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Aberlady

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"ABERLADY, a parish, containing a post-office village of its own name, on the north-west coast of the county of Haddington; bounded on the north by the frith of Forth, which here forms Aberlady bay, and by the parish of Dirleton; on the east by Dirleton and Haddington parishes; and on the south by Gladsmuir parish. Its greatest dimension is about 4 miles, in a line running north-east and south-west from the Pefferburn, near Saltcoats, to Coteburn in Gladsmuir; and its greatest extent from east to west is nearly the same ... The village of Aberlady, 5 miles north-west of Haddington, consists of one long street of a good appearance. It is ocasionally resorted to by the inhabitants of Haddington as a bathing-place; but the surrounding country presents little that is attractive to the stranger. Population of the parish in 1831, 973; in 1861, 1,019." [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 333 names from the cemetery in Aberlady, covering gravestones from 1661 - 1885. A map is included showing locations.
These have not been published.
The data was collected by Dr D Hutchinson.

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

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Churches

Secession churches (Scotland)
The Wynd, Aberlady, United Presbyterian
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Church Records

The parish church (Church of Scotland) has registers dating from 1632. 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).

In addition LDS Family History Centres can obtain microfilm copies of Kirk Session records for Aberlady, including proclamations of marriages and christenings for the years 1828-1848. This is a microfilm copy of original records held in the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh.

Photos of the church are available.

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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 Aberlady 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 NT467783 (Lat/Lon: 55.995091, -2.856152), Aberlady which are provided by:

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Population

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

YearPopulation
1755739
1801875
1831973
18611019
18711022
18811000
18911063
1901950
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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.