Whithorn

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

Wigtown and Whithorn : historical and descritptive sketches, stories and anecdotes, illustrative of the racy wit & pawky humor of the district, by Gordon Fraser, 1877, is avaiable at the Internet Archive.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

Numerous papers concerning businesses in Whithorn are to be found in Court of Sesion records and the records of dissolved companies. They can be found by searching the National Records of Scotland catalogue for "Whithorn" and reference starts "CS" or reference starts "BT2".

At the Ewart Library, Dumfries:

• EGD/96
  Papers of a Whithorn Grocer
  Stock book of an unidentified grocer at [ ] Road, Whithorn, 1899.

At the Glasgow City Archives:

• CWS
  Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society
  Records of the Bladenoch and Whithorn Creamery, 1899-1973, .

There are 2 cemeteries in Whithorn parish:

1. Whithorn St Ninian's Old Churchyard, Bruce Street, Whithorn (grid reference NW 443404, GPS: 54.733566,-4.417588):

• In the grounds of the former Whithorn Priory.
• 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.
• Monumental inscriptions at St Ninian's Old Churchyard are listed on Rootsweb.
• A listed building

2. Whithorn St Ninian's New Cemetery, St John Street, Whithorn (grid ref. NW 444404, GPS: 54.734195,-4.416574):

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

Parish / district reference number for 1841 - 1901 censuses: 900

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

There is a transcript of the 1851 census on the Maxwell Ancestry site.

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
Whithorn	1042848	1042557	103922	104113	224064	220464

(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, other churches include an Associate Congregation (later United Pesbyterian), a Free Church, and a Reformed Presbyterian church.

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 a few sectaries of the Cameronian and Antiburgher descriptions.

The New Statistical Account (written in 1839) gives this information:

• Besides the church, there are 3 other places of worship - one for the Associate Synod, one for the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, and one for the Roman Catholics. 2 of these have no settled pastor; the congregations attending them are widely dispersed over different parishes and very inconsiderable in number compared with the number attending the established church.
• Families belonging to the Established Church- 420; to the Associate Synod - 45; to the Cameronians - 27. Roman Catholic families - 12.
• There is a considerable number of poor Irish families that belong to no place of worship.

The1865 Ecclesiastical Directory lists the parish church, the Free Church (Whithorn & Isle), the United Presbyterian Church, and the Reformed Presbyterian Church.

Details of church history:

• Whithorn Parish Church

The church of Whithorn originally belonged to the Priory of Whitern, which was founded in 1153. Within the priory church , which served as cathedral for the See of Galloway, there existed a shrine to St Ninian, which in medieval times drew in large numbers of pilgrims. After the reformation the nave of the priory church was made the parish church and it remained so until 1822 when a new parish church was erected close by. After the 1929 union of the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church, Whithorn parish church was united with the former United Free Church congregation of Whithorn St Ninians under the name of Whithorn St Ninians Priory. Following the union the old parish church remained in use as the place of Worship. Whithorn St Ninians Priory was later linked in 1990 with Glasserton and Isle of Whithorn. The kirk session sat within the Presbytery of Wigtown until by Act of Assembly, 1963, the Presbytery of Wigton and the Presbytery of Stranraer were united under the name of the Presbytery of Wigtown and Stranraer.

• Whithorn Associate Congregation (later United Presbyterian and St John's United Free, united with Whithorn St Ninian's United Free):

Whithorn Associate Congregation, which belonged to the Antiburgher branch of the Secession church, first recieved mention within the Secession records at the Synod in May 1793, when a call was presented to Mr John Mitchell. The first church of Whithorn Associate is believed to have been built in 1790 and the first minister of the congregation, John Smith, was ordained in 1795. A new church was later opened for worship on the 9th March 1892. In 1900, upon the union of the Free Church and the United Presbyterians, Whithorn U.P. was renamed Whithorn St John's United Free Church, and the charge was later reduced in status in 1910. In 1913 however Whithorn St John's was united with the congregation of Whithorn St Ninian's, under the name of Whithorn. After this local union the former St John's church and manse continued in use. Following the 1929 union between the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church, Whithorn U.F. became Whithorn St Ninian's Church of Scotland and a union was established in 1937 with the congregation of Whithorn Priory, under the name of Whithorn St Ninian's Priory. As a result of this union the former St Ninian's church and manse were sold. Whithorn Associate congregation sat within the U.P. Presbytery of Galloway and later the U.F. Presbytery of Wigtown and Stranraer.

