01
      • AD8 index 1890 02
      • AD8 index 1890 03
      • AD8 index 1890 04
      • AD8 index 1890 05
      • AD8 index 1890 06
      • AD8 index 1890 07
      • AD8 index 1890 08
      • AD8 index 1890 09
      • AD8 index 1890 10
      • AD8 index 1890 11
      • AD8 index 1900 1
      • AD8 index 1900 2
      • AD8 index 1900 3
      • AD8 index 1900 4
      • AD8 index 1900 5
      • AD8 index 1900 6
    • Crown Counsel Procedure Books
    • Registers of Deeds
    • General Register of the Poor
    • Registers of Sudden Deaths
    • Anatomy Registers
  • Resources
    • Scottish Genealogy Sources
    • KINCLAVEN One Place Study >
      • Kinclaven 1911 census
      • Kinclaven Parish Church Books
      • Kinclaven Communion Roll 1880-1894
    • Archives in Scotland map
    • Scottish surnames >
      • Surnames-A
      • Surnames-B
      • Surnames-C
      • Surnames-D
      • Surnames-E
      • Surnames-F
      • Surnames-G
      • Surnames-H
      • Surnames-I
      • Surnames-J
      • Surnames-K
      • Surnames-L
      • Surnames-M
      • Surnames-N
      • Surnames-O
      • Surnames-P
      • Surnames-Q
      • Surnames-R
      • Surnames-S
      • Surnames-T
      • Surnames-U
      • Surnames-V
      • Surnames-W
      • Surnames-Y
      • Surnames-Z
    • Statutes
    • Auchterarder in WWI
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Managed Service Customer Login
    • Tourism Partners Login
  • Shop

Admirals, asylums, and Antarctica

9/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture1895 receipt from Crichton Royal
It's International Archives Day, so we thought we'd share a few items from our own archives that together offer some useful family history research.

In this first selection, what first caught our attention was a series of receipts from Crichton Royal Institution in Dumfries for the care of Mrs McMURDO. The Crichton was a pioneer in mental health care, and in its day it was one of the most renowned psychiatric hospitals in the world. It was one of the first institutions to introduce art therapy, and the hospital's records - currently being preserved and catalogued by a dedicated team of researchers and volunteers - include patient artworks as well as more conventional medical and patient records. You can read all about the project here. (Opens in a new window)

The next document is an 1822 baptism certificate from Edinburgh for Marion Jessie CORRIE, daughter of Thomas CORRIE WS (Writer to the Signet) and his wife Clementina Blair ROSS. This is a printed slip with the details completed by hand (by one Robert BONE). Such slips were regularly issued by many parishes, although being ephemeral, relatively few of them survive.

Picture
Baptism certificate of Marion Jessie Corrie, Edinburgh, 1822
Picture1829 affidavit of Catherine Martha McMurdo
The third document is a very fragile 1829 affidavit from Catherine Martha WILSON or MCMURDO, affirming that her son, Archibald William McMURDO, had been born on 24 August 1810 and had been baptised by Rev. Dr. William BABINGTON of Dumfries, “who, as the Deponent has heard and believes, kept no regular Register of Births and Baptisms”. Before the introduction of statutory registration of births, deaths and marriages in 1855, there are significant gaps in records of births and baptisms in Scotland, particularly in towns. In support of her affidavit, Archibald’s mother exhibited the family bible to John MACGEORGE, Justice of the Peace in Dumfries. A little research showed that William BABINGTON was a minister of the Episcopalian Church in Dumfries, which would explain why could not find the baptism of Archibald in the Church of Scotland records.

The collection also contains a number of receipts, including one from 1888 for £2 19s 2d from Brandon’s Limited of Oxford Street in London, a self-described “fashionable millinery establishment”. Another receipt was for Poor Rates for the parish of Troqueer levied in 1897 on a Mrs M J MCMURDO. This was clearly a well-to-do family.

Given the fairly uncommon family name – McMURDO – we wondered if there was any connection to Admiral Archibald McMURDO, after whom McMurdo Sound in Antarctica was named. A little bit of digging confirmed our suspicions. Admiral Archibald William McMURDO’s death record [1] shows that he had been married to Marion Jessie CORRIE, and that his parents were Archibald McMURDO, an army officer and Catherine McMurdo WILSON. Archibald McMurdo senior died in October 1829 in Dumfries, just a few weeks after Catherine Martha Wilson/McMurdo’s affidavit about her son’s birth. One possibility is that this affidavit may have been drawn up to allow Admiral McMurdo to inherit his father’s estate of Cargenholme in Troqueer.

We looked online and found quite a number of family trees with Archibald MCMURDO, and almost all of them claim he was born in 1812, as indeed does his Wikipedia entry. Some of the trees also give the wrong set of parents (John James McMURDO and Emily FLOWER: John James McMURDO died in Edinburgh in 1867, and his death was officially registered by Admiral Archibald, who was in fact his brother, not his son).

