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The Riches of the Scottish Kirk Session Records

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The Riches of the Scottish Kirk Session Records The Riches of the Scottish Kirk Session Records Syllabus Presenter: Alison Spring, RQG Overview This presentation will explain and explore the unique records of the established Church of Scotland’s parish governing council, the kirk session. Its dealings with parishioners and the discipline they received from the denomination’s elders sometimes produce eyebrow-raising interactions between the session and those who ‘offended’ by having children out of wedlock, neighbourly disputes, or not observing the Sabbath. These records are invaluable for filling in the gaps about ancestors and their everyday activities as well as life events. The Kirk Session • is the lowest ecclesiastical court in the Church of Scotland • comprises the local minister and several elders • meet regularly to hear and discuss parish matters • was historically a key factor in governing the behaviour of parishioners In the historical records the Kirk Session you can learn about • care of the poor • Sabbath day observance • discipline of church members • how money was collected and spent • membership & participation of local congregations Also included may be records of • Christenings • Marriages and banns • Burials and mortcloth dues that were not recorded in the main parish registers of births, marriages, or deaths Reading the Kirk Session records If you are planning to search these original records, it’s a good idea to get some practice in at reading them. The excellent Scottish Handwriting website, produced by National Records of Scotland (NRS), has some examples that you can use to get accustomed to the various styles of writing you may encounter. Fortunately the rest of the website offers tutorials and help in learning to read what can be challenging script and language. Although the session minutes are mostly in English, some of the earlier ones are in Scots, and later there are specific Scots terms that can crop up - both Scottish Handwriting and the Dictionary of the Scots Language are useful reference works in these cases. Finding the records you need Use the NRS catalogue to search by parish for kirk session records. Be aware that, for instance, christening or burial data may be included in minute or account volumes. The session records were often kept in quite a random way, and not organised by category. Unfortunately, not every parish will have extant kirk session records, and the quantity and quality varies greatly even within a parish, and from one place to another. 2 Some digital images of Kirk Session records available online: Scotland Church Records and Kirk Session Records, 1658-1919 https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2390848 You may also find them included in individual parish listings for “parish registers” in the FamilySearch Family History Library Catalog; for example, Kelso, Roxburgh, Kirk Session Minutes, Jan 1622-Mar 1647 (CH2/1173/1), Film no. 103638662. ‘Perth Kirk Session books, 1577-1590’, Scottish History Society publications, Series 6, Vol. 2. https://digital.nls.uk/scottish-history- society- publications/browse/archive/127280661#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=1&xywh=- 434%2C-151%2C2490%2C3016 ‘Extracts from the records of the Kirk-Session of Elgin, 1584-1779 : with a brief record of the readers, ministers, and bishops, 1567-1897’ by Wm. Cramond, https://archive.org/details/extractsfromreco00cram ‘Selections from the records of the kirk session, presbytery, and synod of Aberdeen’, https://archive.org/details/selectionsfromre00chur ‘Register of Baptisms, Proclamations, Marriages and Mortcloth Dues contained in the Kirk-Session Records of the Parish of Torphichen 1673- 1714’, https://archive.org/stream/scottishrecordso00scot?ref=ol ‘Register of the minister, elders, and deacons of the Christian congregation of St. Andrews, comprising the proceedings of the Kirk session and of the Court of the Superintendent of Fife, Fothrik, and Strathearn. 1559-1600’, https://archive.org/details/registerministe01flemgoog FindMyPast has indexed a sample of some 17th- and 18th-century transcriptions in the collection “Scotland, Antenuptial Relationship Index 1661-1780”. 3 Some entertaining examples of entries in the Kirk Session Minutes ‘Genealogical Gems’, https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/birth-death-and- marriage-records/genealogical-gems Recommended Reading Edgar, Andrew. Old Church Life In Scotland: Lectures On Kirk-session And Presbytery Records. Paisley: A. Gardner, 1885; 1886 (2d ser), via HathiTrust https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.32044081803280 National Records of Scotland, Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors: The Official Guide. Edinburgh: Birlinn Ltd, 2020, 7th ed. Paton, Chris, ‘Sitting on the Penitent’s Stool’, Discover Your Ancestors, https://discoveryourancestors.co.uk/articles/sitting-on-the-penitent-s- stool-61/ A useful book listing births, marriages, or deaths that appear in the kirk session records but have not been included in the standard parish records is: Baptie, Diane (comp.), Parish Registers in the Kirk Session Records of the Church of Scotland. Scottish Association of Family History Societies, 2001. Connect with the Presenter via E-mail [email protected] Website http://scotsancestors.weebly.com Blog http://scotsancestors.blogspot.com Facebook www.facebook.com/scotsancestors Twitter @FrugalFH LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/alisonspring 4 .
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