Witchcraft in Scotland

Fear of witchcraft affected many areas of Scotland in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and, as a result, several hundred witchcraft trials were held in Scotland in that period. For more information about witchcraft in Scotland, details of historical records and frequently asked questions about witchcraft see below.

Fear of witches and witchcraft trials

Persecution of supposed witches started in medieval times. However, in Scotland the phenomenon became most intense between 1563 and about 1700, when witchcraft was a criminal offence punishable by death. Popular fear of witchcraft may have increased after the Reformation, although the shortage of record sources prior to the reign of James VI makes this difficult to verify. Witch-hunting was suppressed by the Cromwellian administration of the 1650s, but witch-hunts reappeared in various parts of Scotland in the last quarter of the 17th century. The method of execution was normally strangulation, following which the body was burnt in public to prevent re-animation by demonic forces. After 1763 courts could only prosecute for ‘pretended witchcraft’ and impose a maximum penalty of a year’s imprisonment. Cases could be investigated by local church courts or landowners’ courts, but most trials were conducted by special justiciary commissions sent from Edinburgh. Trials often took place in the burgh nearest to the alleged crime, since towns had gaols to hold the accused, buildings in which a large court could sit and the financial resources to accommodate a trial and stage an execution.

Archive sources for witchcraft trials

Although sources in the National Records of Scotland have been extensively examined by researchers, sources for the study of witchcraft in local areas do not appear to have been similarly examined. The phenomenon of witchcraft in Scotland and its investigation by church and civil authorities merits further investigation, including the differentiation by some courts between superstitious charming and witchcraft, and the treatment of witchcraft accusations in cases of slander.

Contributors: David Brown, Alison Rosie (both National Archives of Scotland, 2002); Christine Lodge (Highland Council Archives, 2002); Robin Urquhart (SCAN, 2002).

Bibliography

Black, G. F., Calendar of Cases of Witchcraft in Scotland, 1510-1727 (New York Public Library, 1938).

Larner, Christina Enemies of God: the witch hunt in Scotland (John Donald, 2000)

Larner, Christina, C. H. Lee, and H. V. McLachlan, A Source Book of Scottish Witchcraft (University of Glasgow, 1977)

Levack, Brian P Witch-hunting in Scotland: law, politics and religion (Routledge, 2019)

Goodare, Julian, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller Witchcraft and belief in early modern Scotland (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008)

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Witchcraft

What sources are available for the study of witchcraft in Scotland for undergraduate and postgraduate students?

First read Christina Larner, Enemies of God: the witch hunt in Scotland (John Donald, 2000); and then consult the unpublished calendar of witchcraft cases C. Larner, C. H. Lee, & H. V. McLachlan, Source Book of Scottish Witchcraft (there are copies at the National Records of Scotland, Glasgow University Library, and the National Library of Scotland). An earlier and less comprehensive work is G. F. Black, Calendar of Cases of Witchcraft in Scotland, 1510-1727 (New York, 1938).

Most witchcraft prosecutions required a commission of justice from Edinburgh and a local court (often a burgh) to make the necessary arrangements. The principal judicial sources on witchcraft cases are the trial records from the Justiciary Court and the Privy Council. These have been published for most of the period in which witch hunts took place in Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1554-1691 (Edinburgh 1882-1967); R. Pitcairn, Ancient Criminal Trials in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1833); Justiciary Cases, 1624-50 3 vols (Stair Society, 1953-1974); Justiciary Records, 1661-78 2 vols (Scottish History Society,1905).

There may be additional material in the family papers of local landowners and the minute books of local church courts (kirk sessions and presbyteries), which may be held in local archives, The National Library of Scotland, or in the National Records of Scotland. Other evidence comes from the accounts and minute books of burgh councils, recording the expenses of the trial and execution. Extracts from the minutes and accounts of many burghs are published and contain references to witchcraft, usually in the accounts for the costs of staging a witchcraft trial and carrying out the sentence. For local sources on individual cases, visits to local archives and local studies libraries will probably be necessary. In addition to containing references to witchcraft trials, the records of kirk sessions, presbyteries and burgh courts contain occasional accounts of accusations of witchcraft ending up as cases of slander.

Developing skills in reading 16^th, 17^th and 18^th century handwriting is advisable as this topic will give you plenty of practice! There is guidance available on the ScotlandsPeople website and there are also various courses available through universities or the National Records of Scotland.

Where can I find information about witchcraft in Scotland for a school project?

For information about the history of witchcraft in Scotland you should start with Christina Larner, Enemies of God: the witch hunt in Scotland (John Donald, 2000), and, perhaps, George Sinclair’s 17th century book on witchcraft, Satan’s Invisible World Discovered (Edinburgh, 1685; reprinted 1871). It should be possible to get information about witchcraft trials from published histories of towns, counties and parishes. If extracts from the burgh records of your local burgh have been published, they may contain references to the execution of witches. For all of the above take the advice of your school librarian or local studies librarian. You should find enough information for a school project in published books on witchcraft and on the history of your area. If you want to read original documents, you will need to learn how to read old handwriting first, and you may not have enough time to do that for a school project.

Where can I find information about a specific witchcraft trial?

First ascertain from published sources, including local history sources, the background to the case, especially when the events took place, who was involved, where the trial took place, and the result. Then consult the unpublished calendar of witchcraft cases: C. Larner, C. H. Lee, & H. V. McLachlan, Source Book of Scottish Witchcraft (there are copies at the National Records of Scotland, Glasgow University Library, and the National Library of Scotland) or G. F. Black, Calendar of Cases of Witchcraft in Scotland, 1510-1727 (New York, 1938). These will be your guide to the survival of judicial records or published accounts of the case. If you then feel that it is necessary to visit an archive, be prepared to make a preliminary enquiry by letter or e-mail rather than just turning up. This might prevent a wasted journey, either because the archive has no relevant material, or because the records are held off-site. The central government records (in particular the justiciary court papers) are held at the National Records of Scotland. Other records such as kirk session and presbytery minutes, estate and family papers and burgh records may be held either there, in the National Library of Scotland, or in local archives or libraries. Make sure to give yourself several hours to carry out research, as it can be time-consuming to read through the variety of records.

Scottish Cinemas

Early cinemas

Moving pictures arrived in Scotland in the mid-1890s courtesy of a small number of entrepreneurs promoting their various inventions for projecting moving images, and fairground showmen who began to include bioscope or cinematograph shows as part of the regular entertainment. Just prior to the Great War, cinema began to settle down on permanent sites with ice rinks, churches and music halls being converted for the showing of ‘pictures’ on a nightly basis. The twenties saw a period of lavishly decorated purpose-built ‘picture palaces’ reflecting cinema’s upward move from its origins as a working-class entertainment.

The impact of ‘the Talkies’

The arrival of talking pictures in the late 1920s heralded the end for the some of the smaller ‘bug huts’ as the expensive technology for sound reproduction and the alteration necessary to the building pushed the smaller operators out of business. The era of the super cinema had arrived, and with it the growth of the big cinema circuits. The Green family were the pioneers in Scotland, building Green’s Playhouse in Glasgow and Dundee, two of the largest cinemas in the country in their day. The ABC cinema chain had its origins in Glasgow with John Maxwell’s company Scottish Cine and Variety Theatres, and in the north the Inverness based Caledonian Associated Cinemas held sway.

