Traquair, Peeblesshire, Scotland Genealogy

Traquair (#771)

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

History
TRAQUAIR, a parish, in the county of Peebles, 8 miles (S. E.) from Peebles. This place, of which the name is supposed to be a modification of Strath-Quair, or "the Valley of the river Quair," is not distinguished by many incidents of historical importance. The church, built in 1778, and improved in 1840, is situated nearly in the centre of the parish, but at a remote distance from those portions of it which are most thickly inhabited. At Traquair House is a private Roman Catholic chapel for the family; but there are no other places of worship in 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 Traquair. 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.

Click here for a list of the Family History Library microfilm numbers for the

Below is information for any known surname indexes:

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 October 1729–January 1734. After the record for 1772 is a page containing entries July 1732– April 1733 followed by a copy of the record for January 1734–April 1744. Only a few entries exist April 1777–June1786. Entries 1716–1733 are on a page after June1772. Mothers' names are rarely recorded. Marriages: Proclamation and marriage dues are recorded after December 1725 until April 1736 and from December 1739–January 1772. Except for a few entries of marriages 1773–1774, the entries relate to proclamations. Deaths: There are no burial entries October 1729–December 1745. From 1752–1758, burials are intermixed with other matters. There are no entries January 1791–January 1795 and January 1797–June1809, except a few for 1805. 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: 

Records— Minutes 1694–1711, 1738–1898 - with gaps Lists of Communicants, 1834–1839 Minutes of Parochial Board 1846–1856 Accounts 1694–1804 - with gaps Heritors' and Kirk Session Minutes 1806–1854 Transcripts from Records of Presbytery of Peebles Dealing with Parish of Traquair, 1598–1736 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/470.

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.

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

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.

Return to Peeblesshire parish list.