Kinross-shire, Scotland Genealogy

Guide to Kinross-shire ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Background
Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. Kinross is an inland county in the south-east of Scotland, bounded on the north-west by the Ochils, which separate it from Strathearn in the county of Perth, and on the east by the Lomond hills, on the south-east and south by the Benarty range, and on the south by the Cleish hills which divide it from the county of Fife. It is about eleven miles in length and nine miles in extreme breadth, comprising and area of 70 square miles or 44,800 acres.

Prior to the year 1426, the greater portion of the county was part of that of Fife, and for a considerable time after its separation, it contained only the parishes of Kinross, Orwell, and Portmoak. But in 1685 were added the parishes of Cleish and Tullibole and some small portions of the county of Perth. It was erected into a sheriffdom, conjointly with Clackmannan, in 1807. Kinross is the county town and the county also contains the populous village of Milnathort and a few hamlets.

The surface, though hilly towards the boundaries, is generally level in the interior and is divided into several extensive plains. About four-fifths of the land is in profitable cultivation. Excellent crops of oats and barley are produced, as well as fine crops of wheat. The pastures on the low lands are principally for cattle, and considerable numbers of sheep are fed upon the Cleish and Ochil hills. About 3000 acres are in woodland and plantations. Minerals are not extensive. Coal is found in the south but is not wrought. Freestone is quarried in the parish of Cleish and whinstone is every where abundant. Sandstone and limestone are also found.

The manufacture of cutlery has been discontinued and now only cotton is woven for the manufacturers of Glasgow. Tartan shawls and plaids are manufactured at Kinross and Milnathort. The population of the county in 1851 was 8763.

(Source: Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, 2nd ed., 1851.  FHL book 941 E5L.)

Scotlands People: An Important Online Source
ScotlandsPeople is one of the largest online sources of original genealogical information. If you are researching UK genealogy, your Scottish ancestry or building your Scottish family tree, they have more than 100 million records to look through.

The comprehensive choice of Scottish records includes: For more detail on exact record availability, see Availability. For examples of the records available, see Record Types and Examples. More information on the site, its contents, and instructions for using it can be found in the ScotlandsPeople Wiki article. Indexes may be searched for free, and there is a small pay per view fee to see the actual digitized record.

Census
Many census records have been indexed by surname. Some indexes cover one parish (and will be listed in the Wiki on the parish page) and some indexes are for the county as a whole. The Family History Library has county-wide census placename indexes for Kinross-shire for. Click here for other census indexes available at the library.


 * ScotlandsPeople, index, images, free index, pay per view ($)
 * Scotland Census, 1841, no images. Also at MyHeritage, index, ($). Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1851, no images. Also at MyHeritage, index, ($). Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1861, no images. Also at MyHeritage, index, ($). Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1871, no images. Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1881, no images. Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1891, no images. Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1901, index and images, ($). Also at findmypast, index, ($). Also at Ancestry.com, index, ($).
 * Scotland Census, 1911, index and images, ($).

Church Records

 * 1658 - 1919 - at FamilySearch — index

Parishes
Here is a list of historic parishes for the county of Kinross. Click on the parish name to see information about records.

Maps

 * Click here to see an outline map of the parishes of Kinross-shire.
 * National Library of Scotland map collection

Poorhouse Records
(none known)

Societies
Tay Valley Family History Society 179 - 181 Princes Street Dundee DD4 6DQ Scotland, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1382 461845

Scottish Genealogy Society 15 Victoria Terrace Edinburgh EH1 2JL Scotland Phone-0131 220 3677 Email enquiries@scotsgenealogy.com