Heriot is a parish in the south-east of Edinburghshire. It is bounded by Peeblesshire, and by the parishes of Temple, Borthwick, Fala, and Stow. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Broomieknowe, Dewar, Heriot
The parish of Heriot has been altered in area: (a) through the addition of the detached part of the parish of Borthwick, and (b) through the addition of the detached part of the parish of Stow. Both these detached parts were situated on the north-east border of Heriot parish. 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:
Previous to the Reformation the church, dedicated to St Mary, belonged to the Abbey of Newbattle.
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 |
| 1685-1854 | Heriot | 688 | OPR |
| 1855-1968 | Heriot | 688 | RD |
| 2009 | Scottish Borders, Galashiels | 810 | RD |
| 2026 | Midlothian Council; Penicuik and District Community | ||
(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
Brown, Cairns, Elder, Graham, Pringle, Smith, Stoddart, Thomson, Wilson, Young
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 Hunter, Minister.
"The number of souls at present (1794) in the parish amount to 300. Of the above number, nearly the one half are Burgher Seceders. Besides the farmers and their servants, there are in the parish 2 carpenters, 3 smiths, 2 tailors, 4 weavers, 1 mason, and 1 miller.
The people are industrious, and highly economical, sober, peaceable, humane, and given to hospitality. Their dress is quite simple, and their manners plain and unaffected. They are regular in their attendance on divine ordinances. They are rather badly accommodated for houses, which are shabby dirty huts. Although the parish is within two or three miles of lime at Middleton, they are still built of turf and stone in regular succession. The seats of our lairds are very little better."
(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 16, p. 50
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 1, p. 198
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
