Cranston, Midlothian, Scotland Genealogy: Difference between revisions

'''Parish  #680'''  

= History  =

  The name of the parish of Cranston or Cranstoun, in the charters of the twelfth century, was written ''Cranestone,'' the Anglo-Saxon, ''Craenston,'' signifying the crane's district, or resort.  There are cranes in in the river Tyne, which intersects Cranston.  In the 12th century the  manor was divided into New Cranston and Cranston Ridel.  The Church was at New Cranston which was the larger of the two manors.  The parish registers begin in 1682 and are now regularly kept but not voluminous.  In 1792 the population was 839, and in 1831 it was 1030.  The land is used primarily for potatoes, turnips, hay, wheat, oats, barley, pease, and beans.  The villiages in the parish are Cousland, Chesterhill, and Preston.  The nearest market town is Dalkeith.  There are about 62 families in the parish that belong to the Established Church, and about 36 that are Disenting or Seceding.  

'''Source: ''' ''New Statistical Account of Scotland'' (FHL book 941 B4sa, series 2, vol. 1)  

= Census Records<br>  =

== Established Church—Old Parochial Registers  ==

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'''Here is a list of the surviving Kirk session records for this parish:'''  

== Nonconformist Church Records  ==

'''History—'''<br>This congregation originated with members of the Established Church who were dissatisfied with the doctrines taught in the pulpits of the parish churches, and the moral deadness that pervaded the congregations, the Presbytery of Dalkeith being notorious at the time for its moderatism. They applied for and obtained supply of sermon from the Relief Presbytery of Edinburgh in 1784. This congregation became extinct after the departure of its third minister in 1814, and the property belonging to it was sold to the Secession Church congregation.<br>'''Source:''' ''Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church,'' by Rev. William MacKelvie, D.D., pub. 1873. FHL Film #477618. More details may be given in the source including ministers.  

'''History—'''<br>This congregation originated with members of the Relief Church, and some of the Secession, resident in the locality, who attended church in Fala and Dalkeith. These parties applied to the Associate Burgher Presbytery of Edinburgh for supply of sermon in 1815, which the Presbytery was disposed to grant; but such was the strenuous opposition shown to the movement by the minister and several members of the congregation of Fala, fearing the loss of Number of their congregation, that it was deemed expedient to refer the case to the Synod. The Synod by a majority granted the petition, but there was still opposition. However, when the Relief Church building was offered for sale the same year, a congregation was formed in connection with the United Associate Synod and the place of worship was purchased. They occupied that church until 1851 when a new one was built. Ford is partly in the parishes of Cranston and Crichton.<br>'''Source:''' ''Annals and Statistics of the United Presbyterian Church'', by Rev. William MacKelvie, D.D., pub. 1873. FHL Film #477618. More details may be given in the source including ministers.  

= Civil Registration Records<br>  =

Government or civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths (also called statutory records) began on January 1, 1855 in Scotland. Each parish has a registrar's office and large cities have several. The records are created by the registrars and copies are sent to the General Register Office in Edinburgh. Annual indexes are then created for the records for the whole country. <br>See the article on [[Scotland Civil Registration- Vital Records|Scotland Civil Registration]] for more information and to access the records.  

Cranston was under the probate jurisdiction of the Commissary Court of Edinburgh until 1823, and since then has been under the Sheriff's Court of Edinburgh. Probate records for 1513- 1901 are indexed online at [http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/?gclid=CLKJyYGQ4ZUCFQQCagod1gp0Ww www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.] You must register on the website but use of the index to probate records, called 'Wills &amp; Testaments,' is free. You may then purchase a copy of the document or, if the document is before 1823, it will be on microfilm at the Family History Library. To find the microfilm numbers, search in the library&nbsp;[https://www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog catalog]&nbsp;for the 'Place-names' of Midlothian and the subject of 'Probate records.' Then click on the link to the records of the Commissariat of Edinburgh.<br> <br> The library also has some post-1823 probate records for Midlothian.&nbsp; Look in the library [https://www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog catalog] for the 'Place-names' of Midlothian and the subjects of 'Probate Records' and 'Probate Records - Indexes.' <br> <br> Read more about [[Scotland Probate Records|Scotland Probate Records.]]  

[[Category:Midlothian]]