Post-war cinema

Cinema attendances boomed in the war years, the last great era of the big screen. Competition from television in the 1950s and 1960s and a dearth of good family entertainment for the big screen led to a steep decline in cinema attendances. Many cinemas closed or converted to bingo halls. Those that survived into the 1970s and 1980s saw the era of the multi-screen site – large auditoriums architect designed – being twinned or tripled, followed by the inexorable rise of the multiplex of the 1990s and today, in their turn putting these older sites out of business. Few cinema buildings survive today in their original architectural splendour.

The National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive (formerly the Scottish Screen Archive) holds films, videos and moving images by amateur and professional filmmakers. It also holds cinema memorabilia, business records from some cinemas and records of some film societies, as well as film production records and records of bodies concerned with the development of film in Scotland. Some local and university archives services hold cinema memorabilia and records of local film societies. Local authority archives services may hold licensing registers for cinemas and theatres.

Compiler: Janet McBain (Scottish Screen Archives, 2002)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Film Production in Scotland

Entertainment and culture

Bibliography

Dick, Eddie (ed.), From Limelight to Satellite (Scottish Film Council/British Film Institute, 1990)

McBain, Janet, Pictures Past: recollections of Scottish cinemas and cinema-going (Moorfoot, 1985)

Peter, Bruce, 100 Years of Glasgow’s Amazing Cinemas (Polygon, 1996)

Petrie, Duncan, The British Cinematographer (British Film Institute, 1996)

Thomas, Brendan, The Last Picture Shows, Edinburgh: ninety years of cinema entertainment in Scotland’s capital city (Moorfoot, 1984)

Many histories of local cinemas have been published and the following are only a small sample of what can be found. A search of the National Library of Scotland’s catalogues will provide a more comprehensive list.

Hood, John, ‘The Clydebank Pavilion & Variety Theatre’, Clydebank Historical Journal, 8 (1988)

Hood, John, ‘No Waits, No Flickers, No Breakdowns’ Clydebank Historical Journal, 6 (1986)

Hornsey, Brian, Ninety Years of Cinema in Dumfries, Perth & Stirling (Fuchsiaprint, 1996)

Hornsey, Brian, Ninety Years of Cinema in Dundee (Fuchsiaprint, 1996)

Hornsey, Brian, Ninety Years of Cinema in Falkirk (Fuchsiaprint, 1997)

Hornsey, Brian, Ninety Years of Cinema in Inverness (Fuchsiaprint, 1997)

Hornsey, Brian, Ninety Years of Cinema in Montrose, Portobello and Kelso (Fuchsiaprint, 1998)

Newton, Norman S., The Wee Pictures: A History of the Picture House, Campbeltown 1913 – 1989 (Campbeltown Community Business Ltd, 1989 & 2008)

Taylor, Mike, Julia Watson & Colin Liddell, A Night at the Pictures (Dumbarton District Libraries, 1992)

Thomson, Michael, Silver Screen in the Silver City: a history of cinemas in Aberdeen, 1896-1987 (Aberdeen, 1988)

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Cinemas

Where can I find a photograph of a particular cinema?

There are several possible sources for photographs of individual cinemas:

The largest collection of photographs of cinemas in Scotland is held by the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive (formerly the Scottish Screen Archive). <https://www.nls.uk/collections/moving-image-archive/> [accessed 26 April 2024]

Contact the local archives service or local studies library for the place concerned. You should provide the name of the street where the cinema was located. Staff may be able to tell fairly quickly whether they hold a photograph of a particular cinema, but in some cases you may be required to carry out research yourself.

How can I trace the location and history of a particular cinema?

First look at what has already been published, whether in a local history book or on a local history website. Use the information provided but do check the original sources that the author or website compiler used. Ask the local libraries or local archives services if they hold any unpublished lists of local cinemas.

The National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive (formerly the Scottish Screen Archive) holds the records of many cinema companies. These contain information about individual cinemas. <https://www.nls.uk/collections/moving-image-archive/> [accessed 26 April 2024]

If you don’t know where the cinema was located, look at any available old maps for period, especially Ordnance Survey (OS) editions. You can see OS maps up to the 1960s on the National Library of Scotland website and you can usually find more recent OS maps in local libraries.

To find the name of the cinema, check through back-copies of Post Office Directories for the town or county in question. Remember that if the cinema’s owners did not pay for an entry in these directories then the cinema may not appear in the alphabetical or classified sections.

It is possible that the local authority kept a register of licences granted to cinemas and theatres, but if these have not survived, go to the local authority archives service for the area and look at valuation rolls which record the owner, occupiers and purpose of most buildings in each town or village and are more reliable than Post Office Directories. However, checking through these can be time-consuming: you may need to devote several hours to this. Bear in mind that many street names have changed over the last century, especially in cities. You may also be able to find plans of the building in the building standards warrants or dean of guild warrants.

Photography in Scotland

Scotland played an important role in the development of photography, and archives and libraries throughout Scotland hold collections of old photographs.

Pioneers

The photographic process was developed in France and Britain in the 1820s and 1830s, culminating in the glass negative Daguerreotype process, made public in 1839. St Andrews played a vital role in the development of the photographic process through the early interest of Sir David Brewster and his friendship with Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the Calotype process. Early Scottish photographers included Robert Adamson and David Octavius Hill, operating from an Edinburgh workshop below the Royal Observatory in the 1840s. George Washington Wilson, an artist and photographer based in Aberdeen in the 1850s, took advantage of the Victorian vogue for views of the Highlands and experimented successfully with the new wet-collodion process. By the 1880s, through a combination of technical excellence and business acumen, Wilson’s company had become the largest and best-known photographic firm in the world. Other successful commercial photographic companies, from the 1870s onwards, were Valentines of Dundee, who produced albums of Scottish views and, later, picture postcards, and Thomas Annan in Glasgow.

Social reformers and municipal photography

Photography had been used to good effect by social reformers in the late nineteenth century, particularly in illustrating (through lectures illustrated by glass lantern slide) problems in industrial cities, such as housing conditions, smoke nuisance and disease. In the late nineteenth century photography began to be used by Scotland’s local government bodies and other municipal institutions to record public undertakings. Glasgow Corporation had hired Thomas Annan to photograph the completion of the city’s water supply scheme from Loch Katrine in the 1850s. In the 1860s and 1870s Annan photographed slum housing around the High Street of Glasgow for the City Improvement Trust, which was about to demolish the slums to make way for better housing. The work was taken up by the city’s architects and planners who produced a photographic record of a century of housing development in the city, while the city’s assessor used photographs of buildings as evidence in rates appeals cases (in the process recording many commercial buildings in the city in the 1920s and 1930s. Bodies like the Aberdeen Harbour Board and Clyde Navigation Trust photographed work on improvements to harbours and river navigation. From 1871 photography was used by Scottish prison authorities to circulate information about criminals to police forces.

Proliferation

From the 1870s onwards the proliferation of photographers’ studios in towns and cities throughout Scotland made the individual portrait and group photographs affordable for the middle classes. The Johnston Collection in Wick is a good example of this. <https://johnstoncollection.net> [accessed 21 October 2024].

