King Edward, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #210

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

History
KING-EDWARD, a parish, in the district of Turriff, county of Aberdeen, 5 miles (S. S. E.) from Banff; containing the village of Newbyth. This place, originally Kin-Edart, of which the present name is an obvious corruption, is of some antiquity, and appears to have formed part of the possessions of the family of the Cumyns, earls of Buchan. The church, a plain structure built in 1621, contains 550 sittings. A chapel of ease in connexion with the Established Church has been erected in the village of Newbyth; it is a neat structure containing 400 sittings. There is a place of worship in the parish for Independents.

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—
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: The early portion of the record is a copy. Previous to 1742 it is defective and extremely irregular, whole families being entered in groups. There are only five or six entries dated prior to 1712. There are many years out of the order of time throughout this register. Marriages: Marriage records were regularly kept. Deaths: These records are incomplete. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book 941 K23b. Monumental Inscriptions: for the old churchyard – FS Library Book 941.25/1 V3s.

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:

Minutes 1704–1708, 1712, 1 page, 1826–1861 Minutes and Accounts 1736–1769 Accounts 1751–1773, 1785–1826 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/1144.

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.

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
King Edward was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Aberdeen until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Aberdeen. 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 Aberdeen and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Aberdeen. The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Aberdeen. Look in the library catalog for the 'Place-names' of Aberdeen and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' Read more about Scotland Probate Records.