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Grange

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"The parish is six miles long by five broad. It is bounded on the east, by the Knock, a hill, about 1600 feet above the level of the sea. This hill is cultivated a good way up, on all sides. The greater part of its surface is deep peat, and heather. On the top the moss is from eight to ten feet deep. In the dry year 1826, the surface was burnt round and round, having caught fire, either by accident or design, nobody knows which. There is a very extensive view from it both of sea and land - Grange is bounded on the east, west, and south, by the parishes of Marnock, Rothiemay, Cairney, and Keith; on the north, by that of Deskford and part of Fordyce. On the northern part there are two hills, the Lurghill and the hill of Altmore, now called Aulmore, which signifies the great burn. In the centre there is the Sillyearn, on which there is an extensive plantation, young and thriving. In the southern part there are the Mickle and little Balloch, the lower parts of which are now covered with wood. Towards the top there could be no hope of a tree, as it is dry, rough and rocky. On the Mickle Balloch, there are several graves of some unhappy suicides, marked by a cairn, not sacred to their memory, but to tell of their unchristian burial and untimely end. Here is the Gallow-hill, too, of which tradition speaks with fear and trembling. On this memorable mount the criminals of the district met their ignominious fate. The abbots, as well as the feudal barons of those days, had the power to condemn without appeal, and, it is likely, to execute without justice." [From The New Statistical Account for Scotland.]

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Census

Aberdeen And North-East Scotland FHS (ANESFHS) have published a name Index to the 1851 Census for Banffshire. Grange (together with Keith, Bohrm and Botriphnie) is published as code AA216.

ANESFHS also hold unpublished indexes and transcriptions of the 1861 Census for most Banffshire parishes (including Grange).

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Churches

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Grange, Church of Scotland
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Church Records

Kirk of Scotland
  • OPRs held by the General Register Office, Scotland.
    GROSBaptismMarriageDeath
    156/11684-1754--
    156/21754-1819--
    156/3-1683-18191783-91
    156/41820-541820-54-
  • LDS Film numbers:
    BaptismsMarriagesDeaths
    69025696902570990996
Kirk Session Records

Kirk Session records generally include records of Discipline, which often include information on illegitimate births, and Accounts, which may mention persons on Poor Relief. The surviving Grange Kirk Session records are listed on a separate webpage.

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Description & Travel

A transcript of Parish of Grange by Rev. William Duff.

You can see pictures of Grange which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Maps

There is a wide range of maps available for Grange, 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 1976, 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). Grange will be found on "Landranger Sheet 29".
  • Reproductions of late-19th century Ordnance Survey maps are published by Caledonian Maps, and are also available via Family History Societies. Grange will be found on sheets 86.
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 view a comprehensive Gazetteer list for Grange including placenames culled from the Ordnance Survey "Explorer" (1:25000) map, the 1896 Ordnance Survey 1" map, the 1841, 1851 and 1861 Census and Thomson's "Atlas of Scotland" (1832).

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NJ507535 (Lat/Lon: 57.568952, -2.826539), Grange which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

You can view a comprehensive Gazetteer list for Grange including placenames culled from the Ordnance Survey "Explorer" (1:25000) map, the 1896 Ordnance Survey 1" map, the 1841, 1851 and 1861 Census and Thomson's "Atlas of Scotland" (1832).

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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 Grange:

  • General Register of the Poor 1845-1929 *
  • Record of Applications 1855-1929 *
  • Childrens' Separate Register 1914-1928 *
  • 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:
    Year1811182118311841
    Population1510148214921661
  • according to Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1895):
    Year1801183118611891
    Population1529149219091685
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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.