Arbuthnott, Kincardineshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #250

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

History
ARBUTHNOTT, a parish, in the county of Kincardine, adjoining the town of Bervie. The name of this place has undergone many changes in its pronunciation and spelling; but, from documents in the possession of the Arbuthnott family, it appears that, previously to the 12th century, it was called Aberbothenothe, which form, about the year 1335, had been changed to Aberbuthnot, and, in 1443, to the mode it now retains. The church, which, though much altered and enlarged, is probably four centuries old, and was, in former times, dedicated to St. Ternan, is situated near the north bank of the river, about three miles distant from the furthest extremity of the parish.

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 Family History 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. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: Births are intermixed with marriages until November 1690. There are duplicate births 1690–October 1695 and August 1697–October 1701. After the record for 1793 there are six pages of irregular entries 1768–1800. There is an appendix of irregular entries 1779–1850 after the record for 1819. Mothers’ names are recorded after February. 1814. Marriages: There are duplicate records 1690–January 1702. There are only two entries August 1810–November 1813. Deaths: There are burials only until October 1790. There are duplicate registers from 1691–1697. There are no entries August 1699–June 1703. After 1790 there are only transcribed entries of Mortcloth Dues. 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 and accounts 1639–1882 Note: Available at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh, record CH2/16.

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.

Scottish Episcopal Church
Transcriptions exist for one, Robert Sparks, containing baptism and marriage registers for Arbuthnott Robert Spark's baptism and marriage register: Baptisms (Arbuthnott, Fettercairn, Fetteresso, Fordoun, Glenbervie, Kineff, Laurencekirk, Montrose, St. Cyrus). 1800-1825. Marriages 1814-1825. These are available at:

Archive Services, University of Dundee, Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4HN tel: +44 (0) 1382 384095

email:archives@dundee.ac.uk fax: +44 (0) 1382 385523

web: www.dundee.ac.uk/archives There are otherwise no other known nonconformist groups.

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
Arbutnott 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 Stonehaven. 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 Kincardine 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 Kincardine. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Kincardine and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.