Sorbie

The ScotlandsPlaces website lets users search across national databases by geographical location. It includes, amongst other material,

• catalogue entries for maps and plans held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh; some maps and plans can be viewed
• photos and details of historical buildings and archaeological sites recorded by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh
• 17th and 18th century tax rolls
• an opportunity to transcribe thousands of historic documents

There are 2 cemeteries and 2 ancient burial grounds in Sorbie parish:

1. Sorbie Old Churchyard, which surrounds the original Sorbie Kirk, Main Street, Sorbie (grid reference NX 438468, GPS: 54.791463, -4.429668):

• Monumental Inscriptions were recorded by J E Birchman in the 1980s. They have been published by the Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society. Copies are in local libraries and at the Ewart Library, Dumfries.
• Burial records, 1706-1716, in the Old Parochial Registers - see Church Records below

2. Sorbie New Cemetery, Reiffer Park Road, Sorbie (grid ref. NX 439464, GPS: 54.788488, -4.428654):

• The graveyard is administered by Local Services, Culhorn Depot, Commerce Road, Stranraer, DG9 7DE. Tel: 03033 333000

3. Cruggleton, on the B7063 just north of Palmallet Farm (grid ref. NX 478428, GPS: 54.757086,-4.366776):

• The renovated church is only open one day each year.

4. Kirkmadrine, north of Garlieston, in a field off the B7004 (grid ref. NX 475482, GPS: 54.805453,-4.374028):

• An ancient church, now in ruins.

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 897

The 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 returns can be searched on the FreeCEN website.

There is an online index to the 1851 census created by the Friends of the Archives of Dumfries and Galloway.

Some census records on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family Search Centres around the world.

LDS Library Film Numbers:

	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891
Sorbie	1042847	1042557	103922	104113	224063	220462

(Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Further information on the main GENUKI Wigtownshire page.

In addition to the parish church at Sorbie (rebuilt at Millisle in 1874-6), other churches include a Free Church, and a Congregational church at Garlieston. The Rootsweb Churches and Graveyards in Dumfries and Galloway site has photographs of the current parish church (at Millisle), together with the churchyard and ruins of the old church in Sorbie.

A list of all persons over 12 years of age, collected under instructions to the Episcopalian Curates of Galloway and Dumfriesshire, was published as Parish lists of Wigtownshire and Minnigaff, 1684. It is available at the Open Library.

The Old Statistical Account (written in the 1790s) gives this information about Dissenters:

• there are 3 clergy - one of the Church of England, the other two of the Established Church
• There are 24 Episcopalians, 60 Ante-Burgher Seceders, 4 Catholics and 2 Cameronians.

The New Statistical Account (written in 1838) gives this information:

• "There is one Independent chapel in the parish; the minister of this is paid by his hearers and receives about £60 per annum. There are no Episcopalian or Catholic chapels. Number of families attending the Established Church - 152 (167 persons); number attending the chapels of dissenters - 24; number attending the Catholic chapel at Newton Stewart - 55."

The1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the Congregational Church in Garlieston, and the Free Church.

Details of church history:

• Sorbie Parish Church

In the 12th and 13th cents Sorbie was made up of two divisions, Great Sourby and little Sourby, each of which had their own church. The two divisions were however united between the years of 1235 and 1253 and were joined together as Sorbie. The church of Sorbie was dedicated to St Fillan and prior to the reformation it belonged to the Abbey of Dryburgh. In 1633 Sorbie formed a union with the former parishes of Kirkmadryne and Crugilton. Sorbie, Kirkmadryne and Crugilton all had their own parish churches prior to the union, however after they were joined, the parish church at Sorbie served all three and the united parish continued under the name of Sorbie. The Parish church of Sorbie was rebuilt in 1750 and underwent extensive repairs in 1824, a new church was later erected in 1874-1876. In 1981 Sorbie was linked with Kirkinner. The kirk session sat within the Presbytery of Wigtown and later of Wigtown and Stranraer.
see The History of Sorbie Parish Church, Donna Brewster, 1994, ISBN 9781872350219

Data provided by the  Scottish Archive Network (SCAN)

The Parish Church (Established Church, Church of Scotland):

The original Old Parish Registers (of baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages, and deaths / burials) of the Church of Scotland, which cover the years up to 1854, are held in the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh, and they can all be consulted there at the National Records of Scotland.