• Whithorn Free Church (later St. Ninian's United Free, then united with Whithorn, St. John's, United Free church):

Whithorn Free Church was formed in July 1843, with Whithorn and Isle of Whithorn at first sanctioned as separate charges under one minister. A church was erected in the following year. In 1876 a separate minister was settled in Isle of Whithorn. Whithorn FC passed to the United Free Church as Whithorn St Ninian's, which united with Whithorn St John's in 1913, using the St John's church and manse thereafter. The UFC charge was in the presbytery of Wigtown and Stranraer and the synod of Dumfries and Galloway.

• Whithorn Reformed Presbyterian Church:

-

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: 900

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

Whithorn OPR	Births / baptisms	Proclamations / marriages	Deaths / burials / mortcloths
900/1	1712-1819	1712-1819	-
900/2	1819-1854	1820-1854	-

(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.  The regular Record does not commence till May 1796. Prefixed to this are four pages containing 96 irregular entries dated between 1763 and 1844. On p. 112 are 33 irregular entries1789 - 1819.
M. One entry for 1788 recorded after Aug. 1811.
[Subsequent to publication of the Detailed List, additional early entries of B. and M. were found, now included in 900/1.]

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:

1068042 Items 4 - 5

Baptisms, 1712-1855; Marriages, 1716-1742, 1796-1855.

(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.

Heritors' Records (HR332) are at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH2/402
  Whithorn Kirk Session
  Minutes, 1712-1722, and 1866-1915; Collections and distributions, 1712-1740; Collections, 1922-1937; Discipline, 1905-1920; Baptismal register, 1879-1918; Communion Roll, 1868-1936; Poor's fund accounts, 1811-1843; Poor's fund minutes, 1801-1843, 1829-1843; Cash book, 1910-1937; Accounts, 1913-1939; Proclamation register, 1925-1977.

• HR332
  Whithorn parish heritors' records
  Minutes, 1862-1914, 1921-1933; Accounts, 1879-1928; Minute of agreement relating to priory and old church, 1908; Plans of church, 1913-1915.

Other Churches:

Records of other churches are held at the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• CH3/308
  Whithorn Associate Congregation (later United Presbyterian and St John's United Free, united with Whithorn St Ninian's United Free)
  Session minutes, 1795-1810 (contains 1 marriage, 1802), 1835-1840, 1848-1850 and 1895-1936; Congregational Board minutes, 1913-1937; Trustee's minutes, 1937-1940; Communion roll, 1835-1843 and 1881-1937; Baptisms, 1852-1912; Signatures to formula, 1874-1926; Seat rent accounts, 1821-1830; Cash book, 1832-1912; Mission fund accounts, 1881-1908; Sunday school accounts, 1925-1936; Cash book, 1832-1912; Mission fund accounts, 1881-1908; Sunday school accounts, 1925-1936.
  The registers are being made available on the ScotlandsPeople website.

  The LDS have filmed the following records which may be consulted at LDS Family History Centres.
  LDS Library Film Numbers:

  889475 Item 4	Whithorn Associate Congregation	Minutes, 1795-1802; with 1 marriage, 1802.	Original documents: National Records of Scotland - CH3/308/1
  1886484	Session minutes (with marriage, 1802), 1793-1810, 1835-1840, 1848-1850, 1895-1911. Communion roll ante, 1835-1840, 1881-1912; baptisms 1852-1912. Seat rent accounts, 1812-1830.	Original documents: National Records of Scotland - CH3/308/1,5,8

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

• CH3/801
  Whithorn Free Church (later St. Ninian's United Free, then united with Whithorn, St. John's, United Free church)
  Minutes, 1843-1913; Communion roll, 1843-1914; Baptismal register, 1843-1921.
  The registers are being made available on the ScotlandsPeople website.

At the Scottish Catholic Archives, Edinburgh:

• HC/59
  Parishes: magazines, bulletins, invitations to events, etc.
  31. Galloway - Whithorn

At the Hornel Library, Broughton House:

• Whithorn Reformed Presbyterian Church
  Baptisms, 1826-1832; Marriages, 1827-1832; Baptisms in other congregations, 1826-1832.

Access restricted. All enquiries should be addressed to: The Archivist, National Trust for Scotland, 28 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, EH2 4ET.

The Whithorn 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.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• SC19/35/4
  Wigtown Sherrif Court Records, Small Debt Court Books
  Whithorn Circuit, Jan. 1838 - Nov. 1854.

Surrounding parishes: Glasserton, Sorbie.

• 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.
• 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 Whithorn 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 Whithorn.

