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Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Aberdeenshire » Rhynie & Essie and Savoch

Rhynie The Classic View by Bill Harrison
Rhynie: The Classic View © 2017, Bill Harrison

RHYNIE & ESSIE and SAVOCH PARISH

TABLE OF CONTENTS


ALTERNATE NAMES AND SPELLING:

Kilrynie (Rhynie)


LOCATION

Location Description:

Rhynie is a parish in the district of Strathbogie, Aberdeenshire. It is bounded by Cabrach, Gartly, Kinnethmont, and Auchindoir. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

  • Shire: Aberdeenshire (Before 1707)
  • County: Aberdeen (After 1707)
  • District: Alford (Before 1930)
  • Landward District: Huntly (1930-1975)
  • Region: Grampian (1975-1996)
  • District: Gordon (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Muir of Rhynie or Rhynie


PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Diocese: Moray
  • Deanery: Strathbogie

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Synod: Moray
  • Presbytery: Strathbogie, previously Dunbennan

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

The parishes of Rhynie and Essie were united in or about 1612.
Rhynie. The church of Rhynie was dedicated to St Luag. Rhynie and Essie together formed a prebend of the Cathedral of Elgin.
Essie. The church of Essie was dedicated to St Ernan. Services were continued in this old church until about 1767.
Savoch. A church was opened in 1834. Its chief promoter was the Rev. James Mair, schoolmaster of Savoch, father of William Mair, minister of Earlston, a native of Savoch, who, as Moderator of the General Assembly reopened (5 September 1897), after extensive renovation, the church in which he worshipped as a child. From 1834-51 the ministers of the four interested parishes officiated in turn, assisted by schoolmasters in the Presbytery. The parish of Savoch was disjoined from Old Deer, New Deer, Ellon, and Tarves on 28 May 1851.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

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

Rhynie (QO)

  • Andrew Thomson, 1567
  • George Nicolson, 1574
  • James Urwell, 1574
  • Arthur Gordon, 1585
  • Alexander Hay, 1586
  • Henry Ross, 1609
  • George Chalmers, 1643
  • Alexander Youngson, 1661
  • James Gordon, 1680
  • Alexander Ogilvie, 1717
  • Patrick Gordon, 1739
  • John Brown, 1752
  • James Milne, 1772
  • William Allardyce, 1823
  • Alexander Anderson, 1858
  • James Jolly Calder, 1879
  • James Cameron M'Hardy, 1900

Essie (QO)

  • George Nicolson, 1574
  • Gilbert Norie, 1574
  • Walter Leslie, 1576
  • Patrick Gordon, 1578
  • Duncan Brebner, 1585
  • Patrick Chalmers, 1601
  • Henry Ross, 1607

Savoch (QO)

  • James Wilson, 1852
  • John Reid, 1857
  • William Wallace Wilson, 1887
  • Thomas Nelson Allen, 1924

(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. 1740-1819; M. 1741-1819; D. 1783-94 (Rhynie & Essie)
  • (2) B. and M. 1820-54 (Rhynie & Essie)
  • (3) B. and M. 1852-54 (Savoch)

OPR and RD Numbers
Date RangeNameNumberType
1740-1854Rhynie and Essie237aOPR
1852-1854Savoch237bOPR
1855-1859Rhynie237RD
1860-1967Rhynie237aRD
1860-1967Savoch236bRD
1893-1967St Fergus237cRD
2009(Rhynie) Aberdeenshire, Huntly317RD
2009(Savoch) Aberdeenshire, Ellon316RD
2009(St Fergus) Aberdeenshire, Peterhead313RD
2026(Rhynie) Aberdeenshire Council; Tap O'Noth Community Council
2026(Savoch) Aberdeenshire Council; Auchterless, Fisherford & Inverkeithny Community Council
2026(St Fergus) Aberdeenshire Council; Buchan East 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)

Population:

Statistics from informal and official censuses

  • 1755: 836
  • 1811: 676
  • 1821: 776
  • 1831: 1,018
  • 1841: 1,035
  • 1861: 3,122 (Rhynie: 1,061; Savoch 2,061)
  • 1901: 2,741 (Rhynie: 1,005; Savoch: 1,736)
  • 1911: 2,427 (Rhynie: 862; Savoch: 1,565)

RESIDENTS


Common Surnames:

Cran, Duff, Grant, Henderson, Horn, Mitchell, Riddel, Robertson, Smith, Thomson

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.

  • James GORDON, Schoolmaster (1740-1747)
  • Charles GORDON-LENNOX, Duke of Richmond
  • (Rev) James MAIR, Schoolmaster (circa 1834)

Other residents:

By the Reverend Mr James Milne.
"The number of persons in this parish is 618. They are sober, industrious, peaceable, and contented with their condition. They enjoy not the luxuries of cities, but they have the necessaries and some of the comforts of life, along with health of body and animation of character; and they add more to the strength of the country than four times their number of discontented and debauched manufacturers, or mobbish politicians can do, in any time of public or national danger."
(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 19, p. 289
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 12, p. 1015

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.


Photo credits: (Featured) Rhynie: The Classic View, © 2017 Bill Harrison, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.0, (Related Resources) Aberdeenshire Locator Map, © 2005, Brythones, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related Resources
Map of Scottish highland clans and lowland families
Aberdeenshire locator map
See more maps at Wikimedia Commons
Glossary
  • Burghs:
  • Royal - Towns on royal lands
  • Regality - Towns granted to noblemen/landowners
  • Barony - Towns granted to tenant-in-chief (laird)
  • Police - Towns with elected officials
  • Small - Population under 20,000
  • Large - Population over 20,000
  •  
  • Chapel-of-Ease: Small church for those living far from the main church
  • Collegiate church: See What is a Collegiate Church?
  • Commune kirk: Owned by a larger church
  • Court of Teinds: Controlled funds for support of clergy
  •  
  • Friars:
  • Black - Dominican
  • Grey - Franciscan
  • Red - Trinitarian
  • White - Carmelite
  •  
  • Iron chapel: Building made of corrugated galvanized iron
  •  
  • Landward District: Rural part of a district
  •  
  • Mensal: Source of income to support clergy member (Roman Catholic)
  •  
  • OPR: Old Parochial Register
  •  
  • Pre-Reformation: Before 1560
  • Prebend: Source of income to support a clergy member
  •  
  • QO: Quoad Omnia - Civil and church control
  • QS: Quoad Sacra - Church control only
  •  
  • RD: Registration District - Civil control
  •  
  • Tryst: Large-scale market or fair, particularly for livestock
  •  
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