Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Perthshire » Dunblane

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Alternate Names and Spelling
• Location
• Parish Timeline
• Records
• Residents
• Notes

ALTERNATE NAMES AND SPELLING:

Dunblane and Kilbride

LOCATION

Location Description:

Dunblane is a parish in the south of Perthshire. It is bounded by Comrie, Muthil, Blackford, Logie, Lecropt, and Kilmadock. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

• Shire: Perthshire (Before 1707)
• County: Perth (After 1707)
• District: Perth (Before 1930)
• County: Perth & Kinross (After 1930)
• Landward District: Western (1930-1975)
• Region: Central (1975-1996)
• District: Stirling (1975-1996)

Burghs:

• Name: Dunblane
• Burgh of Regality (1442)
• Small Burgh (1929)
• Burgh system abolished (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Balhaddie, Buttergask, Dunblane, Greenloaning, Kinbuck, Rottearn

PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

• Diocese: Dunblane

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

• Synod: Perth and Stirling
• Presbytery: Dunblane

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

The parishes of Dunblane and Kilbride were united in the sixteenth century.
Dunblane. From a very early date there was at Dunblane a Celtic abbey dedicated to St Blaan. About the middle of the twelfth century King David I changed this old foundation into a bishopric. In 1560 the building was made the church of the parish and such it remains. For a time in the seventeenth century it served again as a cathedral as well as parish church. Within recent years, mainly through the munificence of one of the heritors, Mrs David Wallace of Glassingall, and her family, the church of Dunblane has been restored. Fairs used to be held at Dunblane on Whitsunday, Hallowmas, and St Lawrence Day.
Kilbride. The church of this parish was dedicated to St Bride.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

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

Dunblane (QO)

Kilbride (QO)

(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. 1658-1711; M. 1653-91
• (2) B. 1711-83
• (3) B. 1783-1819; M. 1787-1819
• (4) B. M. and D. 1820-54

(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: 2,728
• 1831: 3,228
• 1841: 3,361
• 1851: 3,213
• 1861: 3,096
• 1881: 3,138
• 1901: 3,812 (Dunblane and Lecropt)
• 1911: 4,591 (Dunblane and Lecropt)

RESIDENTS

Common Surnames:

Bayne, Brown, Bruce, Cameron, Campbell, Eadie, Ferguson, Robertson, Stewart, Stirling

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.

• George Ralph Campbell ABERCROMBY, Baron Abercromby
• Alexander Hepburn Murray BELSHES, Esq., of Invermay
• Sir James CAMPBELL, Bart., of Kilbryde
• John FINLAYSON, Esq., of Greenhill
• Robert GARDNER, Esq., of Rottearns
• Thomas Robert HAY-DRUMMOND, Earl of Kinnoull
• Alexander SMITH, Esq., of Glassingall
• Archibald STIRLING, Esq., of Keir
• James STIRLING, Esq., of Holmehill
• John STIRLING, Esq., of Kippendavie
• (Rev) Thomas YOUNG, of Gask

Other land-owners:

• LAWRENCE, of Rottearns
• MACGREGOR, of Balhaldie
• MURRAY, of Abercairney

Other residents:

By the Reverend Messrs John Robertson and Robert Stirling.
"By a late survey, it is found that there are in this parish 2750 souls. There are no less than 41 houses where ale and spirits are retailed, 29 in the town of Dunblane, and 12 in other parts of the parish. In the town of Dunlane there are, besides the parochial school, three others, to which the generality of the people send their children to be initiated in the principles of the English language, previous to their being sent to the principal school. Owing to the extent of the parish, there are three other schools in different quarters of it, for the accommodation of those who cannot come into the town. The number of scholars at the parish school is, at an average, about 60. The schoolmaster is likewise the session-clerk."
(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 7, p. 323
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 10, p. 1038

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.