Taken together, these documents offer several important lessons for family historians and genealogists:

  1. Some events – such as the birth and baptism of Archibald – may simply not be recorded, or they may be recorded in unexpected places - in this case it's possible that there is some trace of the Admiral's birth in the Episcopal Church's records, although the affidavit and a search of various archive catalogues suggest otherwise.
  2. The use of alternative sources, such as family bibles, can help overcome barriers to research. In this case, there appears to be no surviving church record of Admiral McMurdo's birth and baptism.
  3. Perhaps most importantly, the golden rule of genealogy: you should always cite and check your sources. We found fifteen family trees online with the Admiral: 14 of them gave his date of birth as 24 September 1812 without citing a source for the date. One researcher did give what we believe to be the correct date of 24 August 1810, although unfortunately without citing his or her sources.

Old Scottish will always properly cite sources so that you can follow our research. Why not get in touch to see if we can help you discover your own Scottish roots?


[1] Deaths. Scotland. Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire. 882. 11 December 1875. Archibald William McMURDO. NRS Data 882/0 0143.
0 Comments

Whittinghame in the Great War

7/6/2016

0 Comments

 
We're now half way through the four years of centenaries of the First World War. The scale of the war is in many ways incomprehensible. Every village was affected - every village has its own war memorial. Whittingehame in East Lothian was no exception. Whittingehame's memorial was formally unveiled in 1920 by Arthur Balfour, former Prime Minister. Balfour had himself played a prominent role in the First World War, succeeding Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty on 25 May 1915, then becoming Foreign Secretary on 10 December 1916, a post he held until after the war.

Balfour had been born in Whittingehame House, the son of the local MP, so it perhaps was no surprise that he agreed to unveil the war memorial in the parish of his birth.

Recently, though, while looking through the records of Whittingehame Kirk Session, we came across war-time copies of the parish magazine. In the January 1915 issue, the parish minister gives a Roll of Honour:
Roll of Honour for Whittingehame Parish
Containing the names of all now in Military Service whose homes are in this Parish, or who enlisted while here.
I. At The Front
1. Second Lieutenant O H C Balfour, 60th Rifles; was in battles of Mons, Marne, and Aisne; wounded in the last; mentioned in Dispatches of Sir John French.
2. Matthew Symington Aitchison, Stoneypath, Royal Scots.
3. James Aitchison, Stoneypath, Seaforth Highlanders.
4. William Aitchison, Stoneypath, Seaforth Highlanders.
5. Staff Nurse Millicent Bruce Peterkin, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service.
6. Andrew Steel, Manse Cottage, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
 
II. Territorial Force
7. Colonel Edward Peterkin, VD,, Commanding 10th (Reserve) Battalion, the Royal Scots.
8. James Clark, Luggate, Lothians and Border Horse.
9. George Robertson, Luggate, Royal Scots.
III. In Lord Kitchener’s Army
10. David Stoddart, Papple, Seaforth Highlanders.
11. George White, Overfield, Seaforth Highlanders.
12. George Burgess, The Gardens, 5th Dragoon Guards.
13. Eric Griffin, Whittingehame House, 5th Dragoon Guards.
14. John Macintosh, Whittingehame House, 5th Dragoon Guards.
15. George Jeffrey, Home Farm, Seaforth Highlanders.
16. John Jarvis, Papple, Army Service Corps.
17. James Jarvis, Papple, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.
18. James Gray, Home Farm, Cameron Highlanders.
19. George Horsburgh, Joiner’s Lodge, Army Service Corps.
20. Arthur Brett, The Stables, Army Service Corps.
21. James Dickson, Home Farm, Army Service Corps.
22. Thomas Brown, Stoneypath, Cameron Highlanders.
23. David Bisset, Newmains, Cameron Highlanders.
24. John Brodie, Westmains, Cameron Highlanders.
25. William Johnston, Westmains, Scots Guards.
26. James White, The Gardens, Scots Guards.
27. William Keiller, The Gardens, Scots Guards.
28. Alfred Pringle, Luggate, Royal Artillery.
29. Thomas Rutherford, 8th Royal Scots.
It's worth bearing in mind that in 1911, there were only 92 men aged 18 to 40 in the whole parish. This would seem to suggest that around one-third of the adult male population had signed up a full year before conscription was introduced by the Military Service Act 1916.

A year later, the parish magazine again contained a Roll of Honour
​Roll of Honour for Whittingehame Parish, January 1916
I. In Regular Army
1. Lieutenant Oswald Balfour, 60th Rifles. Mentioned in dispatches. Twice wounded. Now in England
Matthew Symington, Stoneypath, Royal Scots. Killed in battle 25th September 1915.
2. James Aitchison, Stoneypath, Seaforth Highlanders. Now in hospital in France.
3. William Aitchison, Stoneypath, Seaforth Highlanders. Now in France
4. Thomas Calder Kerr, Whitelaw, Sergeant, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Now in France.
5. William Inglis, Stoneypath Tower, Gordon Highlanders. Now at Aberdeen.
 
