Twynholm, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland Genealogy

Twynholm (#883)

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

History
TWYNHOLM, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 3 miles (N. by W.) from Kirkcudbright. This place, of which the name, supposed to be a corruption of Twynham, is descriptive of the situation of the church and village on rising ground, appears to have attained to a considerable degree of importance at an early period. The parish, to which that of Kirk-Christ seems to have been annexed about the middle of the 17th century, is bounded by the river Dee. The church, erected in 1818, is a neat structure in the early English style of architecture; it is situated nearly in the centre of the parish, and contains 410 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 edina.($) 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 Scotland Census Records.

for a list of the Family History Library microfilm numbers for the census records of Twynholm as well as the library numbers for any surname indexes available:

The 1901 census of Scotland is indexed on scotlandspeople.($) 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 indexes through the library.

Church Records
The Established Church of Scotland was Presbyterian. Read more about Scotland 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: Intermixed with marriages and other matters until 1722. There are no entries September 1722–March 1762. After June 1816, except a few entries for 1818, the record is copied from a memorandum book kept by the Rev. Mr. Williamson, Minister, at the beginning of which is a few entries, 1803–1816. Mothers' names are rarely recorded before August 1814. Marriages: There are no entries April 1719–May 1763. There is only one entry for 1766. There are no entries except one for 1789, November 1774–April 1791. There is only one entry for 1792. There are no entries December 1805–January 1807 and only one entry for 1813. There are no entries except one, 1818 and no entries September 1816–1825, 1826 nor 1834. Deaths: Burials; recorded on occasional pages of a duplicate of the registers of births and marriages for the same period of time. There are no entries December 1762–December 1763 and September 1768–1835. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. FS Library book

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 1730–1741, 1762–1804, 1835–1932 Note: Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/952.

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.

See Tongland for a history of the Tongland and Twynholm Free Church. There are no other known nonconformist churches. Other nonconformists would have attended church in Kirkcudbright.

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
Twynholm was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Kirkcudbright until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Kirkcudbright. Probate records for 1513- 1901 are indexed online at scotlandspeople.($) 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 Kirdcudbright. 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.