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Scotland Church Records: Difference between revisions
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===Historical Background=== | ===Historical Background=== | ||
For more background information on churches in Scotland, including a historical timeline, read the article [[Scotland Church History|Scotland Church History]]. | |||
====Church of Scotland=== | |||
The Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian church) has been the recognized national church of Scotland since 1690. It is not a state or "established" church (although that latter description has found its way into various official documentation such as marriage registers); that independence from the state was eventually acknowledged in the Church of Scotland Act 1921. | The Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian church) has been the recognized national church of Scotland since 1690. It is not a state or "established" church (although that latter description has found its way into various official documentation such as marriage registers); that independence from the state was eventually acknowledged in the Church of Scotland Act 1921. | ||
The two main types of records are '''Old Parochial Registers (OPR)''' and '''Kirk Session Records'''. OPR's list baptisms, marriages and burials. Kirk Session records are the records of the Church Courts. They often list information relevant to genealogy. Additional records to utilize can include [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&query=%2Bkeywords%3AScotland%20%2Bkeywords%3ABlotter Blotter Registers] and [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/79310 Neglected Entries Register] (considered to pertain to civil registration, but many entries start well before C.R. even began--1809-1860). | The two main types of records are '''Old Parochial Registers (OPR)''' and '''Kirk Session Records'''. OPR's list baptisms, marriages and burials. Kirk Session records are the records of the Church Courts. They often list information relevant to genealogy. Additional records to utilize can include [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&query=%2Bkeywords%3AScotland%20%2Bkeywords%3ABlotter Blotter Registers] and [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/79310 Neglected Entries Register] (considered to pertain to civil registration, but many entries start well before C.R. even began--1809-1860). | ||
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====Non-conformist==== | |||
Churches which are not part of the Church of Scotland are often referred to as '''nonconformist'''. By the 19th century a majority of the population was non-Conformist. There were two categories of so-called nonconformist churches in Scotland: | Churches which are not part of the Church of Scotland are often referred to as '''nonconformist'''. By the 19th century a majority of the population was non-Conformist. There were two categories of so-called nonconformist churches in Scotland: | ||
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*Nonconformists -- Those who were not Presbyterian in form, such as Episcopal, Methodist, Quaker, Baptist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), or Catholic. | *Nonconformists -- Those who were not Presbyterian in form, such as Episcopal, Methodist, Quaker, Baptist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), or Catholic. | ||
Nonconformists had their own congregations, with different boundaries to the Church of Scotland and kept their own records. However, before 1834, nonconformist ministers were not authorized to perform marriages as clergyman; after 1834 they could perform marriages if the banns had first been read in the parish church. Total authority was granted in 1855. In the context of Scots Law as it applied until 1939, this affected, only in practice, the mode of marriage because until then any declaration of marriage in front of witnesses was valid although many might have failed to be recorded | Nonconformists had their own congregations, with different boundaries to the Church of Scotland and kept their own records. However, before 1834, nonconformist ministers were not authorized to perform marriages as clergyman; after 1834 they could perform marriages if the banns had first been read in the parish church. Total authority was granted in 1855. In the context of Scots Law as it applied until 1939, this affected, only in practice, the mode of marriage because until then any declaration of marriage in front of witnesses was valid although many might have failed to be recorded. | ||
===Correspond with or visit the actual churches.=== | ===Correspond with or visit the actual churches.=== | ||