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Gamrie

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"The parish of Gemrie extends itself seven miles along the coast westward, even to the river Divern, the border of Buthquhan. In it are the mannors of Troup, belonging to Garden of Troup; Northfield, belonging to Keith of Northfield; and Melers; likewise, the old ruinous mannor, called Cullen of Buthquhan. There is also a sea town called Down, situated near the mouth of the river Divern, where it falls into the North Frith, at the city of Bamff. On the south border of this parish stands another mannor, called Byth, the residence of James Urquhart of Byth." [From A Description of the Parish of Gemrie. By Mr. Alexander Hepburn 1721.]

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Cemeteries

The parish of Gamrie has a number of burial grounds. Aberdeen And North-East Scotland FHS (ANESFHS) holds unpublished Monumental Inscriptions for Gamrie St John's and Gamrie New (both near Gardenstown), as well as Doune, Macduff.

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Gamrie, 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. Gamrie (together with Alvah) is published as code AA212.

ANESFHS also hold unpublished indexes and transcriptions of the 1861 Census for most Banffshire parishes (including Gamrie).

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Churches

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Gamrie, Church of Scotland
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Church Records

Kirk of Scotland

OPRs held by the General Register Office, Scotland.

  • Down: Baptisms 1769-1783, Marriages ---, Burials ---
  • Macduff: Baptisms 1787-1854, Marriages 1786-1854, Burials ---
  • Gamrie: Baptisms 1704-1854, Marriages 1787-1854, Burials 1789-1792

LDS Film numbers - 0990825, 0990990, 0990994.

Batch numbers (for familysearch) - C or M 111552, 111554, 111614.

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 Gamrie Kirk Session records are listed on a separate webpage.

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Description & Travel

A transcript of Parish of Gamrie by The Rev. Mr. Wilson.

You can see pictures of Gamrie which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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Historical Geography

Gamrie appears always to have been a single parish, but as it is about 6 miles long, east to west, there have been in effect, two separate 'centres of gravity' within the parish. The older of these is in the east of the parish,at Gardenstown (formerly known as Gamrie), and the more recent at the western end, known as Doune, or Down, or (since 1783) as Macduff. This dichotomy has resulted in overlapping sets of Registers and Kirk Session Minutes for the two parts.

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Maps

There is a wide range of maps available for Gamrie, 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). Gamrie 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. Most of Gamrie will be found on sheet 96, with a small strip on sheet 97.
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 Gamrie 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 NJ770628 (Lat/Lon: 57.654064, -2.387569), Gamrie which are provided by:

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Names, Geographical

You can view a comprehensive Gazetteer list for Gamrie 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 Gamrie:

  • 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

Year1801181118211831184118511861
Population3052305237164094474152856086
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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.