Parish reference number: 897

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) span the following dates (although there are gaps within these ranges):

Sorbie OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
897/1	1700-1819	1700-1819	1706-1716, and 2 entries 1813 & 1818
897/2	1819-1854	1820-1854	-
Register of Neglected Entries	1836, 1838, 1840

(Data supplied by National Records of Scotland)

The Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland, published 1872, provides this information about the content of the OPRs, including the gaps within them:

B.  Blank July 1721 - Jan. 1739, and defective 1739 - 1745 inclusive. Portion 1761 - 1771 in form of a small Memorandum Book. Blank (exc. one page of entries April 1773 - Jan. 1774) July 1771 - Sept. 1789, and June 1790 - June 1794, exc. twelve irregular entries 1787 - 1806 which occurs at that part.
M.  Blank June 1721 - June 1794, and Nov. 1814 - June 1816.
D.  Mortcloth Dues intermixed with other matters. Two entries of Death, dated 1813 and 1818.

The baptisms / births, proclamations / marriages and deaths / burials indexes can be searched at the ScotlandsPeople website. Copies of the register entries may be purchased.

Copies of the registers on microfilm may be consulted in some local libraries and at LDS Family Search Centres around the world. The indexes to baptisms / births and proclamations / marriages can also be searched on the LDS Family Search website or on the IGI on microfiche in local libraries.

LDS Library Film Numbers:

1068041 Items 2 - 3

Baptisms, 1700-1820; Marriages, 1700-1721, 1794-1820; Burials, 1706-1716, 1813-1818; Neglected Birth entries, 1836, 1838, 1840.

(Data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Further information on the main GENUKI Wigtownshire page.

Kirk Session records are held at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. Some Kirk Session material is to be found in the OPR records (897/1).

Heritors' Records (HR12) are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. Sorbie records:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH2/332
  Sorbie Kirk Session
  Minutes, 1700-1702 and 1829-1856; Poor's Accounts, 1797-1821; Accounts, 1845-1863; Loose cash records, 1765-1775.

Included in the Old Parochial Registers on microfilm and at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh but not online:

• 897/1
  Sorbie Kirk Session
  Accounts, 1703-1716.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• HR12
  Sorbie parish heritors' records
  Minutes, 1861-1900, 1908-1929; Cash book, 1905-1919; Accounts, 1920-1929; Vouchers, 1874-1928; Papers relating to buildings, 1869-1914; Papers relating to transference to Church of Scotland, 1927-1929; Correspondence, 1870-1919; Valuation, 1799; Plans church, manse, 1912-? 1929.

Other Churches:

The location of records of other churches is not known.

The Sorbie page of the LDS Family Search Research Wiki has more information about church history and records.

Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland on 1st January 1855. Full information on the main GENUKI Wigtownshire page.

Registration districts covering this parish:

Registration districts did not necessarily coincide exactly with parishes.

Surrounding parishes: Kirkinner, Glasserton, Whithorn.

• Geograph
• Flickr

The parish entry in Pigot's National Commercial Directory for the whole of Scotland, 1837, is online at Google Books.

Several old gazetteers are available. They all contain descriptions of the parish and many are also worth searching for entries of places within the parish.

• David Webster's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1819, online at Google Books.
• Fullarton's Topographical, Statistical and Historical Gazetteer of Scotland, published 1842, vol. 1, A-H only, online at Google Books has an entry for Garlieston.
• Samuel Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, published 1846, online at British History Online.
• Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4) and John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887) are on A Vision of Britain (click on "Historical places and writing").
• Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland(1892-6)on Electric Scotland

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Sorbie to another place.

A Vision of Britain provides historical descriptions, population & housing statistics, historic boundaries and maps.

Details of historic buildings and archaeological sites in this parish held by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, Edinburgh, are catalogued at ScotlandsPlaces. In the results, click RCAHMS. Unfortunately, not all entries have digital images.

Listed buildings in Sorbie and Garlieston.

Valuation Rolls, from 1855, are held in Edinburgh. Valuation Office field books and plans (for the Valuation Office survey of 1911-1915) are also held in Edinburgh. A few valuation rolls are held locally. Sorbie records:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• VR123
  Valuation Rolls: County of Wigtown
  1855-1975; the rolls for 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1920, 1925 and 1930 are online at the ScotlandsPeople website.

