Avoch is a parish in the Ardmeanach district of Ross-shire. It is locally pronounced Auch. It is bounded by the parish of Rosemarkie towards the east, by the Moray Firth and Munlochy Bay on the south-east, south, and south-west, by the united parishes of Kilmuir Wester and Suddie on the west, by Urquhart, or Ferrintosh, on the north-west, and by the united parishes of Cullicudden and Kirkmichael on the north. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Avoch, Killeain, Kirkton
Rosehaugh
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The church of Avoch belonged to the Abbey of Kinloss. Its prebend was held by the chantor of the Cathedral of Fortrose. At Ormond Castle, in this parish, there was a chapel of St Mary, and near it was Our Lady's Well. At Killeain there was a chapel 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 |
| 1727-1854 | Avoch | 59 | OPR |
| 1855-1873 | Avoch | 59 | RD |
| 1874-1967 | Avoch | 59a | RD |
| 1874-1971 | Carnoch | 59b | RD |
| 1968-1971 | Black Isle, South | 59a | RD |
| 1972-2001 | Black Isle, South | 200 | RD |
| 1972-2001 | Carnoch | 198 | RD |
| 2002-2006 | Black Isle, Highland | 200 | RD |
| 2009 | Highland, Black Isle | 200 | RD |
| 2026 | Highland Council; Avoch and Killen 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
Fraser, Jack, MacDonald, Mackenzie, MacKintosh, McLeman, Patience, Reid, Ross, Sutherland
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 James Smith.
"Of the mailers*, villagers, and crofters in the country, a good many work in summer as day-labourers, and some go to the south country for employment during the summer and autumn. Others of them, who have small horses or garrons, earn part of their livelihood, by cutting and bringing down fuel from the moors, to supply the Seatown. There was formerly a flourishing manufacture of shoes, from hides mostly dressed at home, which employed about thirty hands in the smaller villages of Kirktown, Millhill, and Miltown. But the late laws, imposing a heavy license duty on tanners, have operated nearly as a prohibition to this article. Some of the shoemakers have left the place, others have become day labourers. And five or six, who remain at work, have now no apprentices, nor can they make bread by it themselves, owing to the high price of leather."
*Maillar: A tenant-famer who pays his rent in money.
(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 15, p. 610
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 14, Section II, p. 381
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
