Buteshire, Scotland Genealogy

Background
Buteshire is a county on the western coast of Scotland consisting of the isles of Bute and Arran and the small isles of Inch-Marnock, and Great and Little Cumbray [mostly uninhabited], in the Firth of Clyde. It is separated on the north from Argyllshire by the straits called the Kyles of Bute, and on the west, from the penisula of Cantyre, by the Kilbrannan Sound. It comprises an area of about 257 square miles or 164,480 acres.

The Isle of Bute was for centuries the property of the Stuarts, descendants of Sir John Stuart, son of King Robert II. The Isle of Arran was for centuries the property of the Hamiltons. There are seven parishes. The civil business of the county is transacted at the royal burgh of Rothesay on the isle of Bute, which is the only town in the county. There are several villages.

Bute is diversified with hills for pasture and valleys for cultivation. Arran is rugged and mountainous, interspersed with glens. Both islands have fine bays.

The population in 1851 was 15,740.

(Source: Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, 2nd ed., 1851.  Family History Library book, 2 vols.)

Parishes
Here is a list of the historic parishes of Buteshire with their parish numbers. Click on the parish name to see its history and information about records.

Census
The Scottish government began taking censuses of its population in 1841, and every ten years thereafter. The records must be 100 years old before they are released to the public, so the most recent record available is for the 1901 census. Read more about Census Records. Many census records have been indexed by surname. Some indexes cover one parish (and will be listed in the Wiki on the parish page) and some indexes are for the county as a whole. The Family History Library has county-wide census indexes for Bute for and. Census surname indexes for different places within Buteshire at the library may be seen by clicking here.

Directories

Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland, Post Office Directories are avilable online. The directories available for Bute are:

1889-1912: These are available in either PDF format or viewable online.

Maps
Click on the map of Berwickshire to see a larger version. Click on the larger map, then click the 'Expand' button when it appears in the lower right-hand corner of the map.



Click here to see an outline map of the parishes of Bute.

Poorhouse Records
Rothesay

[Return to county list.]