Alvie is a highland parish in the district of Badenoch, Inverness-shire. The principal inhabited division lies along the northern side of the river Spey. It is bounded by the parish of Kingussie on the southwest; Moy on the northwest; and Duthel on the north-east. On the southern side of the river, Alvie parish is bounded on the east by Rothiemurchus; on the south by Blair Atholl; and on the west by Kingussie. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson)
Dunachtan, Kincraig, Kinrara, Lynchat, Lynwilg, Raitt
Dalnavert
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The church of Alvie was dedicated to St Drostan. It was a commune kirk of the Cathedral of Elgin. The parishes of Laggan and Alvie were united about 1572, but were severed again in July 1636. In 1672 they were united a second time, but were again severed in or about 1708. There were three chapels within the bounds, St Drostan's at Dunachtan, St Aeth's at Kinrara, and St Luag's at Lynchat.
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 |
| 1713-1854 | Alvie | 90 | OPR |
| 1855-1869 | Alvie | 90 | RD |
| 1870-1970 | Abernethy and Kincardine | 90a | RD |
| 1870-1970 | Alvie | 90b | RD |
| 1971-1971 | Nethybridge | 90 | RD |
| 1972-2001 | Nethybridge | 232 | RD |
| 2002-2006 | Grantown on Spey and Nethybridge | 283 | RD |
| 2009 | Highland, Grantown-on-Spey and Nethybridge | 283 | RD |
| 2026 | (Alvie) Highland Council; Kincraig and Vicinity Community Council | ||
| 2026 | (Nethybridge) Highland Council; Nethy Bridge Community Council | ||
| 2026 | (Grantown-on-Spey) Highland Council; Grantown-on-Spey and Vicinity 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
Cameron, Campbell, Cumming, Fraser, Grant, Kennedy, MacDonald, MacGregor, Robertson, Stewart
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 John Gordon.
"There is no surgeon, public writer, officer of excise, messenger, mason, carpenter, baker, or butcher in the parish, and no jail. There is one Justice of Peace, 2 shopkeepers, 2 smiths, 6 weavers, 4 tailors, and 2 brogue-makers; these handicraftsmen are fit only for the coarsest work. The inferior tenants are very poor, owing to their small holdings, and their habitations wretched. They have no idea of trade or manufactures, and consequently no desire to leave their native land; they prefer living on the smallest pendicle of land as tenants to the best service, and are extremely averse to the military. They procure their little necessaries from the market-towns, by the sale of small parcels of wood they bring thither (distant 40 miles). They are very ignorant of the principles of religion, as but few of them can read. The natives live to a good old age; there are several at present beyond 80 years."
(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 13, p. 375
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 14, Section I, p. 81
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
