Longforgan, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #377

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

History
LONGFORGAN, a parish, in the county of Perth; containing the villages of Balbunno and Kingoodie, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Inchture, and 5½ (W.) from Dundee. This place, the name of which, in a charter of Robert Bruce's in 1315, granting the lands and barony to Sir Andrew Gray, is written Lonforgund, appears to have obtained its prefix to distinguish it from other places called Forgan in the neighbourhood. The church is a spacious and substantial edifice, well situated for the convenience of the parishioners, and adapted for a congregation of 1000 persons. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship.

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 FS 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 FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: No birth entries, except three pages of irregular entries 1702–1715, June 1702–July 1710. Page of irregular entries 1793–1804 after June 1806 entries. Mothers' names are generally recorded September 1653–1669, then omitted until about 1710, after which they are entered. Marriages: Marriage record is much fuller from 1647. No entries December 1675–March 1716 and December 1751–October 1776. Proclamations and marriages from 1776 but after 1789 the fact of marriage is seldom added to the entry of proclamation. Deaths: No death notations. 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: 

Minutes 1654–1670, 1673–1699, 1710–1890 Cash Book 1841–1856 Note: Available at the Dundee City Archive and Record Centre, Dundee, Scotland, record CH2/249; also on microfilm at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh.

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.

Longforgan Free Church
History— At the Disruption, evening services were provided for Invergowrie. On the adhesion of the minister of Longforgan to the Free Church, the congregation continued under that name. No site in the village of Longforgan could be obtained. The church was built and opened early in 1844. Membership: 1848, 222; 1900, 205. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D. 2 vols, pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details are given in the source.

Records— Session Minutes 1844–1945 Communion Rolls 1845–1930 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH3/220.

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
Longforgan 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 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 FamilySearch 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 St.Andrews. 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.