a search of scottish parish records

Parish of St. Cuthbert, Edinburgh

The Old Parish Registers comprise the records of births & baptisms, banns & marriages and deaths & burials kept by individual parishes of the Established Church (Church of Scotland) before the introduction of civil registration in 1855. The parish minister or the session clerk usually assumed responsibility for maintaining the registers, but since there was no standard format employed, record keeping varied enormously from parish to parish and also from year to year. As a result, the information can be sparse, unreliable and difficult to read. Although there was a requirement from 1552 that parishes record baptisms and marriages, many did not commence until much later. Some registers have been lost or destroyed and the condition of the surviving 3500 is variable. The General Register Office for Scotland holds the surviving original registers.

Registration in Church of Scotland's registers was costly and unpopular, so many people did not bother to register events at all. Although details of some non-conformists can be found in Established Church registers, many members of other religious denominations chose to have events registered in their own churches. In addition, rapid urbanization during the 19th century contributed to the diminishing influence of the Church and a decrease in registration in these areas.

Order     Event  Sex Date            Subject Name                 Name (Father)          Name (Mother)      District
3988609 C        F    1772-03-22    MAUGHAN, Mackie         MAUGHAN, Robert   LIDDELL, Isabel    Ferry-Port-On-Craig
4740909 M        U    1781-11-17    MAUGHAN, Ann             TURNBULL, William                             Edinburgh
4740910 M        U    1784-01-08    MAUGHAN, Elizabeth      BRUCE, John                                      Edinburgh
4740912 M        M    1786-11-03    MAUGHAN, Robert         BAGNALL, Mary                                   Edinburgh
4740911 M        U    1788-02-15    MAUGHAN, Katherine      FRASER, John                                    Edinburgh
5084524 B        M     1791-11-05    MAUGHAN, Richard        MAUGHAN, Robert  BAGNALL, Mary     Edinburgh
5845041 M        F     1804-05-00    MAUGHAN, Marion          MacDONILL, Duncan                           Glenshiel
7416849 M        M     1820-10-09    MAUGHAN, Edward John LANDALE, Eliza                                  Edinburgh
7416850 M        M     1820-10-09    MAUGHAN, Edward John LANDALE, Eliza                                  SC-E
7285027 M        M     1821-11-06    MAUGHAN, Richard        FLEMING, Margaret                             Baldernock
7416853 M        M     1822-01-24    MAUGHAN, Robert         McINTOSH, Elizabeth                           SC-E
7416852 M        M     1822-12-09    MAUGHAN, John           STEIN, Euphemia                                 SC-E
7067942 C        F     1824-03-15    MAUGHAN, Janet Stein   MAUGHAN, John     STEIN, Euphemia   SC-E
6885040 C        M     1824-06-16    MAUGHAN, Robert         MAUGHAN, Richard FLEMING, Margaret Denny
7067944 C        M     1825-10-15    MAUGHAN, Robert         MAUGHAN, John     STEIN, Euphemia   SC-E
7416851 M        M     1826-12-18    MAUGHAN, George        LANDALE, Margaret                             SC-E
7113730 C        M     1827-08-09    MAUGHAN, Edward John MAUGHAN, Richard FLEMING, Margaret Caputh
7067941 B        M     1828-05-01    MAUGHAN, Edward John MAUGHAN, Edward  MAUGHAN, Eliza   Edinburgh
7067943 B        M     1829-10-23    MAUGHAN, John Stokoe                                                          SC-E
8286926 M        M     1832-01-22    MAUGHAN, Henry Winthorp FRASER, Jane                               Edinburgh
7949703 B        F     1833-10-07    MAUGHAN, Helen MAUGHAN, Edward            MAUGHAN, Eliza   Perth
7949702 B        M     1835-01-16    MAUGHAN, David John MAUGHAN, Edward   MAUGHAN, Eliza    Perth
9139271 M        U     1840-05-26    MAUGHAN, Helen NICHOLSON, Alexander                                SC-E
9086684 M        M     1847-08-00    MAUGHAN, Robert Douglas MITCHELL, Christina                       New Monklan
9086685 M        M     1847-08-29    MAUGHAN, Robert Douglas MITCHELL, Christina                       Old Monklan
8913994 M        M     1849-04-09    MAUGHAN, Ralph NISBET, Isabella                                          Coldstream
9522457 M        M     1850-12-07    MAUGHAN, Edward John JANE, Sarah                                      Kilsyth
9840939 D        M     1855- -         MAUGHAN, George  BAGNALL                                                 Inveresk
9840940 D        M     1855- -         MAUGHAN, Richard  DINNINGTON                                          Kilsyth

Legend:
Order: Record number in database
Event: B= birth, C=christening, M=marriage / banns, D=death, E=census entry
Sex: M=male, F=female, U=unknown
District: SC-E=St. Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh

early history of st.cuthbert's

St. Cuthbert Church, Edinburgh

For much of its existence St Cuthbert’s was a country kirk, outwith the city wall and in the county of Lothian and Tweeddale. In the reign of King David I (1124 - 1153), Edinburgh was clustered on the ridge which runs east from the Castle. All along the foot of the northern slope of the Castle rock was a marsh and from there northwards it was all countryside until one came to Newhaven and Leith on the coast.

The Kirk below the Castle of Edinburgh has a claim to great, but imprecise, antiquity. One theory about its origins is that St Cuthbert journeyed from Melrose and stayed awhile in the sheltered hollow below the Castle rock. Another view is that the Church came into being only fifty years before the 1127 Charter. Simeon of Durham, in 1130, wrote of a church in Edwin’s Burgh in 854 but whilst some believe it was St Cuthbert’s others think St Giles.

 

Sources: ScotlandsPeople - an online government service accessing old parish registers, wills and census data. This is a fee-based service, however you can search the wills for free (the images of the wills you have to buy).
The Parish Church of St Cuthbert, 5 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK