Minnigaff, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland Genealogy

Minnigaff #876

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

History
MINNIGAFF, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright containing the village of Creebridge, ½ a mile (N.) from Newton-Stewart. This place, of which the name, in the Gaelic language, is minutely descriptive of its dark mountainous aspect, formed part of the territories of the ancient earls of Galloway. The parish is bounded on the east by the Dee and on the west by the river Cree. The church, erected in 1836 is an elegant structure, in the later English style of architecture, with a square embattled tower, and contains 850 sittings. A church has since been erected at Bargrennan, in the upper part of the parish, to which a district has been assigned.

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 Minnigaff. 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 Scotland 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 indexes through the library.

Church Records
The Established Church of Scotland was Presbyterian. Read more about Scotland 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: There are no entries July 1696–December 1699 or October 1709–June 1718. The years 1792–1796 inclusive and 1798 have a number of entries containing only the name of the child and the date, without the parents' names. Mothers' names are seldom recorded after 1793. Marriages: There are no entries July1796–December 1699 and July 1709–December 1736 and December 1771–December 1809, except ten in 1718–1719 and one entry for 1785. There is one entry for 1797 on a separate slip and no entries 1821–1738. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. Family History Library book.

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: 

Register of Discipline 1694–1696 Collections and Distributions 1695–1737 Minutes 1694–1695, 1699–1710, 1718–1762, 1780–1781, 1795–1914 Poors' Fund Accounts 1748–1856 Accounts 1829–1840 Mortcloth Accounts 1749–1821 Mortality Register 1823–1903 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/1404.

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 are no known nonconformist groups.

Note: The Statistical Account of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright 1844, states that there were within the parish 49 members of the United Secession faith who attended at Wigton and Creetown; 43 members of the Reformed church, 26 members of the Relief church, and 81 Roman Catholics who all attended churches at Newton–Stewart. There were also a very few Episcopalians and Baptists. Family History Library British Book, Ser. 2, vol. 4 pt. 2

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

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.