L is for Lookups

​A couple of months ago, while doing some eighteenth-century research for a client in the Carrington Kirk Session records, I came across a much later letter which had evidently been bound in with the accounts at a later date:

[Blind-stamped address]
Vogrie
Gorebridge, N[orth] B[ritain]
Aug 27th 1902

Dear Sir

I understand that a register of the Kirk discipline of Carrington is in existence dating from 1653 also Minutes of the Kirk Session of Carrington from 1695 to 1698,

I do not know whether they will be in your possession or not but if they are I should be greatly obliged if you would be so kind as to examine them & let me whether they contain any references to Dewar. My G. G. G. G. grandfather resided in the parish & his 2nd marriage is duly noted in the Register of Baptisms & Marriages under date 1658.

He died in 1699 & is buried at Carrington. The period I should like the two registers examined is from 1653 to 1699.

Very truly yours

J Cumming Dewar

​In a different hand – seemingly that of William Granville Core, minister of Carrington, who at this time was also acting as session clerk for the parish – the following two entries are extracted:

1695 Febry 10 Received from James Dewar in Capilaw & his wife being th[ei]r collection for the building of Kinkell harbour 7 shillings by reason they were not here the day if was gathered.
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1696 April 26 This day given in by Wm Cunningham as he & Robt Tait had received it from Sir John Ramsay of Whitehill & James Dewar in Capilaw £2-10 as their collection for the harbour of Queensferrie.

This is an example of what is known in genealogy circles as a lookup – a request for somebody to inspect a particular record set and to report back any entries that match the requester’s requirements. Instances are scattered throughout the Kirk Session records. There was a particular flurry of them following the enactment of the Old Age Pensions Act 1908, which for the first time granted the right to a pension to people aged 70 and over. Claimants had to prove their age, and often this would involve the pensions committee contacting the parish of birth to request confirmation of the information provided by applicants. Diligent clerks in some parishes incorporated copies of these lookup requests into the original Kirk Session records, sometimes providing useful information about what happened to parishioners.

Occasionally you will come across a request from someone researching their ancestry. We also recently found a letter to the session clerk of Dumbarton requesting a lookup about the writer’s grandfather, who was born in 1854. The letter was sent from Tasmania in 1973 – a fantastic discovery if you happen to be researching Robert Brown Ballantyne.
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In the modern age, however, you don’t have to find the name and address of the parish clerk, send off a speculative letter and wait for a response by post, which might never come. (It would seem Robert Brown Ballantyne’s grand-daughter may never have received a reply, as her international reply coupon is included with her letter in the Dumbarton records!). We have recently launched a service offering lookups in Kirk Session records for a very affordable price, which we are gradually rolling out across the whole of Scotland. Those parishes currently available are shown below. If you don’t see the parish you’re interested in listed, let us know and we’ll have a look for you.

Lookup parishes currently available

Parish	County	NRS Reference
Aberdeen St Nicholas	Aberdeenshire	CH2/2
Aberdour	Fife	CH2/3
Aberlady	East Lothian	CH2/4
Alford	Aberdeenshire	CH2/9
Alva	Stirlingshire	CH2/10
Alves	Morayshire	CH2/11
Anwoth	Kirkcudbrightshire	CH2/14
Arbuthnott	Kincardinshire	CH2/16
Athelstaneford	East Lothian	CH2/18
Auchtergaven	Perthshire	CH2/22
Ayton	Berwickshire	CH2/26
Beith	Ayrshire	CH2/31
Bolton	East Lothian	CH2/37
Cambusnethan	Lanarkshire	CH2/48
Canisbay	Caithness	CH2/52
Carmichael	Lanarkshire	CH2/57
Carmunnock	Lanarkshire	CH2/58
Carnock	Fife	CH2/59
Carriden	West Lothian	CH2/61
Carrington	Midlothian	CH2/62
Carstairs	Lanarkshire	CH2/63
Castleton	Roxburghshire	CH2/64
Ceres	Fife	CH2/65
Cleish	Kinross-shire	CH2/67
Coldingham	Berwickshire	CH2/69
Colinton	Edinburgh	CH2/123
Corstorphine	Edinburgh	CH2/124
Coull	Aberdeenshire	CH2/71
Craigie	Ayrshire	CH2/73
Cranstoun	Midlothian	CH2/74
Crichton	Midlothian	CH2/75
Culross Abbey	Perthshire	CH2/77
Cumbernauld St Ninian's	Dunbartonshire	CH2/79
Cumbrae	Bute	CH2/80
Currie	Midlothian	CH2/83
Dalkeith St Nicholas	Midlothian	CH2/84
Dalmellington	Ayrshire	CH2/85
Dalmeny	West Lothian	CH2/86
Dalrymple	Ayrshire	CH2/87
Dalton	Dumfriesshire	CH2/88
Delting	Shetland	CH2/90
Deskford	Banffshire	CH2/91
Dron	Perthshire	CH2/93
Drumblade	Aberdeenshire	CH2/94
Drumelzier	Peeblesshire	CH2/95
Duddingston	Edinburgh	CH2/125
Dumbarton	Dunbartonshire	CH2/97
Dunbarney	Perthshire	CH2/100
Dunblane	Perthshire	CH2/101
Dunbog	Fife	CH2/102
Dundonald	Ayrshire	CH2/104
Dunkeld	Perthshire	CH2/749
Dunnichen	Angus	CH2/108
Dunnottar	Kincardinshire	CH2/110
Dunrossness & Fair Isle	Shetland	CH2/112
Dunscore	Dumfriesshire	CH2/114
Dyce	Aberdeenshire	CH2/117
Dysart	Fife	CH2/390
Eastwood	Renfrewshire	CH2/119
Edinburgh Greyfriars	Edinburgh	CH2/126
Edinburgh New Street (Canongate)	Edinburgh	CH2/132
Ellon	Aberdeenshire	CH2/147
Fettercairn	Kincardinshire	CH2/152
Forgandenny	Perthshire	CH2/161
Fossoway	Kinross-shire	CH2/163
Garvald and Bara	East Lothian	CH2/167
Glamis	Angus	CH2/170
Glenelg	Inverness-shire	CH2/966
Kilmartin	Argyll	CH2/793
Kilmichael Glassary	Argyll	CH2/1029
Kilwinning	Ayrshire	CH2/591
Lethendy and Kinloch	Perthshire	CH2/240
Little Dunkeld	Perthshire	CH2/107
Old Cumnock	Ayrshire	CH2/81
Redgorton	Perthshire	CH2/883
Riccarton	Ayrshire	CH2/1014