Muckart, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #385

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

History
MUCKART, a parish, in the county of Perth, 2½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Dollar; containing the village of Pool. This place is supposed to have derived its name, signifying in the Gaelic language "the head of a boar," either from the form of one of its principal hills resembling that animal, or from its having been anciently much infested with wild boars. The church, repaired in 1789, being in a very dilapidated state, and far from adequate to the wants of the parishioners, a new one was built in 1838. There are places of worship for the United Secession and Free Church.

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

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.

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 Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The records may be indexed in the [FamilySearch] Births: Births are incomplete 1701–1702. No entries January 1710–July 1712, except one or two July 1744–October 1761. Mothers' names are not recorded until about 1780. Marriages: Marriage record prior to 1729 is intermixed with other matters. No entries October 1729 "Whitsunday 1800," from which date to 1823 there are ninety-three entries, but no year, month or day is specified. Records are proclamations only. Deaths: Mortcloth Dues are intermixed with proclamations of marriage. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book.

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:

Cash Book 1780–1862 Communion Rolls 1835–1886, 1891–1948 Minutes 1787–1920 Note: Available at the Stirling Council Archives, Stirling, Scotland, record CH2/846.

Roll of Male Heads of Families
1834 and 1835 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.

Muckart United Presbyterian Church
History— The church and parish of Muckart having become vacant, the Crown, as patron, presented a probationer to the charge. The congregation of Muckart were dissatisfied with this call and refused to sustain it, but he was settled as minister of the parish. In December, 1735, the people of Muckart petitioned the Associate Presbytery to be taken under their inspection, which was granted. It was not until August 1737 that they received supply of sermon. Petitions of a similar nature were presented from Kinross, Portmoak, Fossway and Glendevon. The parties thus associated continued to meet at times in Muckart, and sometimes in Fossway, until 1740 when they took possession of a place of worship they had erected for themselves in Muckart parish, containing 400 sittings. Source: Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church, by Rev. William MacKelvie, D.D., pub. 1873. . More details are given in the source.

Records— FS Library Film Number Church Minutes, 1802–1811 X Baptisms, 1813–1853 1 X Burials, 1825–1844  X Marriages, 1828–1849  X Note: The X means the records have been extracted. Other: Minutes 1848–1926 Note: Available at the Stirling Council Archives, Stirling, Scotland, record CH3/1202.

Dollar and Muckhart, Shelterhall Free Churches
History— Only a few in Dollar adhered to the Free Church in 1843. The minister of Muckhart, and many of his people, “came out.” They built a church in Shelterhall between the two places. The Original Secession congregation of Dollar, in 1852, united with the Free Church and a probationer was put in charge. Several Shelterhall members joined the congregation, which in 1856 obtained an ordained minister. The congregation in Shelterhall was discontinued in 1864 when the minister retired, most of the members having joined the Dollar congregation. Membership: 1848, 222; 1900, 226. Source: Annals of the Free Church Of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. . More details are given in the source.

Records— Dollar: Original Secession, Congregational Minutes 1827–1852 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH3/811. Dollar Minutes 1852–1940 Deacons’ Court Minutes 1853–1910 Note: Records are available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh record CH3/810.

Shelterhall: Various Minutes 1843–1866

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
Muckhart was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Dunblane 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 Family History Library. To find the microfilm numbers, search in the library catalog for the 'Place' of Perthshire and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Dunblane. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Perthshire. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place' of Perthshire and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.