II. Territorial Force
6. James Clark, Luggate, Lothians and Border Horse. Now in France.
7. George Robertson, Luggate, Royal Scots. Now in Scotland
8. Thomas Rutherford, Home Farm, 8th Royal Scots. Now at Falkirk.
9. Alexander Punton Kerr, Whitelaw, 8th Royal Scots. Now in France.
III. In Lord Kitchener’s Army
David Stoddart, Papple, Seaforth Highlanders. Killed in battle on 25th September 1915.
10. George White, Overfield, Seaforth Highlanders. Now in hospital in France.
11. George Burgess, Whittingehame Gardens, 2nd Battalion Leicesters. Now in France. [Annotation Killed Mesopotamia Jan 1916].
12. Eric Griffin, Whittingehame House, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. Now in France.
13. John Mackintosh, Whittingehame House, 1st King’s Dragoon Guards. Now in France.
14. John Jarvis, Papple, Field Ambulance, France.
15. James Jarvis, Papple, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Now in France.
16. David Jarvis, Papple, Black Watch, Nigg Camp, Ross-shire.
17. James Gray, Home Farm, Cameron Highlanders. Wounded in France. Now at Invergordon. [Annotation Killed]
18. James Dickson, Home Farm, Army Service Corps. Now in France.
19. George Horsburgh, Joiner’s Lodge, Field Ambulance Shoeing Smith. Now in France.
20. Arthur Brett, The Stables, Army Mechanical Transport. Now in France.
21. David Bisset, Newmains, Cameron Highlanders. Wounded. Now again in France.
22. John Brodie, Westmains, Cameron Highlanders. Twice wounded. Now at Invergordon.
William Johnston, Westmains, Scots Guards. Believed to have been killed in action.
23. James White, The Gardens, Scots Guards. Wounded seriously. Now in hospital in Manchester.
24. William Keiller, Whittingehame Gardens, Scots Guards. Believed to be wounded and in hospital. [Annotation Killed]
25. John Stoddart, Papple, attached to Entrenching Battalion in France.
26. Archibald Bisset, Whittingehame Mains, Cameron Highlanders. At Invergordon.
27. James Brown, Home Farm, Cameron Highlanders. At Invergordon.
28. Alexander Willsher, Whittingehame Gardens, King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Marine Gardens, Edinburgh.
29. Albert Sturgeon, Whittingehame Gardens, King’s Own Scottish Borderers. Marine Gardens, Edinburgh.
30. Henry Dickson, Tower Cottage, Royal Horse Guards. Regent’s Park, London.
31. Arthur Mercer, Lady Eleanor’s Cottage, Gordon Highlanders. Now at Blairgowrie.
32. James W Robertson, The Manse, 15th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Now at Gailes Camp, Ayrshire.
The number of men in service had increased a little, and five men - Matthew Symington, David Stoddart, George Burgess, James Gray, Matthew Keiller and William Johnston - had been killed and another six injured.

The toll continues to rise in the January 1917 issue of the parish magazine:
​[List of the dead]
David Stoddart, Papple.
James Gray, Home Farm.
George Burgess, The Gardens.
William Keiller, The Gardens.
Matthew Symington, Stoneypath.
William Johnston, West Mains.
Charles Fergie Russell, West Mains.
[Added in hand: James Jarvis, Papple; David Jarvis, Papple]
The following are the names of our men now in the Army, set down according to their homes.
 
From Whittingehame House, Lodges and Home Farms.
Lieutenant Oswald Balfour, 60th Rifles. Now in Greece.
George White, Overfield, Seaforth Highlanders. Now in France.
John White, Heather Lodge, 9th Royal Scots. In Yorkshire.
Arthur Mercer, Lady Eleanor’s, Gordon Highlanders. Norwich.
George Horsburgh, Joiner’s Lodge, RAMC. In France.
Arthur Brett, Whittingehame Stables, ASC, France.
Thomas Rutherford, Home Farm, Royal Scots. France.
James Dickson, Home Farm, ASC, France.
John Kerr, Home Farm, Royal Scots. France.
Thomas Macdonald, Hailes, Royal Scots. North Berwick.
Charles Sherlaw, Luggateburn, ASC. London.
 
From Papple
John Stoddart, 4th Reserve, Royal Scots. Yorkshire.
John Jarvis, ASC, Transport Section. France.
Peter Jarvis, 12th Royal Scots. France.
James Jarvis, A and S Highlanders. France. [Annotation deleted]
David Jarvis, 8th Black Watch. France. [Annotation deleted]
Victor Anderson, Scottish Rifles. Yorkshire.
 