Industrial firms were among the earliest commercial users, and some firms specialised in industrial photography. One of the biggest was William Ralston Ltd, a Glasgow firm founded in 1856, which was a leading industrial and marine photographer from 1906.

Aerial photography developed from the First World War onwards, primarily for military purposes. Both the RAF and the Luftwaffe made photographic surveys of Scotland in the late 1930s and during the Second World War.

Newspapers and magazines began using photographs in the 1930s, and two notable Scottish photojournalists from the 1940s until the 1970s were Michael Peto and Oscar Marzaroli. The development of the celluloid negative and cheaper cameras made photography an affordable part of everyday life in Scotland from the 1930s onwards.

Most local archives, libraries and museums have a range of miscellaneous photographs of their local area and they also often hold collections from photographers who lived locally, which may include photographs of other parts of Scotland or the rest of the world. University archives often hold images relating to the research of university staff or departments, such as medical research or art and design or archaeology.

There are specialist repositories, such as Historic Environment Scotland, whose staff photograph places, objects or research as part of their routine duties as well as collecting the photographs of other people and organisations. Community archives and heritage groups collect and care for photographs of people, places and events connected to their community.

Compilers: SCAN contributors (2004), Editor: Elspeth Reid (2024)

Bibliography

Beaton, Cecil, and Gail Buckland, The Magic Image: the genius of photography from 1839 to the present day (Thames and Hudson, 1975)

Ford, Colin, (ed.), An Early Victorian Album: the photographic masterpieces (1843-47) of David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson (A.A. Knopf, 1976)

Ford, Colin, The Story of Popular Photography (London Century in association with the National Museum of Photography Film and Television, 1989)

Gossman, Lionel, Thomas Annan of Glasgow: pioneer of the documentary photograph (Open Book Publishers, 2015)

Gernsheim, Helmut, The Concise History of Photography (Thames and Hudson, 1965)

Rosenblum, Naomi, A World History of Photography (Abbeville Press Publishers, 1997)

Thomas, David B. The First Negatives. An account of the discovery and early use of the negative-positive photographic process (HMSO, 1964)

Film Production in Scotland

Early film production activity in Scotland centred to a degree on the optical lantern dealers who were developing moving picture production and exhibition in the 1890’s. William Walker’s Royal Cinematograph Company was the pioneer, making and showing local ‘topical’ films around the Grampian region between 1897 and 1911. The first known feature film made in Scotland was Rob Roy (1911), sadly missing.

Scotland’s first cinema newsreel, the Scottish Moving Picture News, was established in 1917, but did not survive into the era of the ‘talkies’. There was a further flurry of feature film making activity centred on Rouken Glen on the south side of Glasgow in the early 1920s, none of it lasting long, followed by the establishment of a number of small companies specialising in advertising, promotional and topical films who were to enjoy more sustained success. It was one of these enterprising film producers Ronnie Jay who made Scotland’s first talkie Sunny Days in 1934.

The factual film production industry settled down in the 1930s with Stanley Russell’s Scottish Film Productions (becoming Russell Productions and finally Thames & Clyde), Elder-Dalrymple Films (specialists in educational films) and Campbell Harper Films in Edinburgh. This triumvirate was joined after the war by Templar Films whose best known production is the first Scottish Oscar winner Seawards: the Great Ships (1960).

Another unsuccessful attempt at establishing a production base for feature films was promoted in 1946 by Scottish National Film Studios whose ambitious (but unrealised) plans included major film studios at Inverness.

The establishment of the Films of Scotland Committee in 1954 proved a catalyst for the growth of indigenous film making in Scotland in the post war period. The commissioning powers of the Committee (they sponsored over 150 films in their thirty-year existence) enabled young Scottish filmmakers to earn a living and to develop and hone their skills behind the camera and in the cutting room. From this training ground in documentary film emerged, amongst others, Bill Forsyth, Murray Grigor and Mike Alexander.

The National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive (formerly the Scottish Screen Archive) holds films, videos and moving images by amateur and professional filmmakers. It also holds the records of the Films of Scotland Committee, records of various film production companies, papers of individuals and records of bodies concerned with the development of film in Scotland, such as the Scottish Film Council. Most local, university and business archives deposit their moving images with the Moving Image Archive.

Contributor: Janet McBain (Scottish Screen Archive, 2002)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Scottish Cinemas

Entertainment and Culture

Churches – Roman Catholics in Scotland

The Roman Catholic system of church governance is based on apostolic succession, where church leaders, known as bishops, are consecrated by existing bishops, themselves previously consecrated by bishops, so that all are in the line of succession from the original apostles of Christ. The most senior bishop is the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. Bishops are appointed by the Pope. Bishops are usually responsible for a geographic area, known as a diocese, have the authority to ordain priests, and usually are responsible for giving confirmation to church members (a sacrament where baptised persons are confirmed in their faith by anointing). Priests are usually appointed by bishops as pastors to congregations of local people and have the authority to conduct Holy Communion (also known as mass or eucharist), baptisms, marriages, anointing of the sick, confession and give confirmation. Priests may also be appointed to other roles within a diocese.

Alongside the diocesan and parish structure of the church, there are also male and female religious orders, who have a variety of rules and charisms, led by the head of their order, who is usually accountable to authorities in Rome, and ultimately the Pope.

Until the Reformation, there was one church in Scotland which had been recognised in the 12^th century by the papal bull ‘Filia Specialis’.[1] Under this, Scottish bishops, apart from the bishops of Galloway, were independent of the archbishops of York and directly accountable to the pope. The bishops of Sodor (Western Isles) and Orkney were subject to the Archbishop of Nidaros (Trondheim) until 1472, when the bishop of St Andrews was elevated as an archbishop and given metropolitan status for Scotland. However, in 1492 the bishop of Glasgow was also made an archbishop and the Scottish dioceses were divided between these two archbishoprics, and although there were subsequent adjustments to boundaries and considerable disputes, this arrangement remained in place until 1560.[2]

In common with the church across western Europe, the Scottish church was organised into geographical parishes, within dioceses each led by a bishop. In theory, each parish was served by a priest, called a rector, who worked under the authority of the bishop, and who was supported by the teinds from the parish. In practice the teinds of many parishes were appropriated to religious orders who supplied a vicar to minister to parishioners, while other parishes were served by vicars or curates because the priest had charge of more than one parish.[3] The administration of the dioceses was entrusted to one or two archdeacons, who supervised parish clergy, and deans who heard the confessions of parish clergy and collected taxes.[4]

In the 1520s, reformed theology began to reach Scotland and in 1525 an act preventing the importation of works by ‘the heretic Luther and his disciples’ was passed by the Scottish parliament.[5] The executions of the reformers, Patrick Hamiton in 1528, Henry Forrest in 1533 and George Wishart in 1546 were followed by the murder of Cardinal Beaton, Archbishop of St Andrews, in 1546, and Protestantism developed through secret meetings and the work of Scottish exiles in Geneva, including John Knox. A rebellion in 1559-60 led by Lord James Stewart and the Earl of Argyll, against the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, resulted in the Reformation parliament which abolished Catholic worship.

The Reformation in Scotland was formally established with the Confession of Faith Ratification Act, 1560, accompanied by the abolition of papal jurisdiction and the mass.[6] On the accession of James VI, a series of acts in 1567 further consolidated the new protestant church and aligned loyalty to the Crown with profession of ‘the true religion’.[7] While the form of church governance was not settled until 1690, the church in Scotland was firmly protestant from this point onwards.[8] Further legislation prohibited Roman Catholics from holding public office, becoming schoolmasters or teaching young people in any way, and from inheriting or purchasing heritable property.[9] The Roman Catholic Church no longer retained the diocesan and parochial systems for administrative purposes, while confiscation of Church property and restrictions on clergy meant that larger mission territories were created, which, with varying geographical areas in Scotland, meant that they were often difficult to visit and administer. Anti-Catholic persecution increased following the Jacobite rebellions. In the 1770s there was an attempt to repeal aspects of the penal laws, which succeeded in England but was prevented in Scotland by rioting.[10] By 1793, after a second Relief Act for England and Wales, attitudes had changed sufficiently to permit the passing of a Relief Act for Scotland which allowed Roman Catholics who took an oath of abjuration and allegiance to hold heritable and moveable property, and to teach young people (but not the children of protestant parents).[11] Catholic emancipation in 1829 removed most of the remaining obstacles to participation in civil and military life, enabling Roman Catholics to vote and to hold most public offices, on taking the oath of allegiance and abjuration.[12] The exceptions in Scotland were positions connected to the Church of Scotland and the Commissary Court of Edinburgh, and Jesuits and members of religious orders were required to register and could not wear clerical dress outwith places of worship and private houses. It took another century before the registration requirement and the prohibition on clerical dress in public were repealed.[13]

Although the Reformation abolished the institution of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland, many individuals and families continued to adhere to its beliefs and practices despite the penal laws. Anne of Denmark, spouse of James VI, was a Roman Catholic and permission was given to various nobles to maintain a Roman Catholic chaplain in their households.[14] Jesuits and other priests were regularly sent to Scotland while boys from wealthy Roman Catholic families were sent to the Scots Colleges in France, Spain and Italy for their education and some were trained as priests there.[15]

A Vicar Apostolic for England and Scotland was appointed in 1623 and for the first time after the Reformation, priests could be ordained in Scotland, lay people be given confirmation and the work of priests could be led and co-ordinated centrally.[16] In 1694 a separate Vicar Apostolic for Scotland was appointed and in 1727 Scotland was divided into two Vicariates, Highland and Lowland, with two Vicar Apostolics, with the division based primarily on language. In 1827, following a significant increase in Roman Catholics due to Irish immigration, Scotland was re-divided into Eastern, Western and Northern Vicariates.[17] In 1878 the hierarchy in Scotland was restored by Pope Leo XIII, with two archbishops (Glasgow, St Andrews & Edinburgh) and four bishops (Aberdeen, Argyll and the Isles, Dunkeld, Galloway). Parishes were not re-established in Scotland until 1937 in the Eastern Province and 1948 in the Western Province, and until the restoration of parishes, priests were designated ‘Mission Priests’ and while they had charge of geographical areas they were not tied to those boundaries and could minister to large parts of the country without impinging on the rights of fellow priests. Similarly, Catholics could choose to attend any service in any part of the country.

A key element of re-establishing the Roman Catholic church was provision for the training of priests. Most students completed their education in the Scots Colleges in Europe but from 1732 there was a succession of somewhat hidden highland and lowland colleges until after the Relief Act 1793 the lowland college moved to Aquhorties. From 1799 support was provided through British government grants as compensation for properties lost in France during the French Revolution, and in 1829 it moved to Blairs College, near Aberdeen.[18] Roman Catholic schools were set up from 1829 onwards, excluded from state provision in 1872 but included by the 1918 Education Act.[19]

Catholic parish records consist mainly of baptisms and marriages. They may also include records of individuals attending confession, registers of confirmation, registers of converts (although this information is more likely to be found in baptismal registers), death, burial and funeral records, seat rentals, registers of sick calls and ‘status animarum (‘state if the souls’) which are enumerations of all Catholics within a particular area at a particular time. Not all of these records were maintained in every parish or by every mission priest. The earliest records date from 1703 but few survive before 1800. Administrative and diocesan records including personal papers of priests and bishops and minutes of church bodies have also survived.

Roman Catholic records are held by the Scottish Catholic Archives (records mainly after 1878), the University of Aberdeen Special Collections (records mainly before 1878), and the Archdiocese of Glasgow Archives. Many parish and mission records have been digitised and details of what is available can be found on the National Records of Scotland research guide <https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/catholic-parish-registers/about-the-catholic-parish-registers> [accessed 30 Jun 2024].

Religious orders usually maintain their own archives. Records of Roman Catholic schools which are state funded should be transferred to the relevant local authority archives service. Records of private schools may be held in the school or may have been deposited in a local archives service.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2024)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Catholic Church records

Synods

Churches – Episcopalians in Scotland

Churches – Presbyterian churches in Scotland

Bibliography

Cowan, Ian B., ‘The development of the parochial system in medieval Scotland’ The Scottish Historical Review 40 No. 129-1 (1961) pp. 43-55.

Cowan, Ian B., The parishes of medieval Scotland (Scottish Record Society, 1967)

Cowan, Ian, The Scottish Reformation (London, 1982)

Dowden, John, The medieval church in Scotland: its constitution, organisation and law (MacLehose & Co, 1910)

Johnston, Christine, Developments in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, 1789-1829 (John Donald, 1985)

Kehoe, Karly S., Creating a Scottish Church: Catholicism, Gender and Ethnicity in Nineteenth century Scotland (Manchester University Press, 2010)

Mason, Roger A., ‘Usable Pasts: History and Identity in Reformation Scotland’ in The Scottish Historical Review, 76 No 201 (1997), pp. 54-68

Szechi, Daniel, ‘Defending the True Faith: Kirk, State and Catholic Missoners in Scotland, 1653-1755’ The Catholic Historical Review, 82.3 (1996), pp. 397- 411

References

[1] R.K. Hannay ‘The date of the Filia Specialis’ Bull’ The Scottish Historical Review 23 No.92 (Apr. 1926), pp. 171-177

[2] John Dowden, The medieval church in Scotland: its constitution, organisation and law (MacLehose & Co, 1910), pp.12-17.

[3] Dowden, The medieval church in Scotland, pp. 113-114.

[4] Dowden, The medieval church in Scotland, pp. 213-217.

[5] Act against importation of Luther’s works, 1525 The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, (RPS) ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021) 1525/7/32, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1525/7/32 > [accessed 30 April 2024].

[6] Confession of Faith Ratification Act, 1560, RPS, A1560/8/3, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1560/8/3 > [accessed 30 April 2024].

[7] Concerning the abolishing of the pope and his usurped authority, 1567, RPS, A1567/12/1 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/1>; Concerning the annulling of the acts of parliament made against God, his word and maintenance of idolatry in any times past, 1567, RPS, A1567/12/2 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/2>; The Confession of the Faith and doctrine believed and professed by the Protestants of the realm of Scotland, RPS, A1567/12/3 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/3>; Concerning the abolition of the mass and the punishment of all that hears or says the same, 1567, RPS, A1567/12/4. < http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/4 >; Concerning the true and holy kirk and of them that are declared not to be of the same, 1567, RPS, A1567/12/5 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/5>; Concerning the king’s oath to be given at his coronation RPS A1567/12/7 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/7> [all accessed 9 March 2024].