• IRS87/51-54
  Valuation Office (Scotland): Field Book, 1910-1920: Sorbie Parish
  Entries 1-100, 101-200, 201-300, 301-347.

• IRS133
  Valuation Office (Scotland) maps to accompany the above field books, scale 1/2500, Ordnance Survey sheets for Wigtownshire.

At the Ewart Library, Dumfries:

• EW4
  Wigtownshire County Council: County Treasurer's Department
  Valuation rolls, 1891-1975; Assessment rolls, 1890-1897, 1950-1960.

Estate papers:

Some estate papers can be found by searching the National Records of Scotland catalogue for "Sorbie or Garlieston" and reference starts "GD". Collections particularly worth searching are:

• GD10
  Papers of the Murray Family of Broughton, Wigtownshire, and Cally, Kirkcudbrightshire

• GD138
  Papers of the Stewart family, Earls of Galloway (Galloway Charters)

• GD150
  Papers of the Earls of Morton

• GD154
  Papers of the Agnew Family of Lochnaw, Wigtownshire

• GD455
  Papers of the Hathorn family of Castlewigg, Wigtownshire

• GD1/1138/4
  Estate Sales Particulars, Various Estates 1896-1939
  Galloway House Estate, Garlieston, Wigtownshire, 1929

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NX448457 (Lat/Lon: 54.781716, -4.414153), Sorbie which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

The Roll of Honour website records the names on the Garlieston and Sorbie war memorials. More information can be found at the Scottish War Memorials Project.

The Ordnance Survey Object Name Books are held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. Sorbie records:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• RH4/23/235-237
  Ordnance Survey Original Object Name Books for Scotland: Wigtownshire
  Parishes of Kirkinner and Sorbie (book 69); Glasserton, Kirkinner, Mochrum and Sorbie (book 74); Glasserton, Mochrum, Sorbie and Whithorn (book 76); Glasserton, Kirkinner, Sorbie and Whithorn (book 77); Sorbie and Whithorn (book 78); Glasserton, Sorbie and Whithorn (book 79); Sorbie, Stoneykirk and Whithorn (book 80); Glasserton, Sorbie and Whithorn (book 84)

The relief of paupers after 1845 was carried out by the Parochial Board and later by the Parish Council. Their records are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh. See Public Records below.

There is a page with census statistics from 1755 to 1951 here.

See also A Vision of Britain and Histpop for population statistics.

Probate records are 'Confirmations' in Scotland.

Prior to 1824, wills, testaments & inventories of residents of Sorbie may be found in either the Wigtown Commissariot (CC22) or the Edinburgh Commissariot (CC8) records. From 1824, commissary business has been conducted by the Sheriff Court of Wigtown (SC19).

Sources worth searching for deeds include Wigtown Sheriff Court.

Parochial Boards and their successors, Parish Councils, administered many local functions including poor relief.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CO4/43
  Sorbie Parish Records
  Parish Council Minute Book, 1918-1930; Parochial Board General Register of the Poor, 1878-1922;Parish Council General Register of the Poor, 1922-1930.

School Board records and / or school logbooks are held at the Ewart Library, Dumfries. Sorbie records:

At the Ewart Library, Dumfries:

• EW5/56
  Sorbie Public School
  Log books, 1905-1950. (Closed until 1/01/2026)

• EW5/8/2
  Glasserton (Whithorn and Sorbie) School Board
  Register of mortgages (including receipts, 1918-1919), 1875-1894.

• EW5/8/1
  Whithorn, Glasserton and Sorbie School Management Committee
  Minutes, 1947-1949. (Closed until 1/01/2025)

The Ordnance Gazetteer for Scotland lists the following public schools in the parish (1893):

"Statistical accounts" giving fascinating insights into the local topography and history, social and economic conditions, and even the daily lives of people, were written by the parish ministers in the 1790s and the 1830s. For more information see the main GENUKI Wigtownshire page.

• The 'Old' Statistical Account is at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland and Google Books with an addition here.
• The 'New' Statistical Account is also at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland and Google Books.

The parish listing of the farm horse tax, 1797-98, the female servants tax, 1785-92, and the Male Servants Tax, 1777-98, can be seen at ScotlandsPlaces.

For details of other early taxation records see the Early Taxation Records page.