Please also visit the page of general information applicable to all of Angus & Kincardineshire.
Abbreviations
| NLS | National Library of Scotland |
|---|---|
| NRS | National Records of Scotland, formerly called the National Archives of Scotland [NAS] and, before that, the Scottish Record Office [SRO] HM General Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YY (Tel: +44-131-535-1314) |
| OPR | Old Parish Registers of Births/baptisms, Banns/marriages & Deaths/burials (pre-1855) |
- See also, for history of the parish:
- The Statistical accounts of Ruthven
- General histories listed on the page for Books about Angus & Kincardineshire, in particular Warden, vol. 5, pp. 104-110.
Statistical accounts of Ruthven
- Old Statistical Account of the 1790s - vol. 12, p. 290
- New Statistical Account of the 1840s - vol 11, p. 413
- 1:25000 Ordnance Survey map - published 1959
- 1:10560 (Six inch) Ordnance Survey map - surveyed 1861, published 1865
For the full range of maps of Ruthven, see National Library's Maps.
Geograph.org: Ruthven - recent photographs of Ruthven. National Grid ref. NO2848.
Located at National Grid ref. NO286488. Built 1859. The mediaeval kirk belonged to Arbroath Abbey. A fine photograph of the kirk on the Scottish War Memorials site.
There is an article, with photographs, on Ruthven Parish Church in A Corpus of Scottish Mediaeval Parish Churches.
adm.: admitted, ass.: assistant, bapt.: baptised, contr.: contract, dem.: demitted, dep.: deposed, ind.: inducted, lic.: licensed, mar.: married, min.: minister, ord.: ordained, pres.: presented, rel.: related, res.: resigned, suc.: successor, test.: testament, tr.: translated
| George Hay | 1561 | parson |
| James Fleming | 1563 | reader |
| Walter Lindsay | 1569-1574 | reader bef. 1574; pres. to vicarage 22 Jul 1569 on death of Patrick Blair |
| David Cumyng | 1574-? | reader 1574-8; pres. to vicarage 17 Mar 1574-5 on death of Patrick Blair [error for Walter Lindsay?]; master of Leith Song School 1583 |
| Robert Carrington | 1576 | reader 1576; pres. to vicarage 30 Oct 1576 on death of David Cumyng [inconsistent] |
| Thomas Maxwell | 1579-1580 | reader |
| David Ramsay | 1582-1590 | pres. to vicarage 19 Apr 1582; still in office 1590 |
| Robert Hamilton | 1595?-1596 | 6th son of John Hamilton of Orbiston; M.A. St Andrews 1592; min. 1595; d. 30 Nov 1596, aged ca. 24 |
| John Barclay | 1597-1609 | M.A.; min. 1597; pres. to vicarage 17 Nov 1602; tr. to Meigle PER aft. 30 Nov 1609 |
| Patrick Crichton | 1609-1644 | son of Alexander Crichton of Naughton, Fife; M.A. Edinburgh 1600; pres. (but not adm.) to vicarage of Forgan FIF 29 Apr 1606; pres. to vicarage here 1 Apr 1609; still min. 11 Aug 1644; mar. Isobel Rattray; issue: Margaret (mar. Alexr Ramsay of Dalrulzian) |
| John Rattray | 1651-1665 | M.A.; adm. bef. 20 Jan 1651; tr. to Rattray PER Jul 1665 |
| John Fyfe | 1666-1691 | ord. bef. 5 May 1666; adm. 31 May 1666; d. bef. 7 Nov 1691; mar.; issue: Henry |
| Robert Pitcairn | 1705-1742 | M.A. St Andrews 1690; ord. 21 Mar 1705; d. Nov 1742, aged ca. 73; mar.; issue: Andrew, writer in Dundee |
| William Cruickshank | 1744-1756 | M.A. Marischal 1730; ord. 8 Feb 1744; d. 14 Jul 1756; mar. 1744 Barbara, dau. of Robert Lyon, min. of Kinfauns PER |
| Thomas Duncan | 1757-1784 | ord. 11 May 1757; d. 12 Jan 1784; mar. Eliz. Crooks; issue: Margaret, ELiz., Wm, Mary, Jean, Isobel, Christian, Charlotte, John |
| James Will | 1784-1798 | ord. 23 Sep 1784; tr. to Guthrie 16 Aug 1798 |
| Patrick Maclaren | 1798-1822 | ord. 27 Sep 1798; d. 7 Nov 1822; mar. 1812 Cath. McLaren; issue: Wm; Ann Wedderburn; Allan; Jean |
| Patrick Barty | 1823-1870 | b. 5 Jan 1798, eldest son of Thomas Barty, min. of Bendochy PER; ord. 7 Aug 1823; d. 24 Jun 1870 unmar. |
