Records -> West Lothian

Torphichen 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.

Asylum records – Index to the General Register of Lunatics in Asylums

School records – Index to School Leaving Certificate Examination results

Anatomy Registers – Index to the records of the Inspector of Anatomy for Scotland

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.

Asylum records – Index to the General Register of Lunatics in Asylums

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 will search for a given name in any of the record sets in the table below, and provide you with transcripts of any matching entries for just £1 per name per year.

Lookups available
Reference Title Dates Buy
CH2/503/4Minutes1722-1774Request lookup
CH2/503/5Minutes 1775-1792, 1827-18511775-1851Request lookup
CH2/503/6Minutes and accounts, collections and communion roll
Minutes and accounts 1855-1878 (include proclamations)
Collections 1850-1879
Communion roll 1855, 1862		1850-1879Request lookup
CH2/503/7Collection register
Includes poor rolls		1743-1755Request lookup
CH2/503/8Cash book and List of poor and their allowances
Cash book 1753-1779
List of poor and their allowances 1756-1758
Includes mortcloth dues		1753-1779Request lookup
CH2/503/10Expenditure for part of parish west of Logie water1828-1836Request lookup
CH2/503/11Communion roll1878-1887Request lookup
CH2/503/12Communion roll1888-1894Request lookup

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
  • £9 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
Agnes BROWN 1854 (1)Order imagesRefused
Margaret DUNCAN or MARSHALL Mill Bridge Toll1845 (1)Order imagesRefused
Widow Margaret MARSHALL or DUNCAN 1864-1865 (4)Order imagesRefused - not in receipt of parochial relief
Widow Ann RUSSELL 1877 (2)Order imagesRefused (poorhouse)

Sheriff Court paternity decrees

Single mothers often took the fathers of their children to court for child support. Such cases were known as filiation and aliment cases. The court could order the father to provide maintenance payments to the mother. If the mother won her case, the court would issue a decree, which would allow the mother to enforce payment of aliment. We have indexed all the records of such cases held by the National Records of Scotland from at least 1855 to 1880, and can provide digital images of the records. To order your copy, simply click on the Order now link in the table below.

Sheriff Court Filiation and Aliment decrees
Mother name and residenceDefender nameChild birthOrderCourt
Jane AITKEN
Torphichen, West Lothian		Humphrey GRAHAM22 May 1877
Torphichen, West Lothian		Order nowEdinburgh
SC39/8/45
Helen BROWN or CAIRNS
Torphichen		Hugh LANDALES10 Dec 1874
Torphichen		Order nowLinlithgow
SC41/15/4
Susan BROWN
Arencrook House, Torphichen, West Lothian
formerly Alyth		John SMARTOrder nowPerth
SC49/4/43
Agnes EADIE
Mill Bridge, near Torphichen		James CRAIG6 Feb 1884
Mill Bridge, near Torphichen		Order nowLinlithgow
SC41/15/5
Elizabeth GRANGER
Hilderston, Torphichen		William THOMSON30 Jan 1878
Torphichen		Order nowLinlithgow
SC41/15/4
Catherine GRAY
Bridgehouse, Castle Cottage, Torphichen		William STEWART21 Apr 1888Order nowLinlithgow
SC41/15/5
Mary ROBERTSON
Torphichen, West Lothian		Peter BRYCE1 Mar 1884Order nowFalkirk
SC66/6/7

School Leaving Certificate Exams

This is an index to the registers of school leaving certificate examination results (NRS Reference ED36). We do not currently have any records for this parish.

Anatomy register

This is an index to the registers of the Inspector of Anatomy for Scotland (NRS Reference MH1/1-MH1/30). We do not currently have any records for this parish.

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. Where we've already identified the father, click on the Father Found link to order a copy of the record naming the father. For births outwith this period, click here.

