Firth, Stenness, and Orphir
Firth and Stenness is a united parish in the centre of Orkney. It comprises a portion of the Orkney mainland, extending diagonally south-south-westward from sea to sea, and the two small islands of Damsay and the Holm of Grimbister off the east coast, in an indentation of the sea called Firth Bay. The parish of Firth is on the north, and that of Stenness is on the south. The united parish, except where washed by the sea, is bounded by the parishes of Harray, Rendall, Kirkwall, Orphir, Stromness, and Sandwick. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).
Cursiter, Finstown, Grimbister
Blinscarth, Burness
PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:
The three parishes of Firth, Stenness, and Orphir were united in the sixteenth century. Some few years after 1600, Orphir was severed from the two others.
Firth. On the island of Damsay, within the bounds, there stood a chapel. From the name of the place it has been thought that it was dedicated to St Adamnan. Damsay, however, seems rather to point to St Adam, Bishop of Caithness, as the patron.
Stenness. On 18 Feb 1878 the parish of Stenness was disjoined quoad omnia from Firth and partly from Sandwick.
Includes ministers, licentiates, assistants, readers, and clerks.
Firth and Stenness (QO)
Stenness (QO)
(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 |
| 1732-1854 | Firth and Stenness | 17 | OPR |
| 1855-1895 | Firth and Stenness | 17 | RD |
| 1896-1969 | Firth | 17-1 | RD |
| 1896-1969 | Stenness | 17-2 | RD |
| 1970-1971 | Firth and Stenness | 17 | RD |
| 1972-2003 | Firth and Stenness | 145 | RD |
| 2009 | Orkney Islands, Firth and Stenness | 143 | RD |
| 2026 | Orkney Islands Council; Firth and Stenness 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
Anderson, Clouston, Dickson, Firth, Flett, Harvey, Isbister, Leask, Linklater, Sinclair
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 Malcolm.
"The people, in general, are industrious, when not depressed by poverty, and overburdened with services. Few of them can be called rich; but a very considerable proportion of them are tolerably comfortable in their circumstances. Many of the young people of each sex, with cottagers, tailors and shoemakers, who are unemployed in summer in their handicrafts, are all employed in kelp-making. It is scarcely possible for a farmer to keep a man servant, or even a boy, without allowing him a month or two of the summer to go to the kelp; at which work, in a dry season, they make far better wages than the farmers can afford."
(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 14, p. 125
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 15, Section III, p. 67
See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.
