Kilmorack, Inverness-shire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #100

History
The parish of Kilmorack, like many other parishes in the Highlands of Scotland, derives its name from its having afforded burial ground to some reputed saint or person of distinction, Kill Mhorace, signifying the burying-ground of young Marion. It seems most likely she was a descendant of one of the lairds of Chisholm, who long before the Reformation, was the principal resident heritor in the parish, and to whose family a large proportion of it still belongs.

This parish is bounded on the south, by the River Beauly, the parishes of Kirkhill and Kiltarlity; on the north and east, by the   parishes of Urray and Killearnan; and on the west, by the parish of Kintail.

The first individual worthy of notice is the Reverend John Farquharson, well known as the first collector of Gaelic poetry. He resided, for upwards of thirty years, in the Strathglass district of the parish, in the capacity of Jesuit missionary.

Formerly, the sheep in the parish were the few possessed by the farmers for their own consumption; the rearing for the use of others was little attended to; while now, the rich pasture of our country is occupied by thousands of the different breeds. Those most common are the Cheviot and black-faced.

The population of the parish at the time of the last Statistical Account was 2318, by the census in 1831, 2709; the village of Beauly, 508, the total of the country population is 2201. The increase of population during the last thirty years has been principally owing to the influx of people from other quarter into the village of Beauly.

The parochial registers of this parish extend as far back as the sixteenth century; but, from the irregular manner in which they  have been kept till within the last thirty or forty years, no information of importance can be derived from them.

This account was written January 1841. Source: The New Statistical Account of Scotland, FHL book 941 B4sa, series 2 vol 14.

Also available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/. Browse the scanned pages under ‘For non-subscribers,’ then search for the parish report.

Condition of Original Registers—
Index: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index available on computers at the Family History Library and family history centers. The records may be indexed in the International Genealogical Index. Births: There are no entries July 1705–June 1707. After April 1710, another record is written by the same hand, but containing different entries July 1680–1689, November 1696–October 1699, and March 1704–April 1710. There are two pages of births for 1674–1695 with three entries 1803–1806 and marriages 1680–1695. There are no entries April 1710–July 1717, March 1763–June 1765; April 1768–February 1773, which up to 1789, the record is a copy. There are no entries April 1768–February 1773 and August 1783–January 1785. The records are irregular and very defective February 1789–July 1806. Marriages: There are no entries May 1703–1717, but immediately after July 1717 a page of marriages 1692–1698 and also two deaths in 1700. There are only three entries December 1744–March 1747 and except for two entries for 1768, there are no entries October 1766–1806. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book 941 K23b.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
Minutes 1808, 1819–1932 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/680.

Strathglass Free Church, Kilmorack and Kiltarlity
History— Patrick Tulloch, minister of Strathglass, "came out" in 1843. Those adhering to the Free Church were few, and when Mr. Tulloch was translated in 1844 a missionary was put in charge. In 1853 a church and manse were built at Fasnakyle. A mission church was built at Mauld Bridge, near Struy, in 1854. The Assembly sanctioned the charge in 1878, and a minister was settled in 1880. Membership: 1880, 110; 1900, 44. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843-1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572.

Records— No known pre-1855 records.

Kilmorack Free Church, Beauly
History— The people as a body came out at the Disruption, leaving the minister behind them. A preaching station was constituted in September 1843. A church was built at Balblain. The manse was erected in 1849 on the Chisholm estate, every site in the parish being refused. The church at Beauly was built in 1879. Because of the Declaratory Act, about a hundred adherents left the congregation to form the Free Presbyterian Church. Membership: 1848, 45; 1900, 119. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1943–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 Vols. Pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details may be given in the source.

Records— No known pre-1855 records.

Beauly Catholic Church
History— Congregation formed in 1843, church consecrated to St. Mary in 1851. Earlier records are at Fasnakyle, Marydale.

Records— Baptisms 1851–1885 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record RH21/13.

See also Kiltarlity parish. Return to Inverness-shire parish list.