From Whittingehame Mains
Lieutenant J F Malcolm, RFA. On way to India.
Corporal T F Malcolm, RFA. In France.
George A Malcolm, RFA. Chelmsford.
David Bisset, 3rd Seaforth Highlanders. France.
Archibald Bisset, 1st Cameron Highlanders. Ireland.
George Calder, 1st Gordon Highlanders. In hospital, Northampton.
Adam Cameron, Lovat Scouts. France.
 
From West Mains
John Russell, Royal Scots Greys. Yorkshire.
John Brodie, 5th Cameron Highlanders. In hospital, Glasgow.
 
From Luggate and Luggateburn
James Clark, Lothians and Border Horse. Greece.
John Anderson, Sergeant, 2nd Canadian Division. Now in Surrey.
George Anderson, 2nd Canadian Division. In France.
George Robertson. Royal Scots. France.
John Blair, ASC. France.
 
From Stoneypath and Stoneypath Tower
George Anderson, Royal Field Artillery. Yorkshire.
Private Inglis, Gordon Highlanders. France.
John Montgomery, Royal Scots. Queensferry.
 
From New Mains
David Bisset, 1st Cameron Highlanders. France
 
From Yarrow
John Willens, 8th Royal Scots. France.
 
From Ruchlaw
Robert Hutchison, Air Mechanical Service. London.
Robert Adamson, Ayrshire Yeomanry. Hawick.
 
From the Manse
Cadet James W Robertson, France. [Annotation Lieu].
 
Other names may be added to this list – of men who had their homes here for a time, but whose present whereabouts is not known to us – John Macintosh, Eric Griffin, William M’Lachlan, Alexander Willsher, Albert Sturgeon, John Boa, James Slight. We shall be glad to hear good news of them also. One other (James White, formerly at The Gardens) has been seriously maimed, and has been long in hospital.
By this stage, going by the 1911 population figures, roughly half of the adult males in the parish were in the armed forces. The final list is then produced in the 1918 issue of the Parish Magazine
I print a Roll of Honour for the Congregation and Parish, which is as complete and up-to-date as I can manage to make it from any information that has been given me. I look forward to making express use of it especially in our meeting for prayer on the first Sunday of 1918, as the King has suggested. First, in a special Roll by themselves, I inscribe those who have died for home and country and for the great cause of righteousness and humanity involved in this War. They were seven in number a year ago; now they are twelve. We shall not see them again in this world, but we cherish their memory; it is a very sacred memory to us; for “greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
David Stoddart, Papple.
James Gray, Home Farm.
George Burgess, The Gardens.
William Keiller, The Gardens.
Matthew Symington, Stoneypath.
William Johnston, West Mains.
Charles Fergie Russell, West Mains.
James Jarvis, Papple.
David Jarvis, Papple.
James W Robertson, The Manse.
William M’Lachlan, The Gardens.
George Calder, Whittingehame Mains.
To those above written we may add the name of Robert Smith, whose family is at Stoneypath.
 
The following are the names of our men now in Army service, set down according to their homes here:
 
From Whittingehame House, Lodges and Home Farms.
Captain Oswald Balfour, 60th Rifles. Now in Greece.
George White, Overfield, 7th Seaforths. Now in hospital at Penrith.
John White, Heather Lodge, 9th Royal Scots. Now in France.
Arthur Mercer, Lady Eleanor’s, Gordon Highlanders. Now in France.
George Horsburgh, Joiner’s Lodge, SS, RAMC. In France.
Arthur Brett, Stables, ASC. In France.
Thomas Rutherford, Home Farm, Royal Scots. In hospital in Liverpool.
James Dickson, Home Farm, ASC. France.
John Kerr, Home Farm, Royal Scots. France.
Thomas Macdonald, Hailes, Royal Scots. North Berwick.
Alexander Willsher, The Gardens, 2nd KOSB. In hospital, Manchester.
Charles Sherlaw, Luggateburn, ASC. London.
 
From Papple
John Stoddart, Royal Scots. In France.
John Jarvis, ASC, Transport Section. In France.
Peter Jarvis, 12th Royal Scots. In France.
Victor Anderson, Scottish Rifles. In Palestine.
 
From Whittingehame Mains
Lieutenant J F Malcolm, RFA. India.
Corporal T F Malcolm, RFA. Received discharge.
George A Malcolm, RFA. In France.
David Bisset, 3rd Seaforths. In France.
Archibald Bisset, 7th Cameron Highlanders. France.
Adam Cameron, Lovat Scouts. France.
 
From West Mains
John Russell, Lieutenant in Flying Corps. Reading.
John Brodie, 5th Cameron Highlanders. In Netley Hospital.
 
From Luggate
James Clark, Lothians and Border Horse. Greece.
Alexander Clark, Lieutenant in Flying Corps. England.
George Robertson. Labour Service. France.
John Blair, 7th Buffs. France.
 
