Killearn, Stirlingshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #482

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

History
KILLEARN, a parish, in the county of Stirling 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Drymen. The name of this place is supposed to have been derived from the compound Celtic term Kill-ear-rhin, signifying "the church of west point," which is descriptive of the situation of the church near the western extremity of a mountainous ridge twenty miles in length, extending from Killearn to Kilsyth, and called Campsie Fells. The church was rebuilt in 1826, and contains 500 sittings.

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.

is a list of the Family History Library microfilm numbers for the census records of Killearn, as well as the library numbers for any 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.

Established Church Old Parochial Registers
Click to go to the FamilySearch Catalog entry for the Established Church records for Gargunnock, covering the years 1694-1854.

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. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: The portion 1732–1773 is in the form of a small Memorandum Book. A large part of every leaf prior to 1715 is destroyed by mice, and many entries are imperfect, also a smaller portion of each leaf 1716–1722. Irregular entries occasionally occur after 1774. Marriages: Several of the leaves of the record for 1732–1773 very imperfect. There is one page at December 1810, much wasted by erasure and discoloration. 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:

Minutes 1694–1717, 1727–1743 Accounts 1694–1709, 1727–1742 Note: Available at the Stirling Council Archives, Stirling, Scotland, record CH2/468.

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.

Killearn and Balfron Free Church
History— This congregation was form in 1845, chiefly through the efforts of John Pollock, minister of Baldernock. Church and manse were erected in 1845, session–house and hall being added later. There was also a church in Balfron, and services were held every Sunday in Killearn and Balfron. Membership: 1848, 137; 1900, 89. 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 a list of ministers.

Records— Minutes 1844–1898 Communion Roll 1844–1845 Abstainers’ Society Minutes 1850–1855 Note: Available at the Stirling Council Archives, Stirling, Scotland, record CH3/483.

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
Killearnwas under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Ayr until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Stirling. 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-names' of Stirling and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Ayr. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Stirling. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Stirling and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.