Benholme
Benholm is a parish on the coast of Kincardineshire. It is bounded by the German Ocean (North Sea), and by the parishes of Bervie, Garvock, and St Cyrus. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Benholm, Johnshaven
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The church of Benholme was dedicated to St Marnoch. It belonged to the collegiate church of the Kirk Heugh at St Andrews. There is a mission chapel of St David in the parish at Johnshaven.
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 |
| 1684-1854 | Benholm | 253 | OPR |
| 1855-1967 | Benholm | 253 | RD |
| 2009 | Aberdeenshire, Stonehaven and East Kincardine | 342 | RD |
| 2026 | Aberdeenshire Council; Benholm and Johnshaven 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
Clark, Douglas, Duncan, Mackie, Ritchie, Smith, Souter, Stephen, Walker, Watson
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 Scott, Minister.
"The population within this parish in 1793 was 538 in the country; 1019 in the town. The union of several small farms into one has contributed to thin the country, and increase the number of town's people. But while one class of inhabitants was becoming more numerous in Johnshaven, various causes conspired to disperse another. It appears, from undoubted authority, that the sea-faring people, with their families, in that town, about the year 1753, were equal to a third of the whole inhabitants of the parish; but in 1793, they did not exceed a sixth part of that number; so that this class of inhabitants has been rapidly declining for the last 40 years.
Within the parish there are 2 merchants, 1 shore-master, 1 excise-officer, 18 shopkeepers, 4 innkeepers in the town, 1 innkeeper in the country, 8 smiths, 14 masons, 3 ship-carpenters, 10 house carpenters, 1 cabinet maker, 2 wheel-wrights, 63 weavers, 12 shoe-makers, 14 tailors, 4 butchers, 2 millers, 3 bakers, 4 gardeners, 2 slaters, 5 flax-dressers, 2 barbers, 3 male domestic servants, 20 female domestic servants, 56 male farm servants, 28 female farm servants, 15 shipmasters, 40 seamen and boys. A manufacture of sail cloth has of late been established in the town of Johnshaven. This affords employment at times to about 50 men, besides a number of women.
Smuggling, which formerly tended to debauch the morals of the sea-faring people, is no longer carried on within the bounds of this parish. Drunkenness and fighting are consequently little heard of. Any petty squabbles, that now happen, seldom proceed farther than high words. A few prosecutions for scandal have reformed the obnoxious practice of abusive language, which was much in use, and taught the generality to bridle their tongues. Frugality, sobriety, and industry, are the distinguishing characteristics of the country people. The inhabitants of Johnshaven are not deficient in the two first of these virtues, though there is still room for amendment with regard to industry. Among every rank, however, both in country and town, there is charity enough to "cover a multitude of sins.""
(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 15, p. 217
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 11, Section II, p. 51
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
