Nigg, Kincardineshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #266

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

History
NIGG, a parish, in the county of Kincardine, 2¼ miles (S. S. E.) from Aberdeen; containing the villages of Burnbanks, Cove, and Torry. This place, anciently called St. Fittick's from the name of the saint to whom its church was dedicated, derives its present appellation, signifying in the Gaelic language "a promontory or headland," from the projection of its northeastern extremity, Girdleness, into the German Ocean near the harbour of Aberdeen. The old church, situated at the north-east extremity of the parish, having fallen into decay, the present church was erected in a more central situation in 1829; it is a handsome structure, with a square tower, and contains 900 sittings.

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: There are no entries January 1693–1718, November 1741–Mary 1743, and December 1745–July 1747. The original record 1718–1790 has suffered exceedingly from dampness. There is, however, a copy of the portion 1732–1791. Mothers’ names are not recorded until January 1684 and again omitted 1718–1727, inclusive. Marriages: There are no entries June 1738–January 1741 and two entries December 1780–June 1782. Deaths: The registers of burials; there are 28 entries of births for Nigg, nineteen entries September–February 1573 and nine entries August–August 1576; two entries of marriages 1576–1579 on four pages included among the registers of the city of Aberdeen. 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 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 1757–1902 Copy of Baptismal Register 1819–1854 Burial Register 1830–1864 Note: Available at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh, record CH2/555.

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.

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
Nigg 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 Kincaardine. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Kincardine and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about [https://familysearch.org/catalog-search Scotland Probate Records. ]