Find the father
Child nameDate of birthMother nameOrder
William AITKEN21 March 1856Janet AITKENFather found
William Adams AITKEN7 February 1872Jane AITKENFind the father
Elisth. Joan Henderson ANTHONY24 April 1858Christina ANTHONYFind the father
Jean Bell ANTHONY24 April 1858Christina ANTHONYFind the father
Mary Ann ARNOT29 May 1855Ann ARNOTFind the father
Joan Brunton ARTHUR17 November 1859Mary ARTHURFind the father
John ARTHUR26 March 1857Janet ARTHURFind the father
Janet BARNARD17 August 1867Christina BARNARDFind the father
Elisabeth BELL2 February 1868Margaret BELLFind the father
Jemima Thom BEVERIDGE11 August 1866Elisabeth BEVERIDGEFind the father
Margaret BEVERIDGE19 April 1864Agnes BEVERIDGEFind the father
Robina BEVERIDGE28 November 1869Elisabeth BEVERIDGEFind the father
George BLACK18 August 1858Barbra BLACKFind the father
Jean BLACK13 November 1862Marion BLACKFind the father
John BLAIR6 December 1862Margaret BLAIRFind the father
Agnes Mckenzie BROWN3 December 1869Alison BROWNFind the father
Jean BROWN5 January 1863Mary BROWNFind the father
Thomas Cleland BROWN18 March 1867Helen BROWNFather found
James BRYCE29 September 1866Ann BRYCEFind the father
William Landels CAIRNS10 December 1874Helen BROWNFather found
John CLARK9 January 1859Isabella CLARKFather found
Robert Crawford CLARK11 April 1869Agnes CLARKFind the father
James Paul CLELAND17 September 1866Mary CLELANDFind the father
Robert Veitch CRAWFORD15 May 1863Jane CRAWFORDFind the father
Alexander Chalmers CUNNINGHAM19 September 1867Catherine CUNNINGHAMFind the father
Jane CUNNINGHAM5 October 1858Margaret CUNNINGHAMFind the father
Jane CUNNINGHAM24 September 1862Cathrine Aitken CUNNINGHAMFather found
Alexander CUTHILL3 August 1859Jane CUTHILLFind the father
George DICK19 December 1870Agnes DICKFind the father
John DICK5 August 1866Jane DICKFind the father
Samuel Mcbride DICK8 January 1872Jane DICKFind the father
Thomas Napier DICK26 December 1869Jane DICKFind the father
Thomas Reid DICK16 May 1874Allison DICKFind the father
Alexander DOWNS20 March 1856Margaret DOWNSFind the father
John Scott DRUMMOND10 January 1869Agnes DRUMMONDFind the father
George Youill FERGUSON7 November 1870Agnes FERGUSONFind the father
James FINN16 October 1874Margaret FINNFind the father
Janet Binnie GARDNER6 May 1856Janet GARDNERFind the father
Thomas Bishop GILLON8 April 1869Mary GILLONFather found
Alexander GREENWOOD4 June 1871Joann GREENWOODFind the father
William HARDIE1 December 1858Christina HARDIEFind the father
John JOHNSTON15 November 1866Elizabeth JOHNSTONFather found
Mary Jane JOHNSTON28 August 1871Agnes JOHNSTONFather found
Elisabeth KERR21 September 1863Mary KERRFind the father
Alexander KIRKPATRICK1 November 1857Maron KIRKPATRICKFind the father
Helen LAMB24 June 1859Helen LAMBFind the father
Isabella Baillie Bell LANDELS13 December 1872Cathrine LANDELSFind the father
Agnes LAURISTON25 December 1861Helen LAURISTONFind the father
Arthur LAURISTON30 December 1857Helen LAURISTONFind the father
Margaret LAURISTON17 March 1860Helen LAURISTONFind the father
Archibald Bell LIDDELL29 January 1871Margaret LIDDELLFind the father
Elisabeth Hendrig LIDDLE1 January 1866Elisabeth LIDDLEFind the father
William LOW8 August 1862Jean LOWFind the father
Margaret Thomson LYON17 July 1871Joan LYONFind the father
Thomas MALCOLM8 January 1866Helen MALCOLMFind the father
Thomas MALCOLM2 April 1867Christina MALCOLMFind the father
Elisabeth MARSHALL14 June 1872Mary MARSHALLFind the father
Elisabeth Henderson MARSHALL14 December 1869Mary MARSHALLFind the father
Janet MARSHALL1 August 1860Margaret Laurie MARSHALLFind the father
Janet MARSHALL28 March 1863Margaret Laurie MARSHALLFind the father
Janet Lindsay MARSHALL13 August 1871Margaret Hamilton MARSHALLFind the father
Robert Smith MCLAREN28 June 1862Margaret MCLARENFind the father
John MINILLAY28 April 1864Mary MINILLAYFind the father
Marion MORRISON28 June 1868Agnes MORRISONFind the father
Martha Donaldson MUIR11 October 1855Elisabeth MUIRFind the father
James NEILSON9 November 1857Janet Mathew NEILSONFind the father
Margaret Forrest ORR11 January 1868Mary ORRFind the father
Agnes POLLOCK1 June 1873Mary POLLOCKFind the father
William POLLOCK16 November 1874Elisabeth POLLOCKFind the father
Janet RAMSAY21 May 1857Allison RAMSAYFind the father
Mary Campbell REID7 March 1871Margaret Duns REIDFind the father
Isabella Finlay RUSSELL14 December 1862Margaret RUSSELLFind the father
Joseph Noble SAWERS2 May 1860Margaret SAWERSFind the father
Margaret SIMPSON22 January 1856Margaret SIMPSONFind the father
William Sharpe STEEL11 February 1872Isabella STEELFind the father
James Walker STORRIE8 March 1873Cathrine STORRIEFind the father
William TAYLOR30 May 1860Margaret TAYLORFind the father
Isabella Laing WALKER16 May 1861Christina WALKERFind the father
James WALKER24 March 1865Jean Cassiday WALKERFind the father
Jean Reid WALKER25 January 1864Allison WALKERFind the father
Maron WEIR8 July 1856Maron WEIRFind the father
Alexander WHITE3 May 1859Isabella WHITEFind the father
George WILLIAMSON20 July 1865Mary WILLIAMSONFind the father
Janet WILSON9 December 1871Margaret WILSONFind the father
Peter WILSON3 May 1858Magdalene WILSONFind the father

General Register of Lunatics

This index shows patients from this parish admitted to asylums. We have not yet identified any patients from this parish.

