Muckairn, Argyllshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #529

This is a guide to the history and major genealogical records of Scotland as they pertain to the parish of Muckair. To learn more about how to use these records to search for your ancestors, go to the Scotland: Research Strategies.

History
MUCKAIRN, lately a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of Ardchattan, district of Lorn, county of Argyll, 12 miles (E. by N.) from Oban; containing the villages of Stonefield and Calnadaluck. This parish, of which the name in the Gaelic language signifies "the den of wild boars," from the number of those ferocious animals that anciently infested this part of the country, is bounded on the north by Loch Etive, and on the east by the river Naunt and the loch of that name. The church, built in 1829, under the provisions of the act of parliament for the erection and endowment of additional churches in the Highlands, is a plain neat structure, situated at the south-eastern extremity of Muckairn, and containing 350 sittings.

The name of this parish means “The valley or field of Edgar.”  Oban is the nearest town. There is an obelisk on a hill in commemoration of the victory or Lord Nelson over the French fleet at Aboukir. Campbell of Lochnell is the major landowner. The land was primarily used for, sheep, cattle, oats, horses, corn, and barley. The population in 1801 was 893. The population in 1841 was 812. The earliest parish registery entry is 1760. They have been kept irregularly but recently have improved in this respect. There are not a half dozen disenters in the parish. This account was written in 1844.

Source:New Statistical Account of Scotland (FS Library book 941 B4sa, series 2)

The New Statistical Account of Scotland (pub. 1834-45) offers uniquely rich and detailed parish reports for the whole of Scotland, covering a vast range of topics including history, agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs. The reports, written by the parish ministers, are available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/. Click on ‘Browse scanned pages’ then search the parish reports for Muckairn. Also available at the

Census Records
A census is a count and description of the population, taken by the government, arranged by locality and by household. Read more about census records.

Here is a list of the FS Library microfilm numbers for the as well as the library numbers for any surname indexes available:

The 1901 and 1911 census of Scotland is indexed on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. To use it, you must register and pay a small access fee. All available censuses, 1841-1911, are indexed on this website. It may be easier for you to pay to use the website rather than access indexes through the library.

Church Records
The Established Church of Scotland was Presbyterian. Read more about church records.

Here are the pre-1855 records that exist for this parish.

Condition of Original Records
Index: For an index to these records, see Scotland’s People website, a pay-for-view website. The Scottish Church Records Index is also still available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: The first 19 pages of the record up to 1796, are very irregular, ranging from 1746–1821. After 1796 the entries are, with a few exceptions, quite regular. The record appears to be a copy. Marriages: The record is regular with respect to dates. The record described as being "extracted from old records." Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British book 941 K23b.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
The Kirk session was the court of the parish. The session was made up of the minister and the land owners and business men of the parish, chosen to serve on the session. The Kirk session dealt with moral issues, minor criminal cases, matters of the poor and education, matters of discipline, and the general concerns of the parish. Kirk session records may also mention births, marriages, and deaths.

Here is a list of the surviving Kirk session records for this parish: 

Minutes 1833–1862 Poor Accounts and Minutes 1829–1850 School Accounts 1812–1834 Note: Available at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh, record CH2/379.

Nonconformist Church Records
A nonconformist church is any church that is not the Established church. Read more about nonconformity in Scotland in the article on the Scotland Church Records Union List.

Muckairn, Taynuilt Free Church
History— The people of Evangelical sympathies met here for three years before the Disruption to worship apart from the Established Church. The Lorn Furnace Company put a large storehouse, suitably fitted up, at their disposal. At the Disruption the charge of this district was divided between the ministers of Kilchrennan and Ardchattan, until a minister was settled in 1844. Church and manse were erected in 1860. After the closing of the furnace company around 1870, the population greatly decreased. A second church was provided at Inverguisachan, near the head of Loch Etive, where services were held at intervals. Membership: 1848, 100; 1900, 58. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details may be given in the source including ministers.

Records— Session Minutes 1844–1931 Deacons' Court Minutes, loose leaves 1844–1857 Note: Available at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh, record CH3/238

Civil Registration Records
Government or civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths (also called statutory records) began on January 1, 1855 in Scotland. Each parish has a registrar's office and large cities have several. The records are created by the registrars and copies are sent to the General Register Office in Edinburgh. Annual indexes are then created for the records for the whole country. See the article on Scotland Civil Registration  for more information and to access the records.

Probate Records
Muckairn was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Argyll until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Dunoon. Probate records for 1513- 1901 are indexed online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You must register on the website but use of the index to probate records, called 'Wills &amp; Testaments,' is free. You may then purchase a copy of the document or, if the document is before 1823, it will be on microfilm at the Family History Library. To find the microfilm numbers, search in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Argyll and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Argyll. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Argyll. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Argyll and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.