| John Gordon McPherson | 1870-1909 | b. 28 Jun 1843 St Andrews, son of James McPh., dancing master; M.A. St Andrews 1865; Ph.D. Rostock; rector Hexham Academy 1868; rector Forfar Academy 1869; ord. 8 Dec 1870; maths examiner St Andrews Univ.; lecturer in meteorology; voluminous author; d. 10 Nov 1909; mar. 1868 Christina Wallace, eldest dau. of David Carstairs; issue: Christina Gordon; Joan Davina Carstairs |
| Alexander Kidd Watt | 1910-1926 | b. 13 Jun 1862 Auchterhouse, son of John W., farmer; ass. Sandsting, Aithsting, Lerwick and Wick; ord. to Carronshore Chapel 2 Mar 1899; tr. & adm. 6 Apr 1910; d. 10 Dec 1926 Dundee; mar. 1911 Kath., dau. of Alexr Banks; had issue |
| James Anderson | 1927-1941 | tr. from Robertson Memorial, Glasgow 20 Jul 1927; d. 3 Jan 1941; mar. 1922 Alice Lilian, dau. of Harry Smith |
| A. M. Macleod | ?-1948 | d. Jan 1948 |
| John L. Terris | 1948-1954 | M.A.(St Andrews); lic. 1933; Mossgreen, Crossgates; ind. 27 Jan 1938 Rescobie; tr. & ind. here 15 Jul 1948 |
Monuments in Ruthven Kirkyard bearing pre-1855 information (ca. 30 stones) are listed in Alison Mitchell (ed.), "Pre-1855 Monumental Inscriptions in Angus, Vol. 1: Strathmore" (Edinburgh: Scottish Genealogy Soc., 1993), which can be bought from the Scottish Genealogy Society. (It's listed as "Angus MI - Vol. 1. Pre-1855 Strathmore" in their online shop.)
Inside the kirk: Photographs & names.
Births, Marriages & Deaths, 1855 to present
Indexes and actual records for Statutory Registers of Births, Marriages & Deaths, beginning 1 Jan 1855, are available online, following registration and the purchase of credits, at the official web-site, ScotlandsPeople.
Births, Marriages & Deaths, before 1855
Indexes and actual records for all extant Old Parish Registers (OPRs) (pre-1855) of the Established Church of Scotland are available online, following registration and the purchase of credits, at the official web-site, ScotlandsPeople.
There was 1 proprietor of land in the parish in 1842:
- Peter Wedderburn Ogilvy
Electoral roll of the parish in 1846
| Name | Address |
|---|---|
| Rev. Patrick Barty | ---- |
| Andrew Bruce | Hole |
| James Cunningham | Balbirnie |
| David Lindsay | Ruthven |
| Alexander Simpson | Brigton |
| Thomas Simpson yr | Milton |
| David Steel | Bridgend |
| Peter Strathearn | Dryloch |
| James Taylor | Bridgend |
| Farm | Name | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Balbirnie (village) | James Cunningham (2 acres) | -1841-1851- |
| do | Mary Cunningham (2 acres) | -1861- |
| do | Margaret Loban (2 acres) | -1851-1861- |
| do | Thomas McKay | -1881- |
| do | George Thomson | -1891-1901- |
| do | William King | -1911-1921- |
| Bridgend | David Steele | -1841-1861- |
| do | Thomas Steele | -1871- |
| do | Peter Barty Leslie | -1881-1891- |
| do | David Annand | -1901-1911- |
| do | W. & F. Lowson | -1921- |
| Brigton | Alexander Simpson | -1841- |
| do | James Reid | -1871-1901- |
| do | George Thomson | -1891-1901- |
| do | J. & P. Leslie | -1911- |
| do | P. Leslie | -1921- |
| Dryloch | Peter Strathearn | -1841-1851- |
| do | James Strathearn | -1861- |
| do | John Leslie | -1871-1881- |
| do | David Thomson | -1891-1901- |
| do | Thomas Malcolm | -1911- |
| do | William Bain | -1921- |
| Hole of Ruthven | Andrew Bruce [d. 1842] | -1842 |
| do | Andrew Bruce [d. 1887] | 1842-1881- |
| do | John leslie | -1891-1901- |
| do | George Thomson | -1911- |
| do | Alexander Steven | -1921- |
| Milton | Thomas Simpson | -1841-1851- |
| do | James Young | -1861- |
| do | George Linn | -1871- |
| do | David A. Robertson | -1901- |
| do | Alexander Robertson | -1911- |
| do | William Crowe | -1921- |
| Ruthven House | Peter Wedderburn Ogilvy of Ruthven | -1861-1871- |
| do | John Andrew Wedderburn Ogilvy of Ruthven | -1901-1921- |
Records of the official censuses of the parish in 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 and 1921 are held in Register House, Edinburgh and are open to the public on payment of a fee.