[8] Confession of Faith Ratification Act, 1690 (c.7) <http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1690/7> [accessed 30 Mar 2021].

[9] Act for preventing the growth of popery, 1700 (aosp 8 & 9 Will III c.3).

[10] Relief Act 1778 (18 Geo. III c. 60).

[11] Relief Act, 1791, (31 Geo. III c.32); Relief Act (Scotland) 1793 (33 Geo. III c.44).

[12] Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 (10 Geo. IV c. 7).

[13] Roman Catholic Relief Act 1926 (16 & 17 Geo. V c.55).

[14] Alasdair F. B. Roberts, ‘The role of women in Scottish Catholic survival’ The Scottish Historical Review 70.2 No 190 (1991) pp 129-150 (p. 132).

[15] Daniel Szechi, ‘Defending the True Faith: Kirk, State and Catholic Missioners in Scotland, 1653-1755’ The Catholic Historical Review, 82.3 (1996), pp. 397- 411 (p.398).

[16] Christine Johnston, Developments in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, 1789-1829 (John Donald, 1985), pp. 33-34.

[17] Johnston, Developments in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland pp. 239-241.

[18] Johnston, Developments in the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland pp.119-129, 198, 242.

[19] Education (Scotland) Act, 1872, (35 & 36 Vict. c. 62); Education (Scotland) Act, 1918 (8 & 9 Geo. V c. 48)

Churches – Methodists in Scotland

Methodists in Scotland have always been a very small denomination, with a peak membership of 13,300 in the 1960, dropping to about 2,000 in 2022.[1] Their history, structure and governance is part of the wider Methodist Church in Britain and the records, and their locations reflect this.

The Methodist Church emerged out of an evangelical revival in the early eighteenth century. John Wesley, an ordained Anglican clergyman, set up religious societies to support people in their faith, initially describing them as being ‘in connexion’ with himself, to avoid breaching the Conventicles Act, 1670, which, in England, could result in fines for attending or holding non-Anglican religious meetings.[2] Members attended weekly class meetings but were encouraged to continue to attend their local parish church. Laymen were employed by John Wesley as itinerant preachers, who travelled round their circuit regularly and who were moved from one area to another every few years, and volunteers were appointed as local preachers who were limited to their local area. Itinerant preachers were given more training and from the 1830s were ordained as presbyters.[3]

Methodists were organised into societies (congregations) which were grouped together to form a circuit. Circuits in turn were grouped into geographical areas called Districts, all of which were part of the Connexion (the term used for the church’s central leadership and administration). The first society in Scotland was formed in Musselburgh in 1751.[4]

Methodist governance was based on meetings: the class meeting, the society meeting, the leaders’ meeting, the quarterly meeting, the district meeting (known as synod from the 1890s onwards) and conference. There were also trustees who were separately responsible for the buildings, property and assets. In the 1970s, society meetings were replaced by General Church Meetings, and the leaders’ meetings and trustees’ responsibilities were combined into the Church Council; and the quarterly meeting was re-named the circuit meeting and given the responsibilities of managing trustees of circuit property. The connexion was re-organised into new committees and divisions in the 1990s.[5]

After John Wesley died in March 1791, Methodists split several times over theological, doctrinal and practice differences. Most Scottish Methodists remained Wesleyan Methodists (the original Methodist church) but the Society of Primitive Methodists (1811-1932) attracted a significant minority, particularly in the west of Scotland.[6] A few joined the New Methodist Connexion (1797-1907) or the Bible Christian Church (1815-1907), who welcomed women preachers as well as men, and some set up independent Methodist churches, notably the well-attended Charlotte Street church in Glasgow.[7] In 1907 the United Methodist Church was formed by a union of the New Methodist Connexion, Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Church (which did not have congregations in Scotland). The Primitive Methodists and the United Methodists then united as the Methodist Church in Britain in 1932

Methodist society, circuit and district archives are placed in local archives services designated by the relevant District Archivist. Scottish records can be found in the National Records of Scotland (ref. CH11), Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives, Dumfries & Galloway Council Archives, Dundee City Archives, Glasgow City Archives, Highland Council Archives, Scottish Borders Archives, Shetland Museums & Archives, Stirling Council Archives and the University of Dundee Archives.

The Methodist Archives and Research Centre, University of Manchester, holds copies of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Shetland District minutes along with some circuit plans and other miscellaneous records relating to Scotland. <https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/special-collections/subject-areas/methodist-archives-and-research-collections/methodist-archives-collection-catalogue/catalogue-viewer/> [accessed 24 April 2024]

Further details about methodist records can be found on the Methodist Heritage website. <http://www.methodistheritage.org.uk/archives-libraries-methodist.htm> [accessed 24 April 2024]

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2024)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Synods

Bibliography

Batty, Margaret, Scotland’s Methodists, 1750-2000 (John Donald, 2010)

Bebbington, David W., ‘Methodism in Victorian Shetland’ Scottish Church History 50.2 (2021), pp. 75-97

Thornborow, Philip, A Methodist in the family? Answers to ten frequently asked family history questions (Methodist Publishing, 2014)

Vickers, John A., A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland (Epworth Press, 2000) expanded website version <https://dmbi.online/> [accessed 24 April 2024]

References

[1]Margaret Batty, Scotland’s Methodists, 1750-2000 (John Donald, 2010), p.258; Methodist Church Statistics for Mission; Scotland District and Shetland District <https://www.methodist.org.uk/for-churches/statistics-for-mission/2022-statistics-reports/ > [accessed 27 Jan 2024].

[2] Acts of the Parliament of England, Conventicles Act, 1670 (22 Cha. II, c.1).

[3] Entries for ‘Ordination’ and ‘Preachers’ in John A. Vickers, A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland [hereafter DMBI] <https://dmbi.online/> [accessed 27 Jan 2024].

[4] Batty, Scotland’s Methodists, p.7.

[5] Entries for ‘Conference’, ‘Church Council’ ‘Society Meeting’ ‘Circuit Meeting’ District Synod’ in DMBI <https://dmbi.online/> [accessed 27 Jan 2024].

[6] Batty, Scotland’s Methodists, pp.147, 258.

[7] Batty, Scotland’s Methodists, pp. 51-58.

