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Ruthwell 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:
  • £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)
We have indexed these records, and list the cases for this parish below. Just click on the Order images link to order images of the relevant minutes. Please note that as these minutes may need to be filmed specially, it may take up to a week before we can supply them.

Poor law appeals
NameAddressYear(s)/
minutes		Order imagesDeliverance
Janet BEATTIE 1861 (2)Order imagesGround of complaint removed
Ann FERGUSON 1850 (1)Order imagesRefused
Robert HERON 1850 (1)Order imagesRefused
Widow KEIR or DOUGLAS 1878-1879 (2)Order imagesRefused
Nancy MCDADE or CARR 1851-1852 (3)Order imagesGround of complaint removed
Nancy MCDAID or KERR 1853 (2)Order imagesGround of complaint removed - see 642 1851
William MCDONALD 1855 (1)Order imagesRefused
Edward MUNDELL 1860 (2)Order imagesRefused
Margaret MURDOCH Kirkgate Dumfries1846 (2)Order imagesRefused; struck off roll; case for Sheriff
Janet REDDICK or ARMSTRONG 1860 (1)Order imagesRefused
Samuel RICHARDSON 1849 (2)Order imagesRefused
William STEWART Priestside1845-1846 (1)Order imagesRefused; no application to Parochial Board
Widow Janet WRIGHT 1850 (2)Order imagesRemitted for observations

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.

Find the father
Child nameDate of birthMother nameOrder
Elisabeth Calvert BEATTIE28 August 1864Jane BEATTIEFind the father
Charles BELL14 November 1873Agnes BELLFind the father
John BELL24 April 1867Mary Ann BELLFind the father
Margaret Helen BELL16 February 1871Elizabeth BELLFind the father
David BOYD9 July 1859Janet BOYDFind the father
Peter Little BOYD5 February 1872Janet BOYDFind the father
Rachel BOYD29 May 1864Janet BOYDFind the father
John BROATCH30 May 1873Mary Swan BROATCHFind the father
David BRYSON24 May 1864Johanna BRYSONFind the father
Mary BRYSON20 August 1863Mary BRYSONFind the father
Sarah Carnichan BRYSON16 November 1861Annie BRYSONFind the father
Ann Wilson BURNIE21 July 1867Grace BURNIEFind the father
David Johnston BURNIE9 May 1870Grace BURNIEFind the father
Jane BURNIE5 March 1868Isabella BURNIEFind the father
Maggie BURNIE16 January 1871Isabella BURNIEFind the father
James COWAN14 February 1867Barbara COWANFind the father
Mary Jane COWAN1 September 1867Sarah COWANFind the father
George DEMPSTER24 December 1862Ellen DEMPSTERFind the father
John James Carruthers DICKIE29 December 1871Helen DICKIEFind the father
Andrew DICKSON25 August 1863Janet DICKSONFind the father
Isabella DICKSON10 October 1859Mary DICKSONFind the father
Davidina DUNBAR27 December 1869Margaret DUNBARFind the father
Arthur William DUNCAN1 July 1865Christina DUNCANFind the father
Janet Feaks DUNCAN8 January 1869Christina DUNCANFind the father
Barbara FERGUSON30 October 1872Margaret FERGUSONFind the father
Elisabeth FERGUSON11 September 1861Mary FERGUSONFind the father
David GARDINER16 July 1864Jane GARDINERFind the father
James Geddies GARDINER27 January 1868Jane GARDINERFind the father
Janet Ann Kennedy GRAHAM15 February 1869Jane GRAHAMFind the father
Janet GRIERSON11 April 1856Elizabeth GRIERSONFind the father
Janet Little GRIERSON12 May 1858Isabella GRIERSONFind the father
Jane HALL3 June 1864Ann HALLFind the father
Jessie HALL28 July 1865Jane Agnes HALLFind the father
John HALL11 February 1866Ann HALLFind the father
Margaret Jane HALL24 January 1866Mary Agnes HALLFind the father
Janet Steel Beattie HARKNESS28 March 1867Helen HARKNESSFind the father
Margaret Jane HUNTER11 June 1871Elisabeth HUNTERFind the father
Jane Craig HUTTON13 December 1870Janet HUTTONFind the father
William HUTTON16 February 1874Mary HUTTONFind the father
William Macglasson HUTTON6 August 1868Janet HUTTONFind the father
Andrewina Muir IRVING5 February 1870Elisabeth IRVINGFind the father
John Wallace IRVING14 July 1872Mary IRVINGFind the father
Samuel IRVING27 September 1857Jessie IRVINGFind the father
Andrewina JACKSON10 May 1864Jane JACKSONFind the father
Jemmima Carruthers JACKSON21 March 1861Janet JACKSONFind the father
Mary Jane JACKSON21 June 1861Jane JACKSONFind the father
James JOHNSTON13 November 1873Grace JOHNSTONFind the father
William JOHNSTON30 September 1867Janet JOHNSTONFind the father
David JOHNSTONE2 June 1871Margaret JOHNSTONEFind the father
Douglas KIRK3 October 1864Elisabeth KIRKFind the father
James LITTLE22 January 1866Jane LITTLEFind the father
Margaret LITTLE16 January 1858Jane LITTLEFind the father
Mary LITTLE29 April 1871Jane LITTLEFind the father
Mary Agnes MACINTOSH21 December 1868Helen MACINTOSHFind the father
David MACLEAN2 December 1857Margaret MACLEANFind the father
David MACLEAN17 May 1862Jane MACLEANFind the father
David Kennedy MACLEAN18 January 1872Janet MACLEANFind the father
Elisabeth Stewart MACLEAN28 April 1866Janet MACLEANFind the father
Mary MACLEAN26 May 1861Janet MACLEANFind the father
William MACLEAN27 December 1871Thomasina MACLEANFind the father
David MACMINN28 December 1861Jessie MACMINNFind the father
William MACORMICK16 August 1865Jane MACORMICKFind the father
John MOLLINS15 August 1869Elisabeth MOLLINSFind the father
Edward Dunbar MUNDLE29 November 1866Elisabeth MUNDLEFind the father
Agnes MURRAY21 October 1873Mary MURRAYFind the father
Jane Marion PAGAN1 April 1866Jane PAGANFind the father
Catherine RICHARDSON26 September 1858Eliza RICHARDSONFind the father
Samuel RICHARDSON25 June 1874Elisabeth RICHARDSONFind the father
William RICHARDSON20 July 1865Mary RICHARDSONFind the father
Henry Grieve RIDDOCK20 March 1869Mary RIDDOCKFind the father
Jane RITCHIE14 November 1868Grace RITCHIEFind the father
David Mackay SLOANE5 April 1874Elisabeth SLOANEFind the father
John Ross SMITH14 January 1872Elisabeth SMITHFind the father
Mary Carruthers STEWART26 April 1866Mary STEWARTFind the father
Elisabeth WILKIN29 June 1858Elisabeth WILKINFind the father
James Brown WILKIN16 October 1869Elisabeth WILKINFind the father
William WILKIN30 March 1866Isabella WILKINFind the father
Andrew Black WILSON12 May 1862Ann WILSONFind the father
Charles WILSON18 October 1857Margaret WILSONFind 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.

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