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.

Male Heads of families 1835 (NRS Reference: CH2/503/5 pp. 148-151)
Forename Surname Occupation Address Notes
AndrewKingMinister
EbenezerOliphantelder
DavidJardineelder
WilliamHayelder
JamesMeikleelder
JamesTaylorelder
WilliamCalderelder
JamesAitkeninnkeeperTorphichen
MagnusAitkenwrightTorphichen
RobertAitkenfarmerBridgehouse
WilliamAitkenmillerTorphichen
JamesAndersonlabourerWoodside
JamesArthurlabourerEntryfoot Bedlormie
WilliamArthurlabourerRigghead
WilliamArthurquarrierTorphichen
RobertBeveridgewrightTorphichen
WilliamBeveridgelabourerTorphichen
JamesBlackfarmerWesterton Bedlormie
JohnBlackfarmerWesterton Bedlormie
RobertBlacklabourerTorphichen
WilliamBlackTorphichen
WilliamBlacklabourerBlackfaulds
JamesBrockfarmerNetherhillhouse
JohnBrownshoemakerTorphichen
ArchibaldBuchananservantBlackridge
WilliamCarlilelabourerTorphichen
AlexanderCrawfordmasonTorphichen
JamesCrawfordgrocerTorphichen
WilliamDalefarmerTorphichen
JamesDuguidlabourerTorphichen
AlexanderFergusongroomTorphichen
JohnFlintlabourerTorphichen
AndrewForresterlabourerTorphichen
WilliamFrazerBlackridge
AlexanderGardnerfarmerDrumbeg
RobertGardnermasonCrombliefaulds
PeterGentlemanlabourerTorphichen Bridge
PeterGentlemanfarmerCanty
WilliamGentlemanfarmerCraigmarrie
John FerrierHamiltonCathlawhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/colonel-john-ferrier-hamilton-of-cairnhill-17861871-214753
JamesHayfarmerDrummelzie
JohnHayfarmerDrumbowie
WilliamHaytailorTorphichen
JamesHendersonfarmerNorth Logiebrae
RobertHendersonlabourerBlackridge
RobertHillBroomparkwell
JamesHutchesongrocerBlackridge
AlexanderKirkpatrickgardenerWallhouse
DavidLaingfarmerGormyre
DavidLainglabourerStrathloanhead
RobertLauriestonmillerTorphichen
JamesLiddellshoemakerBlackridge
JamesLiddelllabourerTorphichen
JohnLiddellshoemakerLogiebridge
WilliamLiddellwool spinnerWestfield
JohnLindsayshoemakerTorphichen
AlexanderLockiebutlerBroomparkwell
JohnLowlabourerTorphichen
AlexanderMcgregorschoolmasterBlackridge
WilliamMckenzielabourerTorphichen
DavidMarshallweaverTorphichen
JohnMarshalllabourerTorphichen
MeekMarshalllabourerTorphichen
RichardMarshalllabourerBowden
RobertMarshallweaverTorphichen
WilliamMarshallsmithStrath Loan
WilliamMarshalllabourerLittle Cathlaw
DavidMaxwellgamekeeperMallet Cottage
AndrewMeiklelabourerTorphichen
GeorgeMeiklelabourerTorphichen
JamesNicollabourerTorphichen
WilliamOrrfarmerWest Craigs
WilliamPatesmithBlackridge
GeorgePatersonfarm servantMuckraw
GeorgePurviswrightTorphichen
GeorgeReidweaverTorphichen
JohnRobertssmithTorphichen
PeterRobertsfarmerSouth Logiebrae
JamesRobertsoncarterTorphichen
GavinRussellfarmerBrunton
JohnSalmondlabourerTorphichen
GeorgeSamuelfarmerKipps
AlexanderShepherdsmithTorphichen
JohnSimpsonbakerTorphichen
AndrewSmithlabourerBlackridge
JamesSteelfarmerLangside
RobertSteellabourerEntryfoot Bedlormie
WilliamStevensonlabourerWallhouse Muir Toll Bar
WilliamStorrielabourerTorphichen
AlexanderSummerslabourerBroomparkwell
HenryTaylormasonTorphichen
JamesTaylorwrightTorphichen
JohnTaylorwrightTorphichen
JohnThomsonwrightTorphichen
AlexanderWardropBridgehouse
JamesWaughfarm servantNetherhillhouse
JamesWaughfarmerBirkenshaw
JohnWaughfarmerBirkenshaw Mill
RobertWaughmillerStrathmill
JohnWeirlabourerTorphichen
RobertWilsonwrightTorphichen
JamesYounglabourerTorphichen
WilliamYoungfarmerBackmuir

Kirk Session Records Index

Use the name links below to go to the entries for the person you are interested in. We have selected 1832 as an example year for parishes across Scotland. If you would like more information about the existence of Kirk Session minutes for this or another parish or would like to search for particular people in the minutes please contact us.

We have not yet indexed any Kirk Session records for this parish.

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