Churches – Episcopalians in Scotland

The episcopal form of church government is based on the concept of apostolic succession; that is, that bishops, through consecration, are in direct continuity from the original apostles of Jesus Christ and their authority within the church rests on this. Episcopalian church government therefore relies on bishops who have been consecrated by other bishops, clergy who are ordained by bishops, and synods in which bishops meet together to draw up church law and doctrine. Each bishop usually presides over a geographic area, known as a diocese, and calls diocesan synods and councils to govern and advise them. The bishop’s church is known as a cathedral, and the conduct of worship and governance there is delegated to a provost. Clergy serve in congregations, having responsibilities for worship and implementation of church law, while the management of congregations and their buildings are the responsibility of vestries, made up of lay representatives of the congregation, the officiating clergy and church wardens (elected from the congregation or appointed by the clergy).[1]

The membership and functions of synods, councils, vestries and other church bodies, while broadly similar across the worldwide episcopal community, varies between national churches. Scottish bishops, their position within the Church of Scotland legally abolished during the Reformation of 1689-90, lost diocesan responsibilities, but developed a College of Bishops after 1720. Gradually liturgical divisions between the existing and newly consecrated bishops subsided, and the Concordat of 1731 opened the way for a diocesan structure to be reinstated. It gave the clergy of each diocese the right to elect their bishop, subject to approval of the bishops, who in turn could meet in synod to elect a presiding bishop known as the Primus.[2] In 1811 the Provincial Council (later Provincial Synod) was established consisting of a house of bishops and a house of representative clergy. Laity were given a voice in electing bishops from 1863, in 1905 a Consultative Council on Church Legislation was established with lay representatives as well as bishops and clergy, and in 1962 a house of lay representatives was added to the Provincial Synod.[3] Alongside this a Representative Church Council was set up in 1876 to oversee church administration, finance and property, with lay representatives, lay officials, clergy representatives and bishops.[4] In 1982, the Representative Church Council and the Provincial Synod were both abolished and their functions and responsibilities transferred to a General Synod, made up of three houses of bishops, clergy and laity.[5]

These developments in Scottish episcopal church government were impacted by the relationship of Episcopalians to the Church of Scotland and to the state. In Scotland, the Reformation established protestant theology and doctrines, but it did not immediately remove the episcopalian form of church government. From 1560 until 1690, parliament and the church moved back and forth between presbyterian and episcopalian church government and at times used elements of both.[6] In 1560 papal jurisdiction and the mass were abolished but it was not until 1567 that bishops were abolished.[7] Bishops were then reintroduced in 1606.[8] Charles I subsequently ratified this in 1633.[9] Bishops were again abolished at the time of the National Covenant in 1638 and reinstated by Charles II in 1662.[10] In 1689, bishops were abolished and in 1690 Presbyterianism was re-established.[11]

The revolution in church government involved the forced eviction of some episcopal clergy from their parishes and the deprivation by the state of others accused of Jacobitism, while more clergy were removed for ecclesiastical offences by the presbyterian church courts. Bishops were prevented from taking income from their former dioceses, and in 1695 deprived episcopal clergy were prevented from conducting baptisms or marriages without legal qualification.[12] It was unlawful to conduct worship except as approved by the relevant presbytery, but this was challenged on appeal to the House of Lords and in 1712 the Toleration Act declared it lawful for Episcopalians to meet for worship using the Book of Common Prayer, abolished the 1695 Act against irregular baptisms and marriages, and required both episcopalian clergy and parish ministers to take an oath of allegiance to Queen Anne, thus renouncing any Jacobite allegiances.[13] By the early eighteenth century the practice of liturgical worship, one of the defining characteristics of the Episcopalians in Scotland, was well established. Both English and Scottish liturgies were developed and used at different periods by different groups.

The 1712 Toleration Act effectively acknowledged the existence of Episcopalians in Scotland as a separate church from the Church of Scotland, but more importantly it began the division between the ‘qualified’ clergy, who swore allegiance to Anne and her Hanoverian successors, and the ‘nonjurors’ who remained loyal to the exiled Stuarts. No Scottish bishop qualified and only a few clergy.[14] More did so after the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, and qualified congregations were established in many burghs in eastern Scotland in response to penal restrictions. In 1719 it became unlawful for clergy who did not pray for King George and take the abjuration oath, to minister to more than eight people. After the 1745 rebellion a penal law of 1746 prohibited worship unless the clergymen had taken the oaths of allegiance and abjuration, prayed for the monarch and royal family by name in public worship, and registered their letters of orders. No more than four worshippers in addition to a family could gather, and worshippers in places which broke the law were also punishable.[15] Worship was further restricted in 1748 when only clergy who had letters of orders from English or Irish bishops were considered qualified, and clergy who had been ordained by Scottish bishops were disqualified even if they had taken the oaths.[16] These penal laws were repealed in 1792.[17]

In an effort to re-unite with qualified clergy and congregations, in 1804 the bishops and clergy adopted the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England and offered conditions for qualified clergy to accept the authority of Scottish bishops in Scotland. However, clergy ordained by Scottish bishops were not permitted to be appointed to Church of England benefices until 1864.[18] From 1864 onwards, the Scottish Episcopal Church enjoyed an independent and equal relationship with the Church of England within the Anglican Communion, and its legal status in Scotland was the same as other voluntary churches.

The records of the Scottish Episcopal Church are mainly held by the National Records of Scotland (reference code CH12). Records of some congregations can be found in Glasgow City Archives, Highland Archives, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives and other local authority archives. Congregational records usually include vestry minutes (or managers’ minutes), registers of services, registers of baptisms, confirmations, marriages and burials, accounts and property records.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2024); Tristram Clarke (2024)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Synods

Churches – Presbyterian Churches in Scotland

Churches – Roman Catholics in Scotland

Bibliography

Bertie, David M., Scottish Episcopal Clergy, 1689-2000 (T & T Clark, 2000)

Goldie, Frederick, A Short History of the Episcopal Church in Scotland from the Restoration to the present time 2^nd edition (St Andrew Press, 1976)

Maclean, Allan, ‘Episcopalians’ in Scottish Life and Society: A compendium of Scottish Ethnology, vol. 12, Religion (John Donald, European Ethnological Research Centre & National Museums of Scotland, 2006)

Mullan, David G., Episcopacy in Scotland: The History of an Idea, 1560–1638 (John Donald, 1986)

Strong, Rowan, Episcopalianism in Nineteenth-Century Scotland: Religious Responses to a Modernizing Society (Oxford University Press, 2002)

Wilkinson, A.B., ‘Scottish Episcopal Church; polity, law and governance’ in Legal Systems of Scottish Churches ed. by Marjory A. MacLean, (Edinburgh University Press, 2010), pp. 43-55

White, Gavin, The Scottish Episcopal Church: a new history (General Synod of Scottish Episcopal Church, 1998)

Wormald, Jenny ‘Reformed and Godly Scotland?’ in The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History ed. by T.M. Devine & Jenny Wormald (Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 204-19

References

[1] A.B. Wilkinson, ‘Scottish Episcopal Church; polity, law and governance’ in Legal Systems of Scottish Churches ed. by Marjory A. MacLean, (Edinburgh University Press, 2010), pp. 43-55.

[2] Frederick Goldie, A Short History of the Episcopal Church in Scotland from the Restoration to the present time 2^nd edition (St Andrew Press, 1976), pp. 49-55.

[3] Wilkinson, ‘Scottish Episcopal Church’, p.46; Goldie, Short History of the Episcopal Church, p.133.

[4] Goldie, Short History of the Episcopal Church, p.91.

[5] Wilkinson, , ‘Scottish Episcopal Church’, p.46.

[6] Jenny Wormald ‘Reformed and Godly Scotland?’ in The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History ed.by T.M. Devine & Jenny Wormald (Oxford University Press, 2014) pp. 204-19.

[7] Confession of Faith Ratification Act, 1560, The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, [RPS], ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1560/8/3 > Concerning the abolishing of the pope and his usurped authority, 1567, RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/1>; Concerning the abolition of the mass and the punishment of all that hears or says the same, 1567, RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/4 >; Concerning the true and holy kirk and of them that are declared not to be of the same, 1567, RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/A1567/12/5> [all accessed 29 December 2021].

