Monquhitter, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Genealogy

Parish #223

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

History
MONQUHITTER, a parish, in the district of Turriff, county of Aberdeen, 6 miles (E.) from Turriff; containing the villages of Cuminestown and Garmond. The farm on which the church was originally built was termed Montquhitter, or Monquhitter, a word signifying "the place for ensnaring the deer;" and from this the district, which was disjoined from the parish of Turriff in 1649, took its name. The church, situated conveniently near the villages, is an unadorned and uncomfortable edifice, accommodating 1000 persons, built in 1764, and increased by the addition of an aisle in 1792. A chapel of ease was erected in 1833, in Fyvie, for the benefit of the remote parts of that parish and Monquhitter, a district of the latter, containing 195 persons, having been ecclesiastically annexed to it. There is a small episcopal chapel, and the members of the Free Church have a place of worship.

This parish was disjoined from the parish of Turriff in 1649.

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.

Click here [see below] to go to the FamilySearch Catalog entry for the.

The Family History Library has an (set of 12).

The 1901 and 1911 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, 1841-1911, 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.

Established Church—Old Parochial Registers
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 November 1685–June 1688, and December 1752–January 1758. After record for 1788 there are 18 pages of irregular entries 1755–1817. The record up to 1771, is a copy made about 1823, but the original 1677–1685, and 1688–1709, is also in the custody of the Registrar General. Mothers’ names are seldom recorded before 1814. Marriages: The record is blank 1701–1722, 1726–1734, and 1769–June 1771. There are only three entries March 1780–May 1784. Record is blank July 1792–December 1798. The record up to 1771 is merely a copy of the names of parties proclaimed all married, generally without either the month or day stated. The first entry, however, exhibits the completer for of the entries as contained in the original record. 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:

Records—

Reference      Title                                                 Date  CH2/1651/1    Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1727-1974 CH2/1651/1/1 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1727-1767 CH2/1651/1/2 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes, collections and distributions 1767-1806 CH2/1651/1/3 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes, collections and distributions 1824-1841 CH2/1651/1/4 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes, collections and distributions 1824-1844 CH2/1651/1/5 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1841-1869 CH2/1651/1/6 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1870-1912 CH2/1651/1/7 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1912-1932 CH2/1651/1/8 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1931-1949 CH2/1651/1/9 Monquhitter Kirk Session - minutes 1953-1974 CH2/1651/4    Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll books 1872-1962 CH2/1651/4/1 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1870-1886 CH2/1651/4/2 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1885-1890 CH2/1651/4/3 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1891-1896 CH2/1651/4/4 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1897-1902 CH2/1651/4/5 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1903-1908 CH2/1651/4/6 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1904-1930 CH2/1651/4/7 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1909-1916 CH2/1651/4/8 Monquhitter Kirk Session - communicants' roll book 1917-1920

Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, Catalog record CH2/1651 There are extracts from the records concerning the chapel at Millbrex 1831–1874, with notes on all church buildings 1832–1951'''. Note:''' Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/1045.

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.

Monquhitter Free Church
History—  The minister of the parish and a large proportion of his congregation “came out” in 1843. They worshiped first in the open air and then in the Temperance Hall in the village, until their own church was opened in December 1844. The Earl of Fife had refused ground in any reasonable position. The congregation was glad to accept the site somewhat unwillingly granted by James Lumsden of Auchry, in an old, disused quarry, and there the church was built. Membership: 1848, 300; 1900, 126. Source: Annals of the Free Church of Scotland, 1843–1900, ed. Rev. William Ewing, D.D., 2 vols. pub. 1914. Film #918572. More details are given in the source.

Records— No known surviving Records.

Cuminestown Episcopal Church
History— Monquhitter parish was one of the strongholds of Episcopacy in Scotland until a Presbyterian minister was ordained in 1727. This congregation was formed in the village of Cuminestown about 1791 from the poor and working classes of the area. Membership about that time was 60. Source: History of the Scottish Episcopal Church, by John P. Lawson, pub. 1843. No copy is available in the FHL.

Records— The extent of Records is:

Register of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials 1848-1880

Registers of Baptisms 1900-1983

Register of Confirmations 1881-1942

Managers' minute book 1826-1840

Managers' minute book 1844-1876

Managers' minute book 1925-1953

Vestry minutes book 1954-1985

School Logbook

Rough notebook kept by Fanny Ainslie c. 1900-1930

For information, write to: Cuminestown Episcopal Church c/o The Rectory 9 Deveron Road Turriff AB53 4BB Scotland

Transcribed Records— Some of the church records have been transcribed by Archibald Maxwell Strath and were self published as "The Registers of Turriff and Cuminestown Episcopal Church, Aberdeenshire, Scotland". Copies are held by the Aberdeen County Library, Meldrum Old Meg Way, Meadows Industrial Estate, Old Meldrum, AB51 OGN, Scotland. Further copies at held at the Aberdeen &amp; North East Scotland Family History Society, 4 King St. Aberdeen, AB24 5BD Scotland. http://www.anesfhs.org.uk/

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
Monquhitter 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.

Maps
Several maps can be found at the National library. Here is one example:

http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch/view/?sid=74480411

Title: Aberdeen Sheet XII.5 (Monquhitter) Survey date: 1870  Publication date: 1874

Another example is at http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch/view/?sid=74480408

Title: Aberdeen Sheet XI.8 (Monquhitter)

Survey date: 1870  Publication date: 1874