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Athelstaneford

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"ATHELSTANEFORD, a parish, containing the post-office villages of Athelstaneford and Drem, in the northern part of Haddingtonshire ... The parish is about 4 miles in length, from west to east; and between 2 and 3 in breadth, from south to north ... Population of the village of Athelstaneford in 1851, 274. Population of the parish in 1831, 931; in 1861, 902." [From the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by John Marius Wilson, 1868]
A lengthier description is available.

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Cemeteries

The Scottish Genealogy Society, Edinburgh, contains records of 71 surnames from 46 gravestones in the cemetery in Athelstaneford, covering gravestones from ~1700 - 1943.
These have not been published.
The data was collected by DC Cargill in 1968.

A copy is also available in the Local History Centre, Haddington

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Churches

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Church Records

The parish church (Church of Scotland) has registers dating from 1664. Old Parish Registers (before 1855) are held in the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh, and copies on microfilm may be consulted in local libraries and in LDS Family History Centres around the world. Later parish registers (after 1855) are often held in the Scottish Record Office as are any records of non-conformist churches in the area (often unfilmed and unindexed, and only available there).

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Civil Registration

Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland on 1st January 1855. For details of these and other records held at the General Register Office in Edinburgh, see the GRO tutorial.

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Athelstaneford which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

Extracts for this parish from the 1868 National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland are available.

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Maps

This map shows the location of the parish in the county.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NT533781 (Lat/Lon: 55.993309, -2.749694), Athelstaneford which are provided by:

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Military History

The following names are listed on the War Memorial in the parish church.
In grateful memory of Athelstaneford men who gave their lives in the great war 1914 -1918

Lieutenant John Brown
Sergeant George Pow
Corporal John Dempster MM
Corporal James Fulton
Corporal William Dempster
Private William Barrie
Private Alexander Binnie
Private William Combe
Private Alexander Findlay
Private William Fletcher
Private Robert Fulton
Private William Gray
Private Hugh Hannay
Private John Hannay
Private Charles Jack
Private William Logan MM
Gunner William A Logan
Gunner William A Mann
Private Thomas Marshall
Private Andrew Melrose
Private John McGovern
Private James Ritchie
Private James Shattoch
Private John Tinlin
Private John S Wight

Their name liveth for evermore

And of those who fell in the war 1939 - 1945

Private Thomas Bell
Gunner John Bertram
Sapper David Blair
Teleg. David Campbell

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Population

Here are some figures showing the parish's population through time:

YearPopulation
1755691
1778955
1792927
1801897
1831931
1861902
1881762
1891745
1901635
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Statistics

For a social and economic record of the parishes of East Lothian together with considerable statistical material, see Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, which was compiled in the 1790s. Follow-up works to this were the New Statistical Account (also known as the Second Statistical Account) which was prepared in the 1830s and 1840s; and more recently the Third Statistical Account which has been prepared since the Second World War.

Thanks to a joint venture between the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh the First and Second Statistical Accounts can now be accessed on-line at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland, 1791-1799 and 1845.