Temple is a parish consisting of a main body and a detached district in the south of Edinburghshire. The main body is bounded by Peeblesshire, and by the parishes of Penicuick, Carrington, Borthwick, and Heriot. The detached district lies 1¾ miles north-east of the nearest part of the main body, and is surrounded by the parishes of Newbattle and Borthwick. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Gorebridge, Stobbs, Temple
Arniston, Roseberry
The parish of Borthwick has been altered in area through the transference to it of the detached part of the parish of Temple, situated at Gorebridge. See affected properties and landholders. (1892: Boundary of counties and parishes in Scotland as settled by the Boundary Commissioners under the Local Government Act, 1889, by Hay Shennan)
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
Temple. Originally the church of the Preceptory of the Knights Temple at Balintradoch (now Arniston). After their dissolution, and previous to the Reformation, it belonged to the Preceptory of St John at Torphichen.
Moorfoot, originally Morthwait and Clerkington both of which, previous to the Reformation, belonged to the Abbey of Newbattle. United to Temple by the Presbytery, 29 March 1593.
Disjoined Quoad Sacra Parishes:
Stobhill. Disjoined from Borthwick, Cockpen, Newbattle, and Temple, and erected into a parish quoad sacra, 16 March 1859.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
Temple (QO)
Moorfoot (QO)
Stobhill (QS)
(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 |
| 1688-1854 | Temple | 700 | OPR |
| 1855-1968 | Temple | 700 | RD |
| 2009 | Midlothian | 762 | RD |
| 2026 | Midlothian Council; Moorfoot 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
Bennett, Brown, Dickson, Hutchison, Kerr, Reid, Smith, Thomson, White, Young
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 Goldie, Minister.
"The number of souls, from a list taken in 1793, was 593. The people in general are quiet, and no disturbers of the public peace. They are mostly employed in agriculture and pasturage. The shepherds, instead of wages, are allowed to pasture a certain number of sheep, along with their master's stock. They live comfortably in their way, and not unfrequently make a little money, with which they are supported in the decline of life, by employing it either in buying oats, which, when made into meal, they sell, or by using it in some other kind of small traffic.
There has as yet been no manufacture carried on in the parish; but lately a company from England have begun to build a mill for making gun-powder. This is the first erection of the kind in Scotland."
(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 16, p. 497
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 1, p. 49
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
