Caputh, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #337

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

History
CAPUTH, a parish, in the county of Perth; containing the villages of Craigie, Fungarth, Kincairnie, Meikleour, and Spittalfield, 5 miles (E. S. E.) from Dunkeld. This place, called in ancient records Keapoch, was in former times the site of a Pictish town of great strength, named, according to Boetius, Tuline or Tulina, and the inhabitants of which, who were very numerous, burned and deserted it, on the approach of the Romans. The parish is situated on the northern bank of the river Tay. The church, built in 1798, is a plain commodious edifice, situated on an eminence near the southern border, and contains sittings for 800 persons.

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: There are no birth entries November 1719–October 1721. Irregular entries are recorded 1777–1783. Except in 1671, mothers' names are seldom recorded until December 1705 and are again omitted 1721–1751 and May 1757–December 1784, with a few exceptions. Marriages: There are no marriage entries January 1720–November 1721, December 1740–December 1742, November 1744–January 1747, and February 1756–October 1783, except occasional entries of proclamations and of irregular marriages September 1760–1783. Deaths: The record is Mortcloth Dues prior to August 1784, after that date it is a record of Deaths. There are no entries November 1795–1833. 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:

Marriages 1721–1752 Burials 1721–1784 Note: Available at the FamilySearch Library on the same films as above.

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.

There were no known nonconformist groups in this parish.

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
Caputh 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 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 Dunkeld. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Perthshire. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place' of Perthshire and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.