From Yarrow, Stoneypath etc
George Anderson, RFA. In hospital, Cardiff.
David Bisset, 1st Cameron Highlanders. France
John Willens, 8th Royal Scots. France.
Robert Hutchison, Air Mechanical Service. England.
 
Other names may be added to this list – of men who had their homes here for a time but whose present whereabouts is not know to us, as John Mackintosh, Eric Griffin, Albert Sturgeon, John Boa, James Slight.
There is no reason to suppose that Whittingehame was in any way exceptional in this regard. It just goes to show the enormity of World War I that roughly half the men of the village saw action, of whom about a quarter were killed.
0 Comments

History talks and events 11-17 June 2016

7/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 4 - 10 June 2016

Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list.

Saturday, June 11 2016

WW1 Naval Records

Ken Nisbet

Venue: Scottish Genealogy Society Library, 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL

Scottish Genealogy Society


Monday, June 13 2016, 7.30 pm

Henrietta Taylor

Maggie Craig

Venue: Huntly Library, The Square, Huntly, AB54 8BR

Aberdeenshire Libraries

Maggie will talk about a remarkable local woman from the Duff family, Henrietta Tayler, who served as a nurse in WW1 and who was an eminent scholar, publishing many books on a subject close to Maggie’s heart – the Jacobites and Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745. Maggie has uncovered lots of interesting facts and stories about Henrietta and we are guaranteed an entertaining evening.


Tuesday, June 14 2016, 10.15 - 11.45 am

U3A Family History Group

Venue: Turriff Library, Grange Villa, The Square, Turriff, AB43 5AE

Aberdeenshire Libraries

For further details, please contact Turriff Library.


Tuesday, June 14 2016, 7.30 pm

Snippets of Researching my Family History

Fife FHS members

Venue: Volunteer House (Vonef Centre) in 69 Crossgate Cupar KY15 5AS

Fife Family History Society

Preceded by AGM


Wednesday, June 15 2016, 2 pm

The Picts

Norman Atkinson OBE

Venue: Monifieth Community Cabin, South Union Street, DD5 4JG

Monifieth Local History Society

Entry to talks followed by afternoon tea £4


Thursday, June 16 2016

Scotland and the Flemish People - Conference

Venue: University of St Andrews

University of St Andrews

16-17 June 2016. http://flemish.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/


Thursday, June 16 2016, 7.30 pm

Open Night

Venue: Brora Community Centre

Clyne Heritage Society

A selection of the Society’s new archives on display


0 Comments

Happy birthday, census

6/6/2016

0 Comments

 
175 years ago today, a small army of enumerators set out all across Scotland - and the rest of the UK - tasked with carrying out a population census. It wasn't the first national UK census - that was organised in 1801, with others in 1811, 1821 and 1831 - but it was the first to attempt to record every man, woman and child in the country. As such, it is an enormously important record set for family historians.

The purpose of the census was to provide accurate and detailed statistical information about the country to enhance government decisions. This was arguably an approach that had been pioneered by Sir John Sinclair with the Statistical Account of Scotland - a monumental work that introduced the word statistics into the English language.

It seems a fitting day, then, for us to have completed phase one of our Scottish surnames project. The idea is really quite simple - to investigate the frequency and geographical distribution of surnames in Scotland using, among others, census records. In our client and transcription work, we have built up a large database of surnames - over 8,500 so far - found in Scottish historical records. We want to know how common each of these surnames is in Scotland, and whether they are more common in any particular part of Scotland.

Phase 1 of our project - which is now complete - entailed counting the number of times each surname is found in each of Scotland's 33 historic counties, and in the four largest cities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow). Even the data-gathering part of this phase was a major task - we conducted over 300,000 database queries before we could even begin crunching the numbers.

Having got the raw data, we then compared the number of instances of each surname [1] in each county with the total population of that county, giving the number of instances of each surname per 100,000 people in each county (the surname density). We then compared each county-frequency value with the equivalent figure for the whole of Scotland, to get an indication of relative surname density. [2]

The higher the relative surname density, the more common the surname is in that county compared to Scotland as a whole. Our working hypothesis is that the higher the maximum relative surname density for a particular surname, the more likely that surname is to have a geographic origin in that area. We will be looking to test that hypothesis using a selection of surnames with known geographic origins. [3]

A corollary to this initial hypothesis is that the lower the maximum relative surname density, the less likely the surname is to have a specific geographic origin. This appears to be borne out to some extent by the surnames with the lowest maximum relative surname density, shown in the table below
​
Surname Maximum relative density
Thomson 1.831
Wilson 1.853
Gray 1.936
Jack 2.045
Martin 2.208
Hill 2.23
Burns 2.236
Brown 2.244
Kay 2.274
Frazer 2.277
 None of the top 9 surnames have a single origin, and the tenth - Frazer - may simply be a statistical artefact caused by the unusual spelling.

