Moffat is a parish partly in Lanarkshire, but chiefly in Dumfriesshire. The Dumfriesshire part projects northward from the adjacent regions of the county and forms the northern extremity of the district of Annandale. The parish is bounded by Tweedsmuir, Megget, Ettrick, Eskdalemuir, Hutton, Wamphray, Kirkpatrick-Juxta, and Crawford. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Capplegill, Dumfcrieff, Moffat
Craigieburn
The parish of Moffat, which was situated partly in the county of Dumfries and partly in the county of Lanark, has been placed wholly in the county of Dumfries. See affected properties and landholders. (1892: Boundary of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government Act, 1889, by Hay Shennan)
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The Lady Knowe at Moffat is understood to mark the site of a church of St Mary. On the lands of Kirkbriderig was a chapel of St Bride. Near it the Knights Hospitaler had a chapel of St Cuthbert, of which the ruins remain. The church was dedicated to St Mary. There was a Well of St John.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
(1928: Fasti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ, by Hew Scott, D. D.)
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.
| OPR and RD Numbers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date Range | Name | Number | Type |
| 1709-1854 | Moffat | 842 | OPR |
| 1855-1971 | Moffat | 842 | RD |
| 1972-2004 | Moffat | 836 | RD |
| 2005-2009 | Dumfries and Galloway, Moffat | 836 | RD |
| 2026 | Dumfries & Galloway Council; Moffat and District 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)
Statistics from informal and official censuses
Anderson, Bell, Brown, Halliday, Henderson, Johnstone, Little, Moffat, Scott, Thomson
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.
By the Reverend Mr Alexander Brown.
"There are 200 families in the village of Moffat, and 80 in the country part of the parish. The number of persons, young and old, rather above 1600. In 1755, they amounted to 1612, according to the report made to Dr Webster. There are no houses uninhabited.
There are, at present, in the village and parish of Moffat, 50 weavers, 6 shoemakers, 6 tailors, 4 smiths, 8 merchants, 1 watch-maker, 2 bakers, 1 butcher, 1 barber, 5 masons, 6 wrights, 1 physician, and 1 surgeon. As there are, as yet, no manufactures in Moffat, many young persons of both sexes go to other places for employment. A woollen manufacture is intended to be established soon; and the necessary buildings were proposed to be erected in summer, 1791."
(This section contains excerpts, at times restructured or paraphrased, from an article appearing in Statistical Account of Scotland, Sir John Sinclair, 1791-1799)
Primary Sources:
Statistical Account of Scotland (1791-1799), Volume 2, p. 285
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 4, Section I, p. 102
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