Sasines:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• B/71
  Whithorn Burgh Records
  Register of sasines, 1684-1935; Register of sasines minutes, 1867-1944.

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. Whithorn records:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• VR83
  Valuation Rolls: Whithorn Burgh
  1855-1930; the Roll from 1930 is included in the Valuation Roll for the County of Wigtown; the rolls for 1855, 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1920, 1925 and 1930 are online at the ScotlandsPeople website

• 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.

• IRS87/76-80
  Valuation Office (Scotland): Field Book, 1910-1920: Whithorn Burgh
  Entries 1-384, plus various supplementary.

• IRS87/81-83
  Valuation Office (Scotland): Field Book, 1910-1920: Whithorn Parish
  Entries 1-260.

• 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.

At the Stranraer Museum:

• WH
  Whithorn Burgh Records
  Valuation roll, 1858-1859.

Estate Records

At the Ewart Library, Dumfries:

• EGD/104
  Rent book, Whithorn
  Rent book for lands of Cavans and Appleby (in parish of Glasserton), 1756-1789, with manuscript transcription, undated.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

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

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

• GD25
  Papers of the Kennedy Family, Earls of Cassillis (Ailsa Muniments)

• GD30
  Papers of the Shairp family of Houston, West Lothian

• GD135
  Papersof the Dalrymple Family, Earls of Stair

• GD154
  Papers of the Agnew Family of Lochnaw, Wigtownshire

• GD455
  Papers of the Hathorn family of Castlewigg, Wigtownshire

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference NX443401 (Lat/Lon: 54.731281, -4.41951), Whithorn 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.

Sailors on board ships registered at Stranraer, Wigtown and Whithorn in 1851 are listed on CD: Scotland South-West, Highlands and Islands Seamen Crew Lists, 1851 available from Family History Indexes. The data is taken from TNA documents BT98/2735 (Stranraer), BT98/2794 (Wigtown) and BT98/2395 (Whitehorn [sic], wrongly included in Banff returns).

The Roll of Honour website records the names on the Whithorn war memorial. 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. Whithorn records:

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• RH4/23/236 and RH4/23/237
  Ordnance Survey Original Object Name Books for Scotland: Wigtownshire
  Parishes of 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); Glasserton and Whithorn (book 85).

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 Whithorn 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:

• CO4/46
  Whithorn Parish Records
  Parochial Board Minute Book, 1863-1885, 1885-1895; Parochial Board General Register of the Poor, 1848-1930; Parish Council Minute Book, 1908-1930.

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

At the Ewart Library, Dumfries:

• EW5/54
  Isle of Whithorn School
  Log books, 1881-1906, 1923-1978; Admissions and withdrawals registers, 1873-1977. (Access restricted)
  This was originally a parish school and the buildings were erected 1826. By 1858 the master doubled as the registrar and the school roll was 24 boys and 28 girls. In 1939 it came under the control of the master of Glenwhilly School which had closed.

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

• EW5/61
  Whithorn Junior Secondary School
  Log books, 1873-1914, 1949-1974. (Access restricted)

• 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.
• The 'New' Statistical Account is also at The Statistical Accounts of Scotland and Google Books.

The parish and burgh listings 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.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• E60/5/12
  Particular Taxt Rolls
  Whithorn Priory, 1630.

• E66/13
  Taxations 1630: Accounts and vouchers of rests in ordinary taxations of 1625 and 1630
  1-9. Bishop of Galloway for Whithorn priory (1630), 16 Nov. 1631-13 Jan. 1634.

• E209/80
  Whithorn (regality), bailie
  1696-1712.

• E236/83/1
  Whithorn (regality), Bailie Accounts
  15 May 1697-15 May 1712.

Towns were usually referred to as Burghs in Scotland.

Records of the Burgh of Whithorn are held by Stranraer Museum and the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.

At the Stranraer Museum:

• WH
  Whithorn Burgh Records
  Minutes, 1901-1974; Municipal Corporation Commissioners report on the burgh, 1833; Oaths of magistrates, councillors and officials, 1873-1967; Abstracts of accounts, 1967-1974; Valuation roll, 1858-1859; Ledgers and cash books, 1949-1972; Miscellanea, 1931, 1969; 'Collected documents' (mainly writs and law papers, including copy rentals of income due to Whithorn priory before and after 1560, undated, and signet letters, Lord Fleming v. the tenants of Whithorn, 1594), 16th - 20th cent.

At the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh:

• B/71
  Whithorn Burgh Records
  Register of sasines, 1684-1935; Register of sasines minutes, 1867-1944.