Kirk session records

The kirk session was the lowest presbyterian church court in Scotland from the time of the Reformation onwards. The session in each parish was made up of the minister and the elders and was responsible for supervising morals and discipline, such as handling cases of drunkenness, sabbath-breaking and ante-nuptial fornication. The kirk session of Church of Scotland parishes was also responsible for poor relief until 1845 and along with the heritors was responsible for the parish school until 1872.

Kirk session minutes normally begin with the sederunt, often in the form ‘Sederunt: Mr Anderson, minister, Mr Paton, Mr Low, etc, elders. . .’ or ‘Presentibus Ministro, Mr Paton, Mr Low, etc, elders’. There follows summaries of each case, usually beginning something like ‘Compeared Jenny Brown who confessed herself guilty of ante-nuptial fornication . . ..’ or ‘Robert Meldrew called, compeared not . . .’ Evidence of the accused and any witnesses are summarised, and the decision of court is recorded. The most common sentences for miscreants were fines or having to stand in the place of public repentance during Sunday services. Cases often took several weeks or even months to run their course. The many cases of ante-nuptial fornication in the minutes, sometimes with much detail about which parish a child was conceived in, were necessary to establish which male would be liable for maintenance of the child, failing whom the poors’ fund would have to support the child.

Unless separate accounts survive, the minutes might also include financial details, especially amounts of money raised in church collections and bequests, and (in the case of more sophisticated parishes) income from rents from property owned by the kirk or interest from loans to merchants. The most frequently listed disbursements concern poor relief, with lists of paupers and the amount of money each received. Other disbursements may be listed, such as the costs of repairs to the church and schoolhouse, and the schoolmaster’s salary (although these were, strictly speaking, the responsibility of the Heritors) as well as payments for the annual communion service.

Kirk session minutes are a key source of information on social and church history, but can also be of use to local historians and genealogists. Searching through kirk session minutes can be time-consuming. Although the handwriting prior to 1750 can be difficult, the form and terminology of kirk session minutes is relatively straightforward and quickly grasped.

Before the 19th century it was common practice to record financial details in the session minutes, especially amounts of money raised in church collections and bequests. Prior to 1845, the most frequently listed disbursements concern poor relief, with lists of paupers and the amount of money each received. Support for the poor was mainly in the form of weekly or monthly cash handouts, but other types of support might be the fuel (such as coal or peat), medicine (or the costs of medical care), and the payment of school fees of pauper children. Some churches kept their financial records separately from the session minutes and if these have survived they can be a useful source for understanding poor relief in a parish. One notable survival is the minute book for Dundee General Kirk Session during the Cromwellian siege and occupation of the town where the accounts include support for the prisoners.[1] The secession churches developed the concept of a separate Board of Managers or Deacons’ Court to deal with financial and property matters and these bodies produced their own minutes as well as separate financial records for the congregation.

Kirk session minutes for some parishes survive from the late 16th century, but for most parishes continuous runs of minutes survive from the late 17th century. The session minutes for some parishes are held by the National Records of Scotland, while others are held by local authority archives under the charge and superintendence of the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. In a few cases churches may have retained the session minute books. To find out whether minutes survive for a particular parish contact either the appropriate local authority archive or the National Records of Scotland. The older minutes for several kirk sessions have been published. Those minutes which have been digitised are now gradually being made available through Virtual Volumes on the ScotlandsPeople website <https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/virtual-volumes> [accessed 26 April 2024].

 

Commonly Occurring Words and Terms

Ante-nuptial fornication – pre-marital sex

Compeared – Appeared before the session.

Fama – Rumour

Ministro – Minister (Latin)

Presbytery – Church court, superior to the kirk session

Presentibus – Present in court (Latin)

Sederunt – Present in court (Latin)

Synod – Church court, superior to the presbytery

 

References

[1] Dundee City Archives CH2/1218/16.