Legerwood, Berwickshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #749

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

History
LEGERWOOD, a parish, in the county of Berwick, 5½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Lauder. The name of this place, signifying in the Saxon "the light or hollow wood," is supposed to have been derived from the situation of its church in a spot almost surrounded by woods. The church, an ancient edifice, repaired in 1717 and 1804, and enlarged in 1837, is a substantial and neat building, adapted for a congregation of about 300 persons.

 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 record is a count and description of the population, taken by the government, arranged by locality and by household. Read more about Scotland Census Records.

Click to see the FamilySearch Catalog entry for the 1841-1891 census records for Legerwood, as well as the catalog entry for the 1841 and 1851 census  for Legerwood. Other surname indexes will be found on the Berwickshire county page.

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—
Index: 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: Both birth and baptism dates are usually recorded beginning in 1766. Mothers’ names are not recorded until July 1797. Some late baptisms are recorded at the end of 1854. Marriages: There are no entries June 1702–June 1717, August 1780–May 1783, and April 1801–May 1818. Starting on page 154 are seven pages of irregular marriages 1771–1818 and one entry for 1751. Marriage proclamations for 1820–1854 are found after the late baptisms. Deaths: Records are of burials in the earlier years, then deaths beginning in 1817. There is only one entry in 1715, August 1702–February 1717, then again August 1794–1816. Mortcloth Dues for 1820–1854 are found after the marriage proclamations for the same years. 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 Kirk session was made up of he 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 1690, 1717–1935 Collections 1689–1690 Collections and Distributions 1762–1905 Communion Rolls 1853–1899 Pro Roll 1762–1779, 1797–1818 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/515.

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 List.

There are no known records. In 1835 there were thirteen families in the parish belonging to the Secession, who attended chapels at Lauder or Earlston.

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
Legerood was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Lauder until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Duns. 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 catalogfor the 'Place-names' of Berwickand the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Lauder. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Berwick. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Berwick and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about the Scotland Probate Records.