Durris, Kincardineshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #256

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

History
DURRIS, a parish, in the county of Kincardine, 5 miles (E.) from Banchory-Ternan, and 13 (W. S. W.) from Aberdeen. This place is supposed to derive its name, often pronounced Dores, from a Gaelic word signifying a mouth or entrance, which is descriptive of this part as affording a principal entrance into the Highlands. The church, a very plain edifice, was built in the year 1822 by the late proprietor, and accommodates 550 persons with sittings. Part of the old church still remains, bearing the date 1537. The members of the Free Church have no place of worship.

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 onwww.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. Births: Two pages of the original record prior to January 1785 were lost, but there is a copy of the register 1783–1799 which embraces entries for the period in question. Mothers’ names were omitted April 1733–May 1754 and sometimes after the latter date. Marriages: Marriage entries from 1784–1830 occur among those of births. Deaths: Burial entries from September 1784–May 1788 are recorded among the births and marriages. There are no entries 1788–December 1816, when a separate register of deaths and burials begins. 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 1717–1861 Note: Available at the Scottish National Archives, Edinburgh, record CH2/651.

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
Durris 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 Kindardine 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 Kindardine. Look in the catalog for the 'Place-names' of Kindardine and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.'

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.