Lochcarron, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland

Locharron # 76

History
Lochcarron is so called from an arm of the sea which it is intersected, and which derived its name from the river Carron, signifying in Gaelic a winding stream.

The nearest market-town is Dingwall, fifty miles distant; but family supplies are generally got from Inverness.

Impenetrable darkness rests on the history of this district till within a late period. It was for many ages the scene of the barbarous depredations of contending clans, who, as the use of letters was little known among them, left no other memorial of their transactions that the dubious records of traditional poetry. At an early period, the parish was in the possession of several chiefs, the principle of whom was Macdonald of Gengarry, who had the western part of Strome. All these were gradually dispossessed by Seaforth Lord Kintail, who took the Castle of Strome in 1609.

The people, under the influence of no religion, but, from political considerations, attached to Episcopacy, conceived a rooted dislike to the Presbyterian system, which all the prudence of the clergy was for some time unable to eradicate.

William and Alexander Mackenzie, who were brothers of this parish, are the authors of some popular Gaelic poetry.

Grain of all kinds are grown, also potatoes and turnips, and there iare pastures for cows and sheep.

Baptisms and marriages have been regularly registered since 1819. The register kept before that time was accidentally burnt. There are no registers of deaths.

The church was built in 1751. It is situated in the center of the parish, and as the roads are goo, it is pretty convenient for the greater part of the population. It affords accommodation for upwards of 300. There is no Episcopalian in the parish, and only one Roman Catholic, and there are no Dissenting of Seceding families.

This account was written September 1836

Source: New Statistical of Scotland, FHL book 941 B4sa, series 2, vol. 14.

Condition of Original Registers—
Index: For an index to these records, see the Scottish Church Records Index on computer at the Family History Library under “Databases on the Network.” Births: Records begin October 1819. Marriages: Records begin November 1819. The earlier records are said to have been accidentally burned. Source: Key to the Parochial Registers of Scotland, by V. Ben Bloxham, pub. 1970. British Book 941 K23b.

Established Church—Kirk Session Records
Minutes 1724–1929 Separate Register 1727–1929 Note:Available at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, record CH2/567.

Lochcarron Free Church
History— The whole congregation of Lochcarron, with the exception of a few individuals, adhered to the Free Church at the Disruption in 1843. The church was built in 1846 and the manse in 1859. One third of the congregation seceded to the Free Presbyterians in 1893. More than half of those who remained did not enter the Union in 1900. Membership: 1861, 550; 1900, 41. 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 ministers.

Records— No pre-1855 records known.