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Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Aberdeenshire » Lonmay

Lonmay Parish Church by Mary and Angus Hogg
Lonmay Parish Church, near Fiddler's Green © 2019, Mary and Angus Hogg

LONMAY PARISH

TABLE OF CONTENTS


LOCATION

Location Description:

Lonmay is a parish on the north-east coast of Buchan, Aberdeenshire. It is bounded by the German Ocean (North Sea), and by the parishes of Crimond, St Fergus, Longside, Old Deer, Strichen, and Rathen. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

  • Shire: Aberdeenshire (Before 1707)
  • County: Aberdeen (After 1707)
  • District: Deer, or Buchan (Before 1930)
  • Landward District: Deer (1930-1975)
  • Region: Grampian (1975-1996)
  • District: Banff and Buchan (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Cairness, Lonmay, St Combs

Estates:

Cairness, Crimondmogate


PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Diocese: Aberdeen
  • Deanery: Buchan

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Synod: Aberdeen
  • Presbytery: Deer

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

Lonmay was a prebend of Aberdeen. The old church of Lonmay stood near the seaside at the village of St Combs. It was dedicated to St Columba. The parish church was removed to a site about two miles further inland in 1607.

Disjoined Quoad Sacra Parishes:
Kininmonth. The parish of Kininmonth was disjoined from Lonmay, Longside, Deer, Strichen, and Crimond, on 9 March 1874. There was a Well of St John at Kininmonth.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.

Lonmay (QO)

  • Alexander Barclay, 1574
  • Duncan Davidson, 1583
  • Thomas Rires, 1604
  • William Rires (son of Thomas, above), 1645
  • James Irvine, 1687
  • John Houston, 1696
  • Thomas Gordon, 1709
  • John Sime, 1744
  • John Lundie, 1753
  • Hugh Shearer (schoolmaster of Botriphnie (1761-76), 1808
  • Charles Gibbon, 1810
  • Archibald Alexander Campbell, 1871
  • James Leask, 1874
  • James Forrest, 1878
  • James MacDonald Finlayson, 1914

Kinimonth (QS)

  • Charles Cordiner, 1846
  • Alexander Leslie, 1865
  • Robert Pryde, 1872
  • Peter Grant, 1877
  • James Smith, 1886
  • John Dalglish Carmichael, 1912
  • George Petrie, 1918

(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)


RECORDS

Parochial Registers:

Parish registers turned over to the Registrar-General, as a result of the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages (Scotland) Act of 1854. The letters B. D. and M. indicate Births (or Baptisms), Deaths (or Burials), and Marriages (or Proclamations of Banns) respectively. Numbers indicate separate volumes or books. Note: These records are by no means complete or without damage; consult the Detailed List of the Old Parochial Registers of Scotland (1872) to learn more about the condition of the records.

  • (1) B. 1687-1758; M. 1687-1773; D. 1716-21, and 1792
  • (2) B. 1758-1821; M. 1776-1820
  • (3) B. and M. 1820-54

OPR and RD Numbers
Date RangeNameNumberType
1687-1854Lonmay219OPR
1855-1967Lonmay219RD
2009Aberdeenshire, Fraserburgh311RD
2026Aberdeenshire Council; Buchan East Community Council

(2009: Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland - Old and New, National Records of Scotland)

Local community councils (2026) are provided as a potential source of additional information for settlements within the original boundaries of the parish. (Source)

Population:

Statistics from informal and official censuses

  • 1755: 1,674
  • 1801: 1,607
  • 1811: 1,627
  • 1821: 1,589
  • 1831: 1,798
  • 1841: 1,919
  • 1861: 2,142
  • 1881: 2,456
  • 1901: 1,622
  • 1911: 1,565

RESIDENTS


Common Surnames:

Bruce, Buchan, Forman, Henderson, Jaffray, Milne, Robertson, Smith, Strachan, Taylor

Land-owners, teachers, and other professionals:

Note: Names appearing in research materials, other than censuses. Simple names (First name, surname only) have been omitted unless they appear associated with large properties. All women's names, and men's names with occupations, military ranks, or peerage titles are included.

  • Charles BANNERMAN, Esq., of Crimonmogate
  • (Colonel) Charles FRASER, of Inveralochy
  • George FRASER, Esq., of Park
  • Thomas GORDON, Esq., of Buthlaw, Lonmay, and Cairness
  • John LUMSDEN, Esq., of Blairmormond
  • James RUSSELL, Esq., of Kinninmonth
  • William SHAND, Esq., of Craigellie

Other residents:

From Materials collected by Mr John Lundie, Minister of Lonmay.
"The number of inhabitants of all ages at present is about 1650, of which, 311 are Scotch Episcopals, and 17 are Seceders. Population has formerly been very thin in the parish, except on the sea-coast."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)


NOTES:

Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 16, p. 631
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 12, p. 215

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.


Photo credits: (Featured) Lonmay Parish Church, near Fiddler's Green, © 2019 Mary and Angus Hogg, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.0, (Related Resources) Aberdeenshire Locator Map, © 2005, Brythones, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related Resources
Map of Scottish highland clans and lowland families
Aberdeenshire locator map
See more maps at Wikimedia Commons
Glossary
  • Burghs:
  • Royal - Towns on royal lands
  • Regality - Towns granted to noblemen/landowners
  • Barony - Towns granted to tenant-in-chief (laird)
  • Police - Towns with elected officials
  • Small - Population under 20,000
  • Large - Population over 20,000
  •  
  • Chapel-of-Ease: Small church for those living far from the main church
  • Collegiate church: See What is a Collegiate Church?
  • Commune kirk: Owned by a larger church
  • Court of Teinds: Controlled funds for support of clergy
  •  
  • Friars:
  • Black - Dominican
  • Grey - Franciscan
  • Red - Trinitarian
  • White - Carmelite
  •  
  • Iron chapel: Building made of corrugated galvanized iron
  •  
  • Landward District: Rural part of a district
  •  
  • Mensal: Source of income to support clergy member (Roman Catholic)
  •  
  • OPR: Old Parochial Register
  •  
  • Pre-Reformation: Before 1560
  • Prebend: Source of income to support a clergy member
  •  
  • QO: Quoad Omnia - Civil and church control
  • QS: Quoad Sacra - Church control only
  •  
  • RD: Registration District - Civil control
  •  
  • Tryst: Large-scale market or fair, particularly for livestock
  •  
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