Moulin, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #384

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

History
MOULIN, a parish, in the county of Perth; containing the villages of Kinnaird and Pitlochry, and part of the late quoad sacra parish of Tenandry, 13 miles (N. W. by N.) from Dunkeld. This place, of which the name is of doubtful etymology, is of considerable antiquity. The parish is naturally divided into the nearly parallel districts of Atholl and Strathardle, separated from each other by a hill of inconsiderable height, about four miles in extent. The church, erected in the village of Moulin, in 1831, is a neat substantial structure containing 650 sittings.

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 your parish of interest. Also available at the

Moulin parish includes the town of Pitlochry.

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 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, 1841-1901, are indexed on this website. It may be easier for you to pay to use the website rather than access the separate indexes through the library.

Transcripts of censuses for Moulin for 1806 (CH2/488/19) and 1820 (CH2/488/20) are available at the National Archives in Edinburgh, and a printed transcript of the 1820 census can be purchased from the Pitlochry &amp; Moulin Heritage Centre at the Moulin Kirk.

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 Registers—
Indexed: 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 FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: No blanks in this birth record. No witnesses' names are given. Marriages: Date of marriage is frequently recorded as well as the fact of proclamation. Fifteen entries are incomplete after June 1791, in consequence of a portion of a page of the register being partially destroyed. 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 1707–1725, 1735–1882 Collections and Distributions 1707–1732, 1735–1762 Proclamations and Marriages 1707–1717, 1726–1728, 1855–1860 Assessment of Heritors 1851–1862 Heritors Accounts 1811–1863 Accounts1758–1832, 1857–1927 Scroll Minutes and Accounts 1741–1768 Roll of Male Heads of Families 1834–1841 Baptisms 1707–1713, 1726–1738 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/488.

Roll of Male Heads of Families
1834-1841 lists of male heads of families in this parish can be found here.

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 Lists.

Moulin Pitlochry Free Church
History— This congregation was formed at the Disruption. The minister and congregation of the neighboring “quoad sacra” church of Tenandry "came out" in 183?. In July of that year they were deprived of their church. The minister was called and settled at Moulin, and the congregation at Tenandry, after receiving occasional supply for a time, was merged in that of Moulin in 1848. A feu was refused at Pitlochry so the church and manse were erected at Kinnaird, near the parish church. Owing to the growth of Pitlochry as a summer resort, it was found necessary to build a new church and manse there in 1863. Membership: 1848, 355; 1900, 274. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #99572. More details are given in the source.

Records— The extent of pre-1855 records is unknown. No records deposited at the National Archives of Scotland.

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
Moulin was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Dunkeld until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Dunblane. 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 FamilySearch Library. To find the microfilm numbers, search in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Perthshire and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Dunkeld. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Perthshire. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Perthshire and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.

Societies

 * North Perthshire Family History Group located in Pitlochry