Angus (or Forfarshire), Scotland Genealogy

Background
Angus (formerly Forfarshire until 1928) is a maritime county in the east of Scotland. It is bounded on the north by the counties of Aberdeen and Kincardine, on the east by the German Ocean, on the south by the Firth of Tay, and on the west by Perthshire. It is about 38 1/2 miles in length and 37 1/2 miles in extreme breadth, comprising an area of 840 square miles or 537,600 acres. The county or area was anciently called Angus after the brother of King Kenneth II to whom it was granted by the king after his victory over the Picts. It was later called Forfarshire after the county town of Forfar. [Apparently the name changed back to Angus in 1950.]

The county is comprised of fifty-five parishes and two civil districts of Forfar and Dundee. The royal burghs are Forfar, Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose, and Brechin. The market-towns are Kirriemuir and Glammis, and there are several smaller towns and villages.

The surface of the county is boldly varied. Toward the north it forms part of the Grampian range, consisting of the Binchennin hills and the Sidlaw hills. Between them is the beautiful and fertile valley of Strathmore extending nearly thirty-three miles in length. The district between the Sidlaw hills and the coast is a level tract of great fertility in the highest state of cultivation. There are also numerous rivers and lakes in the county, the former of which abound with trout and salmon, and the Lunan river with eels. About three-fifths of the land is under cultivation. The Angus-shire breed of cattle is well known and numbers of sheep of various breeds are pastured on the Grampian and Sidlaw hills. Horses are also bred. Limestone and lead and copper ore are found in the hills and ground.

The principal manufactures are the spinning of flax, the weaving of linen and other coarser fabrics, and the manufacture of fine colored thread. There are large tanneries, breweries, distilleries, and other works, and ship-building is pursued at the ports of Dundee, Arbroath, and Montrose. Salmon fisheries are in the Firth of Tay and along the coast. There are several railway lines in the county. The population of the county in 1851 was 170,520.

(Source: Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, 2nd ed., 1851.  FHL book 941 E5L.)

Scotlands People: An Important Source
ScotlandsPeople is one of the largest online sources of original genealogical information. If you are researching UK genealogy, your Scottish ancestry or building your Scottish family tree, they have more than 100 million records to look through.

The comprehensive choice of Scottish records includes: For more detail on exact record availability, see Availability. For examples of the records available, see Record Types and Examples.

Biographies

 * People of Angus | Courtesy of the Angus Council

Parishes
Some of the Angus (or Forfarshire) parish records are indexed in Angus (or Forfarshire), Scotland, Extracted Parish Records.
 * This database is a collection of historical parish registers from the county of Angus (or Forfarshire) in the country of Scotland. The records in this collection can range in date from the early 1500s to the mid- to late-1800s. The records include baptisms/christenings, burials, marriages, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries, tax lists, wills, and other miscellaneous types of records. Also included are some records from non-conformist churches. You will find interesting phonetic spelling. Some of the records may be in Latin or even a Welsh or Scottish dialect. Due to the nature of the records and because the records were originally compiled by a third party, it is difficult to absolutely verify the completeness and validity of the data.

Here is a list of the historic parishes of the county of Angus (or Forfarshire) with their parish numbers. Click on the parish name to see information about records.

Census

 * ScotlandsPeople, index, images, free index, pay per view ($)
 * Scotland Census, 1841, no images. Also at MyHeritage, index, ($). Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1851, no images. Also at MyHeritage, index, ($). Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1861, no images. Also at, index, ($). Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1871, no images. Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1881, no images. Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1891, no images. Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1901, index and images, ($). Also at FindMyPast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1911, index and images, ($).

The library also has a collection of census surname indexes for different places within Caithness-shire. Click here to see a table listing these other census surname indexes that are available at the library.

Directories
Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland:

PO Directories Online:


 * 1846 "Angus and Mearns directory and almanac"
 * 1847 "Angus and Mearns directory and almanac"

The above directories includes the following areas:


 * Montrose
 * Forfar
 * Brechin
 * Arbroath
 * Kirriemuir

Maps
Click on the map at the right to see a larger version, and click again on the larger map. Next, click on the ‘Expand’ button when it appears in the lower right-hand corner of the map.



Click here to see an outline map of the parishes of Angus.

[Return to county list.]

Poorhouses
There were 5 workhouses in this county:


 * Arbroath and St. Vigean's Combination
 * Brechin Almshouse
 * Dundee Combination
 * Forfar
 * Kirriemuir Almshouse

A description with drawings and photos of them today along with databases of those living there from the 1881 Census are provided on the links above located on the site entitled "The Workhouse.org.uk" which is owned and operated by Peter Higginbotham.

Web Sites

 * Angus (Forfarshire) Resources and help pages on RootsChat Angus (Forfarshire) Resources and help pages. (Free).

Angus Archives