St. Madoes, Perthshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #392

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

History
MADOES, ST., a parish, in the county of Perth, 6 miles (E. by S.) from Perth; containing the villages of Cot-Town and Hawkstone. This parish is supposed to have derived its name from St. Modoch. The church, a plain building erected in 1798, contains 610 sittings.

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 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 Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Some records may also be indexed in other FamilySearch collections for Scotland. Births: Births intermixed with marriages and other matters until 1615. No entries April 1615–October 1651, December 1653–October 1659, 1674–April 1676, and except five, December 1680–November 1684. Duplicate records for 1676–1680. Records are intermixed after 1659. No entries, except one April 1698–January 1701. Mothers' names not recorded until October 1651 and again omitted 1671–1674 and January 1685–July 1687. Marriages: No marriage entries March 1615–October 1659. Marriages again intermixed with births after 1659. No entries 1674–April 1676. Duplicate for 1676–1680 inclusive. No entries, except five December 1680–November 1684 and November 1697–November 1701. Records are incomplete 1701–1705 inclusive and there are no entries October 1777–February 1791. Deaths: One death entry for 1805. 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: 

Lists of Those Who Attended 1596–1611 Minutes and Accounts 1682–1684, 1729–1820 Lists of Those Examined 1660–1667 Minutes 1659–1682, 1701–1705, 1829–1923 Collections and Distributions 1705–1729 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/1198.

Roll of Male Heads of Families
1834, 1835, 1836, 1838 and 1840 lists of male heads of families in this parish can be found here.

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
St.Madoes was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Dunblane 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 Family History 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 Dunblane. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Perthshire. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Perthshire and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.