Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Edinburghshire » Mid-Calder

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

ALTERNATE NAMES AND SPELLING:

Calder-Comitis

LOCATION

Location Description:

Mid Calder is a parish in the west of Edinburghshire. It is bounded on the west by West Calder, on the north by Linlithgowshire, on the east by East Calder and Kirknewton, and on the south by Peeblesshire. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

• Shire: Edinburghshire (Before 1707)
• County: Edinburgh (After 1707)
• District: Edinburghshire (Before 1930)
• County: Midlothian (1947)
• Landward District: East Calder (1930-1975)
• Region: Lothian (1975-1996)
• District: Midlothian (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Bells Quarry or Bellsquarry, Howden, Mid Calder or Midcalder

PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

• Diocese: St Andrews
• Deanery: Linlithgow

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

• Synod: Lothian and Tweeddale
• Presbytery: Edinburgh

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

Divided in 1646 into Mid-Calder and West Calder; the latter being the new parish. Disjoined from the Presbytery of Linlithgow and annexed to the Presbytery of Edinburgh by General Assembly, 1884.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

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

(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. and M. 1604-74
• (2) B. 1707-80; M. 1691-1820; D. 1734-1819
• (3) B. 1779-1819; M. 1783-1819; D. 1783-1837
• (4) B. and M. 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: 1,369
• 1831: 1,412
• 1841: 1,456
• 1851: 1,474
• 1861: 1,389
• 1881: 1,696
• 1901: 3,132
• 1911: 3,249

RESIDENTS

Common Surnames:

Brown, Gray, Hunter, Millar, Paris, Smith, Tait, Walker, Watson, Weir

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.

• William AULD, Esq., of Howden Park
• Robert BAUCHOP, Esq., of Muirhouses
• Archibald BRUCE, Esq., of Bankton
• William BRUCE, Esq., of Alderstone
• George Sholto DOUGLAS, Earl of Morton, of Harperrig
• Robert DOWNIE, Esq., of East Cairns and East Colzium
• Henry ERSKINE, Earl of Buchan, of Pumpherston
• Thomas HARDY, Esq., of Charlesfield
• James M. HOG, Esq., of Murieston
• John KEIR, Esq., of Westfield and Wester Murieston
• John David MARTIN, Esq., of Charlesfield
• Archibald PRIMROSE, Earl of Rosebery, of Alderstone Mains
• James SANDILANDS, Lord Torphichen, for barony of Calder
• John Graham WESTER, of Causeyend
• Alexander YOUNG, Esq., of Camilty

Other residents:

By the Reverend Mr James Wilson.
"The parish, at present, contains 1251 inhabitants, 689 of whom are in the country part of the parish, and the remaining 562 are in the town. The males amount to 588; the females to 663.

The manners of the present generation are more simple than those of the preceding; and though we have reason to mourn over prevailing vices, yet some of the more flagrant breaches of decency and virtue, such as profane swearing and drunkenness, are not so common in the more improved circles as they were formerly. The people here are, upon the whole, sober and virtuous; though we must expect to find among them some of the vices which prevail in similar situations."
(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 14, p. 353
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 1, p. 356

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.