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the Dumfries Kirk Session database >>>
This project to create an index-cum-synopsis of the contents of the Kirk Session
and Presbytery Minutes of Dumfries has been undertaken by the "Friends of the
Archives of Dumfries and Galloway" whose names appear
below.*
The Kirk Session was made up of the minister and elders of the church and its
task was to maintain Christian standards of behaviour within the parish. In
fact, all aspects of the life of the community fell within its remit so these
records form a rich source for social, economic and local history as well as a
goldmine for genealogists. The Presbytery was the next layer up in church
administration, comprising members representating the constituent Kirk
Sessions.
Charitable works and the promotion of a virtuous life were perhaps the main
concerns of the Kirk Session. It oversaw the care of the poor, maintaining the
parish mortifications (charity rolls) and licensing beggars. With regard to
morality, the Kirk Session hunted out fornicators and adulterers, punishing
them with fines and public penitence, and also those irregularly married (ie
without the banns having been called in their own parish churches). More
serious cases were referred up to the Presbytery.
The period covered by this database is 1687 to 1695 for Presbytery records, and
1689 to 1838 for Kirk Session records.
NOTE : The date given for any entry is that of its first mention. If the
subject continued for some time, the first and subsequent page numbers are
given. These Church of Scotland records are held under Charge and
Superintendence from the Keeper of the Records of Scotland and the reference
numbers of the volumes are those allocated by the National Archives of
Scotland.
* "Friends" Involved: Ian Anderson, Sheila Fraser, Alison
Greenshields, Mary Milne, Ernie Smith, Marion Stirling and Bill Sutherland;
assisted by : Lucy Gibbon, Susan Knox, Nichola Marchbank, Erica Seggie, Mary
Moffat, Vivienne Orr, Alan Sinclair and Steven Speight.
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