Indexes to all the original census records, and the records themselves, can be accessed online at modest charge at ScotlandsPeople.
Microfilm copies are also widely available in libraries. The 1881 census is available on CD-ROM.
The early censuses of 1801-31 do not name individuals.
| Year | male | female | total | ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1755 | 280 | Dr Alexander Webster | ||
| 1792 | 220 | Old Statistical Account | ||
| 1801 | 211 | |||
| 1811 | 240 | |||
| 1821 | 138 | 175 | 313 | |
| 1831 | 363 | |||
| 1841 | 471* | |||
| 1842 | 179 | 246 | 425 | New Statistical Account |
| 1851 | 503 | |||
| 1871 | 122 | 125 | 247 | |
| 1881 | 105 | 90 | 195 | |
| 1891 | 96 | 92 | 188 | |
| 1901 | 92 | 77 | 169 | |
| 1911 | 88 | 84 | 172 | |
| 1921 | 100 | 100 | 200 |
* Figure includes 40 people 'not of the parish' [See New Statistical Account]
Ruthven was in the Commissariot of Dunkeld [NRS CC7].
Indexes to all extant pre-1926 testamentary records (wills & inventories of moveable property) can be searched free of charge at ScotlandsPeople. Digital (and paper) copies of the documents can be purchased at that site. See further the introduction to Angus & Kincardineshire at Testaments.
Testaments of Ruthven people from the Register of Testaments of the Commissariot of Dunkeld, 1682-1823
'T' before the date indicates that the copy in the register is lost, but the original testament is extant.
| Alexander Crichton | sometime merchant in Baekie, and afterwards at Bridgetoun of Ruthven | 23 Dec 1726 |
| George Crichton | milner at the Mill of Ruthven | 22 Aug 1722 |
| James Crichton of Ruthvens | 6 Aug 1719 | |
| Mr Patrick Crichton of Ruthven | T. 8 Dec 1747, [46] 1 Jan 1748 | |
| William Dick | bluedyer at Ruthven | 26 Nov & 1 Dec 1814 |
| John Gardner or Gairdner | at the Milne of Ruthven | T. 7 Sep 1712 |
| Grissell Henderson | late servant to Patrick Whytock, in Holl of Ruthven, par. of Tibbermuir [error?] | 5 Oct 1749 |
| William Marshall | at Bridge of Ruthven | 10 & 11 Oct 1809 |
| John Morison | in Kirktoun of Ruthven | T. -- 1684 |
| Helen Ramsay | relict of Robert Man, merchant in Dundee, and spouse to Thomas Crichton, surgeon at Ruthven | 26 Aug 1755, 9 Aug 1757, and 7 Nov 1758 |
| Andrew Smith | in Bridgend of Ruthvens | 4 Apr 1690 |
| George Turnbull | in Holl of Ruthvens | 4 Apr 1690 |
| Alexander Webster | sometime in Hole of Ruthven | T. 19 Mar 1703 |
Testaments of Ruthven people from the Register of Testaments of the Commissariot of St Andrews, 1549-1800, that have been lost, for which only entries in the minute books are extant
| Mr William Crookshanks | minister of the Gospel at Ruthven | 7 Jan 1765 |
Testaments of Ruthven people from the Register of Testaments of the Commissariot of Edinburgh, 1514-1600
| Mr Robert Hamilton | minister at Ruthvene, sher. of Forfar | 6 Jun 1597 |
Testaments of Ruthven people from the Register of Testaments of the Commissariot of Edinburgh, 1701-1800
| Thomas Ogilvie of Ruthven | sometime merchant in Dundee | 27 Feb 1786 |
Images of the original records for Ruthven:
Images of the original records for Ruthven: