Larbert, Stirlingshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #485

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

= History =

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 Family History Library.

= 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 census records of Larbert, 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.

Established Church Old Parochial Registers
Click here to go to the Family History Library Catalog entry for the Established Church records for Larbert, covering the years 1663-1854.

Condition of Original Registers
Indexed: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index on computer at the Family History Library and family history centers. The records may be indexed in the International Genealogical Index. Births: Form of entry is tabulated and information is meager. There are five pages of irregular entries in family groups, dated 1739–1798, at 1772. Record is blank April 1792–October 1794, but at that part is a “Miscellaneous Register” containing ten leaves of entries 1669–1810, and after 1819, there are nineteen leaves of irregular entries 1770–1837. Marriages: Records are blank May 1761–June 1763, December 1768–February 1775, March 1792–October 1808. After the latter date, the fact of marriage is seldom recorded. Deaths: Mortcloth Dues; there are five entries of deaths and burials 1819–1825, and two entries 1844–1845, among the irregular entries of births, near the end. 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 1794–1797, 1808–1811, 1815–1922 Minutes of Discipline 1699–1715, 1760–1770 Distributions 1760 Communion Roll 1852–1865 Minutes Anent Purchase of Lairs (plots) in Churchyard 1744, 1760–1768, 1779–1816 Assignations of Rights in Burial Ground 1793–1799 List of Those Who Paid for Lairs 1808–1823 Poors’ Fund Distributions 1761–1762 List of Heads of Families in Full Communion 1835–1841 Other post–1855 records Note: Available at the Stirling Council Archives, Stirling, Scotland, record CH2/1326.

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.

For information on nonconformist church records for Larbert, see Dunipace 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 =

Larbert was 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' 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' of Stirling and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.

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