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Kirkmichael

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"The parish is upwards of 30 miles in length from north to south along the banks of the Avon, a tributary branch of the Spey; and its average breadth is from 3 to 4 miles. Only about 18 miles of its length is inhabited. the other 12 or 15 stretch into the Grampian hills, and are uninhabited. Of this territorial extent, about 9 miles of the inhabited part, and all of the uninhabited portion, lie in the quoad sacra parish of Tomintoul. The main range of the Grampian mountains on the south, and branches of that range running from south to north on the east and west form its boundaries, and encircle it, except on the north, where it joins the parish of Inveravon in a narrow neck at the outlet of the Avon." [Contributed in April, 1842, by the Rev. Charles Macpherson, Minister of Tomintoul, to The New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol. XIII).]

Note: There are 4 other parishes in Scotland called 'Kirkmichael':

Kirkmichael, Ayrshire
Kirkmichael, Dumfriesshire
Kirkmichael, Perthshire
Kirkmichael or Resolis, Ross and Cromarty

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Cemeteries

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Kirkmichael, Church of Scotland
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Census

Aberdeen And North-East Scotland FHS (ANESFHS) have published a name Index to the 1851 Census for Banffshire. Kirkmichael (together with Tomintoul, which was enumerated separately form the rest of the parish, and Inveravon) is published as code AA218.

ANESFHS also hold unpublished indexes and transcriptions of the 1861 Census for most Banffshire parishes (including Kirkmichael).

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Churches

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Kirkmichael, Church of Scotland
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Church Records

Kirk of Scotland
  • OPRs held by the General Register Office, Scotland.
    GROSBaptismMarriageDeath
    160/11725-18191726-1819-
    160/2Kirkmichael 1820-54Kirkmichael 1820-54-
    160/2Tomintoul 1827-46Tomintoul 1828-43-
  • LDS Film numbers:
    BaptismsMarriagesDeaths
    69025776902578-
  • Batch numbers (for FamilySearch)
    Baptisms (C)Marriages (M)
    C111602
    C111604
    M111602
    M111604
Kirk Session Records

The earliest Kirk Session records held by the national Archives of Scotland only date from 1897.

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Kirkmichael which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Maps

There is a wide range of maps available for Kirkmichael, historical and modern, on paper and online. Many ancient placenames continue in use, and will therefore appear on modern maps, but as parishes ceased to be of any significance for Local Government in Scotland in 1974, parish boundaries will be found only on historical maps.

Maps on Paper
  • The best general-purpose modern printed map is the Ordnance Survey "Landranger" Series, which has a scale of 1:50000 (about one-and-a-quarter inches to a mile). Kirkmichael will be found on "Landranger Sheets 36 and 37".
  • Reproductions of late-19th century Ordnance Survey maps are published by Caledonian Maps, and are also available via Family History Societies. Kirkmichael will be found on sheet 75.
Maps Online
  • The small location plan at the head of this page is based on an 1845 map included in the Banffshire volume of the New Statistical Account of Scotland. View a fully-detailed version of this map.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NJ120143 (Lat/Lon: 57.211412, -3.459186), Kirkmichael which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

Achlichnie, Alltachbeg, Alltnaha, Altnaglander, Ardgieth, Auchbreck, Auchnahyle, Auchnarrow, Auchriachan, Badnafrave, Ballcorach, Ballenlish, Balnalon, Balneden, Balranaich, Birchfield, Blairnamarrow, Bridge of Avon, Bridge of Brown, Builg, Bynack, Campdalmore, Casfuar, Clashnoir, Conglass, Croughly, Cults, Dalestie, Delachule, Delavorar, Dell, Delnabo, Dulack, Eag, Ellick, Etchachan, Faindouran, Fergie, Findron, Fodderletter, Gaulrig, Glenconglass, Glenmullie, Inchnacape, Inchrory, Inverchor, Inverlochy, Inverourie, Kennels, Kinardochy, Kirkmichael, Knock, Knoc-Lochy Well, Kylnadrochit, Lagganauld, Lagganvoulin, Leachd, Lecht, Lochy, Lynachork, Lynavoir, Lyne, Milton(2), Ruthven, St.Bridget, Strathavon, Stronachavie, Tomachlaggan, Tombreck, Tomintoul, Tomlay, Torbain, Torrans, Urlamore

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

Under the "Poor Law Amendment Act, Scotland" (1845) responsibility for Poor Relief was taken from the Parishes of the Kirk of Scotland, and vested in new Parochial Boards, whose territories largely coincided with the old parishes. The Parochial Boards were not (as in England) grouped into Poor Law Unions, and there were few Poorhouses outside the cities and large towns.

Day-to-day administration of the Poor Law was in the hands of the Inspector of the Poor for each parish, and these Inspectors were obliged by law to maintain detailed records of applications and of relief supplied. The most valuable of these are the "Record of Applications" and the "General Register of the Poor". The "Minutes" are very variable, but on occasion can also contain information on named individuals.

The following Poor Law records have survived for the Parish of Kirkmichael:

  • *General Register of the Poor 1879-1920
  • Minutes

These are held by Aberdeen City Archives. The records are available for viewing, subject to the 100-year rule.
Items marked * are included in a name index compiled by Aberdeen And North-East Scotland FHS (ANESFHS), and held by both ANESFHS and Aberdeen City Archives.

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Population

  • according to New Statistical Account:
    Year175517921811182118311839
    Population128812761386157017411722
  • according to Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1895):
    Year180118311861187118811891
    Population133217411511127610731043
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Societies

You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.