St. Martins, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #393

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

History
MARTIN'S, ST., a parish, in the county of Perth, 5 miles (N. N. E.) from Perth; containing the villages of Caroline-Place and Guildtown, and the hamlet of Cairnbeddie. This place comprises the ancient parishes of St. Martin and Cambus-Michael, which were united soon after the time of the Reformation; and is celebrated as having been the residence of the usurper Macbeth, of whose castle of Cairnbeddie there are still some vestiges remaining. The old church, built in 1773, and which was both inconvenient and unsafe, was taken down, and a handsome and substantial structure erected in 1842, which is well adapted to the accommodation of the parishioners.

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. Births: Only one birth entry October 1745–December 1749. Records are irregular and very incomplete December 1771–April 1781. Mothers' names are not recorded until May 1751. Four entries for 1822–1828 are recorded after marriages for April 1750. Marriages: Only one marriage entry December 1714–April 1716. No entries October 1745–February 1749, April 1750–November 1752, August 1753–June 1756, and October 1801–July 1816. There is a separate record containing entries of marriage money and proclamations for 1712–1749. There are no entries in the latter mentioned entries October 1745–1747. Deaths: The burials are records of Mortcloth Dues mixed with proclamations of marriage. No entries October 1745–May 1747. 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:

No pre-1855 records.

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.

Balbeggie United Presbyterian Church
History— The church and manse of Balbeggie are in the parish of St. Martins. After good response to the public preaching of an Associate minister, several people of this area applied for and obtained supply of sermon from the General Associate Anti-burgher Presbytery of Perth 1786. They met for some months at a place called Melginch, then removed to Balbeggie and erected a church in 1788. This was superseded by another in 1832. Source:Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church, by Rev. William MacKelvie, D.D., pub. 1873. Film #477618. More details are given in the source.

Records— The extent of records is unknown.

Civil Registration Reords
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
St.Martins was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Dunkeld until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Dunblane. 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 Perthshire and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Dunkeld.

The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Perthshire. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Perthshire and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.