Kirkpatrick-Durham, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland Genealogy

Kirkpatick-Durham #874

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

History
KIRKPATRICK-DURHAM, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright; containing part of the village of Crocketford, 5½ miles (N. N. E.) from Castle-Douglas. This place derives its name from the dedication of its church to St. Patrick: the adjunct, Durham, distinguishing it from other places of the name of Kirkpatrick, arose from the dry and barren nature of the district in which the parish is situated. The parish is bounded on the west by the river Urr. The church, erected in 1748, and enlarged by the addition of an aisle in 1797, is a plain structure near the southern extremity of the parish, containing 374 sittings. A Free church has been erected.

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 Kirkpatrick-Durham. Also available at the.

Condition of Original Registers

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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 1694–1807 Cash Book 1746–1783 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/231.

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.

General Statement: The Statistical Account of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright 1844, states that before the Disruption of 1843 there were within the parish 158 individuals who belonged to dissenting and seceding churches, 12 Episcopalians, and 32 Roman Catholics. As there were no meeting places in the parish for these groups, they would have attended churches in neighboring parishes. FHL British Book 941 B4sa, Ser. 2, vol. 4 pt. 2

Kirkpatrick-Durham Free Church
History— Dr. George J. C. Duncan, minister of the parish, and many of his congregation, "came out" in 1843. The church was erected soon after the Disruption, the school in 1847, and the manse in 1849. The church was reconstructed in 1870, and church and manse were renovated in 1894. At first parts of the parishes of Urr and Parton were under the care of the minister. The formation of the charge at Corsock considerably diminished the membership, which was also affected by the steady decline of the population. Membership: 1848, 263; 1900, 116. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details may be given in the source including lists of ministers.

Records— Extent of pre–1855 records is unknown.

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

Read more about Scotland Probate Records.