Several other interesting facts emerge from the initial results of this study.
  • 19 different surnames are the most common surnames in individual counties/cities (Brown in 6, Campbell, Roberston and Smith in 4, Thomson in 3, Grant and Scott in 2, and Bell, Fraser, Hunter, Macdonald, Mackay, Mackenzie, McCulloch, Mcmillan, Milne, Sinclair, Stewart and Sutherland in 1).
  • Perthshire has the most unique surname variants not found in any other county (55), followed by Fife (50), Angus (49), Ayrshire (48), Kirkcudbrightshire (47), Renfrewshire (43), Orkney (39), Lanarkshire (35) and Aberdeenshire (34).
  • The top 10 surnames in Sutherland account for 63.26% of the entire population. Nearly one in five people in Sutherland in 1841 were Mackays. By contrast, the top 10 surnames only accounted for 9.6% of the population in Wigtownshire and 9.8% in Renfrewshire.
  • By one measure, Clackmannanshire, Dumfriesshire and Wigtownshire have the most distinctive top-ten surnames - only 5 of the top 10 surnames in each of these counties appear in the top 10 surnames of any other county.
We plan to extend the scope of this project at some point in the future - to cover later census years, to see how surname distributions vary over time, and to break the level of detail down to cover registration districts/parishes, and not just counties. In the meantime, we've added tables of the most common surnames in each county to the relevant county pages, which can be found here. You can also see the lists of surnames sorted alphabetically here.

[1] For the purposes of this study, we treated Mc- and Mac- surnames as identical.
[2] For example, there were 1580 Browns in Aberdeenshire in 1841. The total population of Aberdeenshire was 193,062. This means that the surname density for Brown in Aberdeenshire is
Surname density (Brown in Aberdeen) = (1580 / 193,062) * 100,000 = 818.39
There were 28,617 Browns in the whole of Scotland in 1841, out of a total population of 2,589,636. So the surname density for Brown in Scotland is
Surname density (Brown in Scotland) = (28,617/2,589,636) * 100,000 = 1105.06
So the relative surname density for Brown in Aberdeen is
Relative surname density (Brown in Aberdeenshire) = Surname density (Brown in Aberdeenshire) / Surname density (Brown in Scotland) = 818.39 / 1105.06 = 0.7406
A relative surname density less than 1 indicates that the surname is less common in that county than in Scotland as a whole. Likewise a relative surname density greater than 1 indicates that the surname is more common in that county than in Scotland as a whole.
​[2] A complication that arises here is that surnames based on specific place names may have first arisen elsewhere. Take for instance the surname Carstairs. This derives from the barony of Carstairs in Lanarkshire, but the surname is most commonly found in Fife. This can be explained by two 13th-century clergymen, Peter de Castiltarris (i.e. "of Carstairs") and John de Castiltarris, who were granted stipends in Dunkeld in 1231 and north-east Fife a little later in the 13th century. The progenitor of the surname presumably came from Lanarkshire, but the surname itself arose in and spread from Fife. Although perhaps at first glance counter-intuitive, this is in fact logical: it wouldn't make sense to refer to John of Carstairs in Carstairs itself, but away from Carstairs, "of Carstairs" would serve as a useful identifier.

Submit
0 Comments

Pirates of the Mediterranean

5/6/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
An action between an English ship and vessels of the Barbary Corsairs [1]
Kirk Session records are a fantastic resource, not just for family history, but for Scottish history more generally. Along with the information more generally sought by genealogists - interrogations of unmarried mothers as to the paternity of their children (which we've written about here) - and the occasional panic about witchcraft and Sabbath breaking, they sometimes contain snippets of more general interest.

The following appears in the West Calder Kirk Session minutes on 1 September 1678 [2]:
A communication from the Privy Council being read for a voluntary contribution for the relief of Robert Williamson skipper in Montross [Montrose] and the rest of his company captives with the Turks in Algiers, the Session ordains a collection to be made through the several houses of the Parish & intimation publickly to be made before the collection thereof.
This was a reference to what are known as the Barbary Pirates - privateers operating from North Africa, attacking European shipping and mounting coastal raids in the Mediterranean and further afield (Baltimore in County Cork had been raided in 1631, and even Iceland had been attacked in 1627). The purpose of the raids was to acquire captives, either to be sold as slaves or, for the lucky ones, to be ransomed. Presumably the Privy Council were hoping to pay a ransom for Robert Williamson and his crew.