[8] Act regarding the restitution of the estate of bishops,1605, RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1605/6/31> [accessed 29 December 2021].

[9] Ratification of the acts touching religion, 1633 RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1633/6/19 > [accessed 29 December 2021].

[10] Act for the restitution and re-establishment of the ancient government of the church by archbishops and bishops, 1662, RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1662/5/9> [accessed: 29 December 2021].

[11] Prelacy Act, 1689 (c.4); Confession of Faith Ratification Act, 1690 (c.7).

[12] Act against irregular baptisms and marriages, 1695, RPS, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1695/5/118 > [accessed 29 December 2021].

[13] Act to prevent disturbing of those of the Episcopal Communion [Toleration Act] 1712 (10 Anne c.7)

[14] Goldie, Short History of the Episcopal Church, pp. 44-45.

[15] Act for the further security of his Majesty’s person and government…1715 (1 Geo. I, Stat. 2, c.13); Abjuration Act, 1719 (5 Geo. I c.29); Act more effectually to prohibit and prevent pastors and ministers from officiating in episcopal meeting-houses…, 1746 (19 Geo. II, c.38); Act for more effectual disarming of the highlands of Scotland…and for obliging…chaplains…1746 (19 Geo. II, c.39) ss.23-25.

[16] Act to amend and enforce … the more effectual disarming the highlands … 1748 (21 Geo. II c.34).

[17] Relief Act, 1792 (32 Geo. III c.63).

[18] Goldie, Short History of the Episcopal Church, pp.88-90; An Act to make certain provisions and regulations … (3 & 4 Vict. c.33); Episcopal Church (Scotland) Act 1864 (27 & 28 Vict, c.94).

Churches – Baptist churches

Baptist churches are independent and each congregation makes its own decisions about leadership, governance and the location of their records.

The most widely known characteristic of Baptists is that they believe that baptism should only be administered to individuals who are able to profess personal faith and consequently reject the concept of infant baptism. Some of Cromwell’s army brought Baptist beliefs to Scotland in the 1650s and the reaction of Presbyterians to this led to a law requiring that infants should be baptised within 30 days of birth.[1] In 1750, Sir William Sinclair of Dunbeath established a Baptist church in Keiss, Caithness, and wrote a hymnbook for its use, but this congregation appears to have had no contact with developments further south until the 1790s, although later it contributed a number of notable ministers and missionaries to the wider Baptist movement.[2] In the 1760s Rev. Robert Camichael, a minister of the General Associate Synod (the antiburgher Presbyterians) and Archibald McLean, a layman, calling themselves Scotch Baptists, led a Baptist movement based on the teaching and influence of the Glasites. Like the Glasites, the Scotch Baptists relied on the leadership of several lay elders and appointed deacons to care for the poor. They also founded churches in England and Wales.[3] In contrast, so-called ‘English’ Baptist churches originated in English Particular (Calvinistic) Baptist ranks. In Scotland, these churches had a leadership team of deacons accompanied by a single pastor, usually with more formal training. At around the same time as these ‘English’ Baptist churches emerged, a significant missionary movement developed, led in the 1790s by Robert and James Haldane, two Presbyterians who became Independent, itinerant, lay evangelists. They set up meetings, called tabernacles, as far afield as Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Wick and Campbeltown, founded the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home in 1798, left the Church of Scotland in 1799, and sought believers’ baptism in 1808.[4] Haldanite Baptists held more pragmatic views on church governance, influenced most of all by Robert and James Alexander Haldane the leaders of their network. A fourth group emerged in the 1840s, who by the end of that decade were distinguished by being influenced by the theological views of James Morison, a Presbyterian seceder, who founded the Evangelical Union.

Baptist congregations frequently co-operated with each other ‘for the purpose of planting and sustaining congregations and other methods of mutual usefulness’.[5] There were various attempts to formalise these links, which confusingly used the same names: in 1827 a Baptist Union of Scotland, from 1835 to 1842 a Scottish Baptist Association, from 1843 to 1856 another Baptist Union of Scotland, and from 1856 to 1869 another Scottish Baptist Association.[6] The present Baptist Union of Scotland was formed in 1869.

The Baptist Home Missionary Society for Scotland was formed in 1827, merging three earlier missionary organisations. Scottish Baptists also supported and served within the Baptist Missionary Society, formed in England in 1792. One Scot, the Rev John Reid, from Keiss, Caithness, became the society’s India Secretary, 1922-29.[7]

Baptist churches are autonomous, independent bodies which are governed by the church meeting of all members, who choose their leaders. They co-operate with other churches voluntarily and decisions made by the Baptist Union of Scotland are not binding on any member church.

Baptist records are held by the National Library of Scotland, the Baptist Union of Scotland, Scottish local authority archives and individual congregations. The National Register of Archives Scotland holds lists of records of some individual congregations.

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2024)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Independent churches

Bibliography

Bebbington, D. W., (ed), The Baptists in Scotland. A history. (Baptist Union of Scotland, 1988)

Little, Fergus, ‘Historical Registers of Scottish Baptists’ Baptist Quarterly 24.5 (1972) pp. 229-32

Lumsden, Christine, A rich inheritance. Sir William Sinclair and Keiss Baptist Church (Baptist Historical Society, 2013)

Meek, D.E., ‘Evangelical Missionaries in the Early Nineteenth Century Highlands’, Scottish Studies, 28 (1987) pp. 1-34

Meek, D.E., ‘The Independent and Baptist Churches of Highland Perthshire and Strathspey’, Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, 61 (1991), pp. 269-343

Murray, Derek Boyd, ‘The social and religious origins of Scottish non-presbyterian protestant dissent from 1730-1800’ (Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of St Andrews, 1976)

Murray, D. B., ‘The Scotch Baptist tradition in Great Britain’ Baptist Quarterly 33.4 (1989), pp. 186-98

Murray, D.B., ‘Baptists in Scotland Before 1869’, Baptist Quarterly 23.6 (1970), pp. 250-65

Talbot, Brian, Building a Common Foundation: The Baptist Union of Scotland, 1869-2019 (Pickwick Publications, 2021)

Talbot, Brian R., (ed), A Distinctive People: A Thematic Study of Aspects of the Witness of Baptists in Scotland in the Twentieth Century (Paternoster Press, 2014)

Talbot, Brian, R., Search for a Common Identity: The Origins of the Baptist Union of Scotland 1800-1870 (Paternoster Press, 2003)

References

[1] D. W. Bebbington, (ed), The Baptists in Scotland. A history. (Baptist Union of Scotland, 1988), p.12; Act against such who do not baptise their children The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1672/6/32, <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1672/6/32> [accessed 25 Mar 2024].

[2] Bebbington, The Baptists in Scotland pp.15-16, pp.312-315.

[3] Bebbington, The Baptists in Scotland pp.23-26.

[4] Bebbington The Baptists in Scotland pp.30-32.

[5] Scottish Baptist Year Book, 1903, p. ii.

[6] Brian R Talbot ‘The Origins of the Baptist Union of Scotland (Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Stirling, 1999), pp. 249-53, pp. 277-85. <http://hdl.handle.net/1893/1944> [accessed 12 April 2024]

[7] Bebbington, The Baptists in Scotland, pp.312-15. Baptist Missionary Society Annual Report 1930 (London) pp.308-09.

