Tarbat, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland

Tarbat # 83

History
The parish of Tarbat occupies the eastern promontory of the shire of Ross, being bounded on the south and east by the Murray Firth, and on the north by the Dornoch Firth.

The only parochial registers in existence is a book in which minutes of the kirk-session are kept, and another in which births and marriages are recorded. The earliest entry in the first is in 1750, and in the second, 1801.

The land-owners are: Geanies, Mackay of Rockfield, Mackenzie Ross of Aldie, and Macleod of Cadboll.

The population in 1801 was numbered as 1343, and in 1831 increased to 1809 persons. The whole population of the parish belong to the Established Church, with the exception of three families of Seceders, who are new to the parish.

This account was written December 1840.

Source: New Statistical Account of Scotland, FHL book 941 B4sa, series 2, vol. 14.

Condition of Original Registers—
Index: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index on computer at the Family History Library under “Databases on the Network.” Note: These records appear to have been regularly kept. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book 941 K23b.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
Minutes 1750–1957 Baptisms 1823–1851 - with gaps Marriages 1823–1859 Accounts 1823–1858 Note:Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/350.

Tarbat Free Church
History— The minister and nearly all the congregation adhered to the Free Church in 1843. The church and manse were completed in 1845. A new church was later built in 1893. This was a very large congregation but it suffered heavily through rural depopulation and failure of the fishing industry. Membership:1855, 900; 1900, 142. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details may be given in the source, including ministers.

Records— The extent of the records is unknown.