Bervie, Kincardineshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #254

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

History
BERVIE, or INVERBERVIE, a royal burgh, and parish, in the county of Kincardine, 82½ miles (N. N. E.) from Edinburgh; containing the village of Gourdon. This place is named from the small river Bervie, on its north-eastern boundary, which stream is so called from an ancient British word signifying a boiling or ebullition, a word exactly corresponding to the peculiar nature of the water. The parish was formerly joined to that of Kinneff, but was separated from it about the time of the Reformation. The church, which was opened on the 1st of January, 1837, and contains 900 sittings, is an elegant structure, with a square tower more than 100 feet in height, ornamented with carved minarets. There are places of worship belonging to the Free Church and Independents.

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

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 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.

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. Birth: Birth records appear to have been kept regularly. Marriage: There is only one marriage entry for 1768 and two for August 1808–September 1813. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
The Kirk session was the court of the parish. The session was made up of he 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 171648–1944 Proclamations 1641–1665, 1736–1743 Baptisms 1641–1664, 1720–1735 Note: Available at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh, record CH2/34.

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.

Bervie Free Presbyterian Church, later United Free and East Church of Scotland
History— This congregation was formed at the Disruption, a Kirk session being provided by the appointment of assessors. Inconvenient temporary accommodation was secured until the church was opened in 1844. That year the charge was sanctioned. The manse was erected in 1850. The church was rebuilt in 1893. The population of the town and district considerably decreased. Membership: 1848, 125; 1900, 136. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Family History Library Film #

Records— Family History Library Film Number Session Minutes 1843–1915 item 7 Communion Roll 1846–1867  item 7

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

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.