England had sought relief from pirate attacks through a series of attacks and gunboat diplomacy in previous years. In 1675 Sir John Narborough, commanding a Royal Navy squadron, had negotiated a treaty with Tunis, and also - following a bombardment - with Tripoli, in modern-day Libya. The next year, peace followed with the Republic of Salé (opposite Rabat in Morocco). A peace deal had been negotiated with Algiers in 1671, but this was broken in 1677 and a large number of ships from Britain were captured by corsairs operating out of Algiers. Janeway [3] lists over 80 ships captured by Algiers corsairs in 1677-1679.

Evidently the men appointed to raise a collection for Robert Williamson were not particularly assiduous in carrying out their task, as seven weeks later we again read in the session minutes [4]:
October 22 1678
The Session desires those that were named to gather the collection for the Prisoners with the Turks to go about it with all diligence.
We hear nothing more about the collection until finally, three months after the initial call to raise a collection, we read [5]:
December 8 1678
The Session appoints Mr James Brown to deliver to John Knox in Borrowstounness [Bo'ness] Factor constitute for receiving the Voluntary Contribution for Robert Williamson skipper in Montross & his company Captives with the Turks, that sum which was collected for them in this Parish, being £24-00-00.
Although it's not explicitly stated, it seems reasonable to assume the intention was to pay a ransom to recover Robert Williamson. Sadly, Janeway notes that it was not to be, recording that the ship (the Isabella) was lost, with all twelve crew having died. It's not clear what happened to the money raised, evidently not just in West Calder. It may well have been paid to the families of the unfortunate crew of the Isabella, but there is no mention of that in the West Calder records.

Sources:

[1] By Workshop of Willem van de Velde the Younger - Christie's, LotFinder: entry 5080190, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18420790

​[2] Kirk Session of West Calder, Minutes, September 1 1678, CH2/366/1, Records of Church of Scotland Synods, Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions, National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh
​
[3] A list of ships taken since July, 1677 from his Majesties subjects, by the corsairs of Algier. With their names, masters names, and places to which they belong'd, and time of taking : with a modest estimate of the loss. London: Printed for Richard Janeway, 1682.

​[4] 
Kirk Session of West Calder, Minutes, October 22 1678, CH2/366/1, Records of Church of Scotland Synods, Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions, National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh​

[5] ​Kirk Session of West Calder, Minutes, December 8 1678, CH2/366/1, Records of Church of Scotland Synods, Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions, National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh

1 Comment
    Find local and family history records here

    Old Scottish

    Genealogy and Family History  - A mix of our news, curious and intriguing discoveries. Research hints and resources to grow your family tree in Scotland from our team.