Catholic Church records

Catholic Canon Law requires that sacramental and other details of the faithful should be kept, but records were not always diligently kept and the majority of records that survive are baptism or marriage registers. Registers were maintained in a variety of formats, with early registers recording all types of sacraments in one volume. There was no standard format for registers, and they can consist of small notebooks, larger unformatted ledgers or pre-printed registers. Some records are in Latin but the language used is not overly-complicated and the phrases are relatively straightforward to translate.

The earliest Catholic parish records in Scotland date from 1703 for the mission of Braemar but this is one of only three parishes in Scotland with records dating from before 1745. There are only 16 missions in Scotland with records dating from before 1800 and a further 94 missions have surviving records dating from between 1800 and 1855. The information contained in the original registers can be quite minimal and varies from parish to parish and over time within each parish.

The following sacraments or other church activities generally result in parish records.

Baptism. Baptism or birth registers may record the following:

name of the child
date of baptism
date of birth
legitimacy
father’s name
mother’s name (including maiden surname)
place or parish of residence
father’s occupation
names of witnesses (occasionally with occupation, address and/or relationship to the child)
name of the priest.

Note, however, that some registers record only minimal information such as the names of the child and parents and a baptismal date.

Convert registers. In many cases, the records of converts are to be found in baptismal registers. Converts are generally individuals who have reached adulthood, consequently the information regarding the conversions is limited regarding parentage and families.

Convert registers may record the following:

name of the convert
date of baptism
date of birth
legitimacy
father’s name
mother’s name (including maiden surname)
place or parish of residence
father’s occupation
names of witnesses (occasionally with occupation, address and/or relationship to the child)
name of the priest.

Note, however, that most convert registers record minimal information such as the names of the convert and a baptismal date.

Confirmation. The sacrament of confirmation is generally performed when an individual is a child. In some periods, confirmation may have taken place as young as seven years old, in others as old as 12 years old. These are useful for estimating the age of a child in lieu of any surviving baptismal records. Confirmation registers may record the following:

name of the child
date of confirmation
a confirmation name taken by the child ( a saint’s name)
parents’ names
age
name of the priest or bishop conducting the confirmation.

Note, however, that some records contain only minimal information.

Confession. The sacrament of confession (sometimes called penance) usually precedes Holy Communion. Confession registers do not include details of the confessions themselves but record that an individual went to confession before receiving Holy Communion.

Confession registers may record the following:

name of the individual
date
place or parish of residence
name of the priest.

However, in practice most registers record minimal information such as the names of the individual attending confession and a date

Marriage. Until 1834 Roman Catholic priests were subject to fines and penalties if they conducted marriages and therefore marriage registers were not always maintained.[1] Some Roman Catholics had banns read in the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland and recorded in the registers of proclamations of banns, in order to comply with the requirements for a regular marriage. Some marriages were recorded in the Church of Scotland marriage registers (the Old Parish Registers) even although the marriage took place elsewhere and may also have been recorded in Catholic marriage registers.

Marriage registers rarely record much more than the names of the individuals being married. They usually record the date of marriage, often with the information that the banns of marriage have been duly proclaimed. Usually only the marriage date will appear in the index. Marriage registers may record the following:

date of marriage and an indication that banns had been called
name of bride
name of groom
parish of residence
parish of origin
occupation of the groom
name of the bride’s father
names of witnesses
name of officiating priest.

However, it is also possible that only the names of the bride and groom are recorded along with the name of the officiating priest. Some records are in Latin.

Death, burials and funerals. A death, burial or funeral register may record the following:

name of the deceased person
date of death
date of burial
address
place or parish of residence
age
name of a relative (perhaps a widow, or parent if deceased was a child)
name of the priest
cause of death.

Note, however, that some registers record minimal information such as the names of the deceased and a death/burial date. Some records are in Latin.

Seat rent registers. A number of churches in the nineteenth century reserved seats for parishioners in return for payment of a fee. These are very useful in confirming the residence of ancestors in a particular parish and also in identifying where your ancestors sat in the chapel.

A seat rent register may record the following:

name of the individual
date
location of the seats in the church

Sick Calls registers. These record the visitations of a priest to a sick person. A sick person might have recovered, but the date of a visit may be an indication to the subsequent death of the sick person.

A sick calls register may record the following:

name of the individual
date
address
name of a priest

Status Animarum

This type of record is a ‘state of the souls’ – an enumeration of all Catholics within a particular area at a particular time. These records should have been diligently and regularly kept, but their survival is somewhat irregular. At best a status animarum will record the following:

name of the person
address
date of compilation of list
relationships to others in households
age (usually for children)
birthplace
occupation.

In a basic record you should find the name of an individual and a place; other records are more detailed with addresses given, family groups shown, and in a small number of cases ages and places of birth. These are valuable census substitutes.

Compiler: Andrew Nicoll (2010)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Churches – Roman Catholics in Scotland

References

[1] Marriage (Scotland) Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. IV c. 28).

Procurators Fiscal

Procurators fiscal were mentioned in the records of the Parliament of Scotland for 22 Aug 1584.[1] They were appointed by sheriffs and they collected fines and assisted the sheriff in criminal proceedings. Under the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1876, they became responsible for prosecuting criminal matters, but in practice they appear to have been prosecutors in the sheriff courts from at least 1701.[2] Under the Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907 the right of appointment was removed from sheriffs and given to the Lord Advocate, and under the Sheriff Court and Legal Officers (Scotland) Act 1927 all fiscals were to be paid from central government funds.[3] Most fiscals were then barred from holding any other office or doing any other legal work, but of those already in post, about one third were part-time and permitted to continue in private practice,

Procurators fiscal determine whether a case should be prosecuted or not; and also decide whether to use summary or solemn procedures (that is, with a sheriff alone or with a full trial with jury of 15). They investigate all sudden, unexpected or suspicious deaths, present evidence at all fatal accident inquiries, investigate all fires and explosions where there is substantial damage or suspicious circumstances, investigate ultimus haeres estates (where there is no known heir, and the estate therefore falls to the Crown as the ultimate heir) and provide legal advice to the police and government departments.

Under the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 the police have a duty to report to the appropriate prosecutor and comply with the lawful instructions of the appropriate prosecutor.[4]

Compiler: Elspeth Reid (2024)

Related Knowledge Base entries

Sheriff Courts

Procurators Fiscal records and Fatal Accident Inquiries

Bibliography

Moody, Susan R., and Jacqueline Tombs, Prosecution in the Public Interest (Scottish Academic Press, 1982)

References

[1] Ratification of the decreet arbitral between the merchants and craftsmen of Edinburgh, 22 Aug 1584. The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707, ed. by K.M. Brown and others (University of St Andrews, 2007-2021), 1584/5/100 <http://www.rps.ac.uk/trans/1584/5/100> [accessed 3 Apr 2024].

[2] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 70); Susan R Moody and Jacqueline Tombs, Prosecution in the Public Interest (Scottish Academic Press, 1982), p.18.

[3] Sheriff Courts (Scotland) Act 1907 (7 Edw. VII c. 51); Sheriff Court and Legal Officers (Scotland) Act 1927 (17 & 18 Geo. V c. 35).

[4] Police (Scotland) Act 1967 (c.77) s. 17.