Inchture, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #359

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

History
INCHTURE and ROSSIE, a parish, in the county of Perth; including the villages of Baledgarno and Ballindean, 13 miles (E. by N.) from Perth. The word Inchture is altogether of doubtful derivation, but is supposed by some Gaelic scholars to be formed from the terms innis, "an island," and ear, "the east," the eminence on which the church and village stand being the most eastern of a series of elevations that were formerly islands. The church, conveniently situated in the middle of the principal village, was built in 1835, of red sandstone from a quarry in the vicinity.

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[http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/?gclid=CLKJyYGQ4ZUCFQQCagod1gp0Ww 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 FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: There are few entries between June 1632–November 1638 and no entries August 1649–January 1652 and July 1682–March 1716. There are, however, at a latter date five pages of irregular entries dated 1693–1749. Mothers' names are not recorded before 1682. Marriages: Marriages prior to 1649 are mixed with other matters. There are no entries April 1628–January 1642, August 1649–June 1656, June 1668–June 1673, and July 1682–February 1711, from which date until April 1717 there are only proclamations intermixed with other matters. There are separate records of proclamations and marriages for 1717–1738, and no entries for November 1753–November 1757, January 1804–February 1806 and August 1813–August 1818. Deaths: Deaths are recorded until January 1667. There are no entries for 1667–1711, from which date until 1751 only Mortcloth Dues are recorded. There are no entries for 1751–November 1783, after which a register of burials begins. 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: 

Inchture and Rossie
Records— Minutes 1650–1682, 1759–1771, 1836–1861 Accounts 1748–1763 Cash Books 1797–1885 Note: Available at the Dundee City Archive and Record Centre, Dundee, Scotland, records CH2/188 and 417.

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.

There were no known nonconformist groups in this parish.

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
Inchture was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of St.Andrews 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 St.Andrews. 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.