South Uist, Inverness-shire, Scotland Genealogy

South Uist, Inverness, Scotland (#118)

Established Church—Old Parochial Registers
Years Covered     FHL Film Number  Births:         No entries Marriages:  1839–1845           0990672 item 4 Deaths:        No entries

Condition of Original Registers—
Index: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index available on computers at the Family History Library and family history centers. Some records may be indexed in the International Genealogical Index. Note: There are no birth or death records prior to 1855 and no marriage record prior to 1839.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
None available

Bencecula Free Church
History— In the years following the Disruption there were many adherents of the Free Church in Benbecula, especially among the young people. Number of these had emigrated by 1851. In 1854 Benbecula was united with Carinish and Lochmaddy under one minister. It was sanctioned as a separate charge in 1885. Church and manse had already been built. In a population of 1500 to 2000, about half were Roman Catholics, the other half being nearly equally divided between the Established and Free Churches. Membership: 1887, 218; 1900, 63. 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 list of ministers.

Records— Extent of records is unknown.

South Uist Free Church
History— In December 1843 a probationer was appointed to the charge of South Uist and Barra. In a population of 4338, the great majority of whom were Roman Catholics, the adherents of the Free Church in 1855 numbered 375. For twenty years after the Disruption no site could be obtained. The church was built in 1863. The charge was sanctioned in 1864. The manse was completed in 1880. The long unsettled period, the extended vacancy between the first and second ministers, and the primarily Romanist character of the population made progress difficult. Membership: 1868, 28, 1900, 55. 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 list of ministers.

Records— No known pre-1855 records.

South Uist Roman Catholic Church
History— After the Reformation, nearly the whole population of Uist, including the proprietor, remained Roman Catholic. In 1700 the number was estimated to be at 1500. But by 1770, the proprietor had become an apostate Catholic and began to greatly persecute his Catholic tenants. He demanded they sign a paper renouncing their religion and allowing their children to be raised as Protestants, or lose their lands. They refused to a man. Catholics throughout Scotland came to the aid of these destitute people by raising funds so that they could emigrate to St. John's Island in Canada. When MacDonald saw that the Catholics were receiving support, and that he was losing his tenants and the income from their rents, he relented, but many had emigrated. The persecutions stopped and by 1790 two Catholic chapels had been built in South Uist. Today there are seven churches and chapels and the Catholic population of South Uist is estimated at over 2200. Locations include Ardkenneth (1829), Benbecula (1835), Bornish (1820), Daliborg (1827), and Eriskay (1852). Source: Developments in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, 1789–1829, by Christine Johnson, FHL British Book 941 K2jc; also The Catholic Directory for Scotland for 1987, FHL British Book Ref. 941 K24ca.

Records— Ardkenneth: Baptisms 1829–1904 Marriages 1829–1850 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record RH21/43. Bornish: Baptisms 1820–1868 Marriages 1831–1868 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record RH21/45.