    Picture

    Archives

    November 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    September 2021
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    17th Century
    1841
    18th Century
    Aberdeen
    Aberdeenshire
    Aberdour
    Alcohol
    Alexander
    Alyth
    Angus
    Anstruther
    Antiquaries
    Arbroath
    Archaeology
    Architecture
    Archives
    Ardtornish
    Argyll
    Asia
    Associate Congregation
    Asylum
    Athelstaneford
    Atholl
    AtoZChallenge
    Auchmithie
    Auldhame
    Australia
    Ayr
    Ayrshire
    Baird
    Banffshire
    Baptisms
    Barclay
    Barony
    Birse
    Birth Records
    Board Of Supervision
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Borders
    Brewing
    Brick Walls
    Broughton History Society
    Burials
    Cairney
    Cambuskenneth
    Campbell
    Canada
    Candlemas
    Carlops
    Carriden
    Carrington
    Castles
    Cellardyke
    Celtic
    Census
    China
    Cholera
    Church Discipline
    Church History
    Church Records
    Clan Chattan
    Clydeside
    Clyne
    Coal Mining
    Coldstream
    Colinton
    Communion Rolls
    Convicts
    Costume History
    Counties
    Coupar Angus
    Crail
    Crime
    Cumbernauld
    Cupar
    Dalmeny
    Death
    Deskford
    Diaspora
    Dirleton
    Dna
    Douglas
    Drummond
    Drumoak
    Drymen
    Dumbarton
    Dumfries
    Dumfriesshire
    Dunbartonshire
    Dundee
    Dundonald
    Dunnichen
    Earl Of Mar
    East Lothian
    Edinburgh
    Education
    Elgin
    Ellon
    Elsie Inglis
    Emigration
    Erskine
    Events
    Falkirk
    Falkland
    Family History Tips
    Familysearch
    Fife
    Find The Father
    Finlaggan
    Fintry
    Fishing
    Fishtown Of Usan
    Flemish
    Florence Nightingale
    Fochabers
    Forbes
    Forgue
    Fornication
    Forth Road Bridge
    Fossoway
    Fraser
    Free Church Of Scotland
    Free Historical Records
    Gaelic
    Genealogy
    Genetic Genealogy
    Geography
    Glasgow
    Golf
    Gordon
    Graham
    Grant
    Graveyards
    Guest Post
    Gullane
    Haddington
    Halidon-hill
    Hamilton
    Hawick
    Heads Of Families
    Henrietta Taylor
    Heraldry
    Historic Newspapers
    History
    History Of Medicine
    Home Front
    Illegitimacy
    Inchinnan
    Inverkeilor
    Inverness
    Irvine
    Islay
    Jacobites
    Jamaica
    Jewish
    John Kay
    Kennedy
    Kilmarnock
    Kilrenny
    Kinclaven One Place Study
    Kinross-shire
    Kirkcaldy
    Kirk Session
    Kirriemuir
    Lammas
    Lanark
    Lanarkshire
    Law
    Legal History
    Leith
    Levenhall
    Lindsay
    Lords Of The Isles
    Macdonald
    Macgregor
    Mackenzie
    Maps
    Markinch
    Martinmas
    Mary Queen Of Scots
    McFadden
    Medieval History
    Melrose
    Mercer
    Metalworking
    Military History
    Mills
    Mining
    Moidart
    Montrose
    Morham
    Mortcloths
    Motherwell
    Murder
    Musselburgh
    National Archives Of Scotland
    National Library Of Scotland
    National Records Of Scotland
    Naval History
    Newhailes
    North Berwick
    Old Documents
    Old Machar
    Old Scottish News
    One Name Studies
    Online Genealogy
    Ordnance Survey
    Orkney
    Paisley
    Parishes
    Parochial Board
    Partick
    Peebles
    Perth
    Perthshire
    Photography
    Pictish
    Pirates
    Place Names
    Policing
    Political History
    Poorhouses
    Poor Law
    Poor Rolls
    Pottery
    Poverty
    Prehistory
    Presbytery
    Publications
    Railways
    Rayne
    Register Of Corrected Entries
    Registers
    Renfrewshire
    Robert Burns
    Roll Of Honour
    Ross And Cromarty
    Rowan Tree
    Russia
    Ruthven
    Sabbath Breaking
    Schools
    Scone
    Scotland's People
    Scots Language
    Scott
    Scottish Genealogy Research
    Scottish Parliament
    Seton
    Shakespeare
    Sheriff Courts
    Skibo
    Slavery
    Speyside
    St Andrews
    Statutes
    Stewart
    Stirling
    Stirlingshire
    Suffragettes
    Surnames
    Sutherland
    Talks
    Temperance
    Textiles
    The Disruption
    Thornhill
    Today In Scottish History
    Tourism
    Towns
    Tranent
    Transportation
    Transport History
    United Presbyterian Church
    United Secession Church
    United States Of America
    Universities
    Veto Act
    Walter Scott
    War Memorials
    Wars Of Independence
    Waterloo
    WDYTYA
    West Linton
    West Lothian
    Whaling
    Whitelaw
    Whitsun
    Whittingehame
    Witchcraft
    Witches
    Women
    World War I
    WWI

    RSS Feed

Picture
Home
About Old Scottish
Order Online
Contact Us
Terms
Copyright
Privacy







Data Protection Register Registration Number: ZA018996
  • Home
  • Records
    • Board of Supervision
    • Fathers Found
    • Asylum Patients
    • Sheriff Court Paternity Decrees
    • Sheriff Court Extract Decrees
    • School Leaving Certificates
    • Crown Office Cases AD8 >
      • AD8 index 1890 01
      • AD8 index 1890 02
      • AD8 index 1890 03
      • AD8 index 1890 04
      • AD8 index 1890 05
      • AD8 index 1890 06
      • AD8 index 1890 07
      • AD8 index 1890 08
      • AD8 index 1890 09
      • AD8 index 1890 10
      • AD8 index 1890 11
      • AD8 index 1900 1
      • AD8 index 1900 2
      • AD8 index 1900 3
      • AD8 index 1900 4
      • AD8 index 1900 5
      • AD8 index 1900 6
    • Crown Counsel Procedure Books
    • Registers of Deeds
    • General Register of the Poor
    • Registers of Sudden Deaths
    • Anatomy Registers
  • Resources
    • Scottish Genealogy Sources
    • KINCLAVEN One Place Study >
      • Kinclaven 1911 census
      • Kinclaven Parish Church Books
      • Kinclaven Communion Roll 1880-1894
    • Archives in Scotland map
    • Scottish surnames >
      • Surnames-A
      • Surnames-B
      • Surnames-C
      • Surnames-D
      • Surnames-E
      • Surnames-F
      • Surnames-G
      • Surnames-H
      • Surnames-I
      • Surnames-J
      • Surnames-K
      • Surnames-L
      • Surnames-M
      • Surnames-N
      • Surnames-O
      • Surnames-P
      • Surnames-Q
      • Surnames-R
      • Surnames-S
      • Surnames-T
      • Surnames-U
      • Surnames-V
      • Surnames-W
      • Surnames-Y
      • Surnames-Z
    • Statutes
    • Auchterarder in WWI
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • Managed Service Customer Login
    • Tourism Partners Login
  • Shop