Buchannan, Stirlingshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #474  

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

History
BUCHANAN, a parish, in the county of Stirling, 1 mile (N. W.) from Drymen. The name of this place was originally Inchcaileoch, which it received from an island in Loch Lomond, its western boundary; but a detached portion of the parish of Luss having been annexed to it, in 1621, containing the Buchanan estates and chapel, and the inhabitants finding this religious edifice more convenient than the church, regularly attended at the former, in consequence of which the parish assumed the name of Buchanan. The church, situated in the lower portion of the parish, is a neat edifice, built about 1764, and contains 300 sittings: a small part of the ruins of the old church remains, in the island of Inchcaileoch.

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.

is a list of the Family History Library microfilm numbers for the census records of Buchanan as well as the library numbers for any 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—
Index: 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: Records are blank October 1674–November 1675, and September 1684–November 1686. The records are irregular and defective 1688–September 1699. They are blank from the latter date to September 1707, excluding one entry for 1703. Records are defective 1767–1769. Marriages: Records are blank June 1674–November 1675, and February 1690–December 1691. The records are defective from last date to 1699. They are blank August 1699–November 1707, and January 1765–December 1804. There is, however, a small quarto volume containing proclamations and marriages 1764–May 1806, which applies to the latter blank. Both proclamations and marriages are recorded until January 1765; also 1806–1810, and again after April 1817. The former, prior to 1687, usually appear to have been made with consent of parents and friends. The records of births and marriages prior to 1699 are very much wasted. Deaths: Mortcloth Dues 1760–1784, are on occasional pages of the record of proclamations. Records are blank from the latter date to January 1817, when a record of deaths and burials commences. There are only four entries 1824–1834 and none 1840–1844. 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 Kirk 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 1710–1711, 1714–1731, 1739–1744, 1746–1761, 1764–1784, 1804, 1806–1812, 1816–1817, 1836, 1848 Accounts 1742–1856 Poors’ Fund Accounts 1654–1688, 1710–1802 Collections 1848–1893 Examination Roll 1722–1728, 1733–1746, 1759 Note: Available at the Stirling Council Archives, Stirling, Scotland, record CH2/606.

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 none for 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
Buchanan was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Ayr until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Stirling. 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 Stirling and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Ayr. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Stirling. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Stirling and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.