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Features: Scottish Parishes » Historic Shires » Perthshire » Port of Menteith

Port of Menteith Church by Richard Sutcliffe
Port of Menteith Church © 2016, Richard Sutcliffe

PORT OF MENTEITH PARISH

TABLE OF CONTENTS


LOCATION

Location Description:

Port of Menteith is a parish in the district of Monteith, Perthshire. It lies on the southern border of the county, being separated along most of its southern extremity by the River Forth from Stirlingshire and Kippen, and it is bounded on the other sides by Aberfoyle, Callander, Kilmadock, and Kincardine. (1867: The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, by John Marius Wilson).

Shire, District, and Region Timeline:

  • Shire: Perthshire (Before 1707)
  • County: Perth (After 1707)
  • District: Perth (Before 1930)
  • County: Perth & Kinross (After 1930)
  • Landward District: Western (1930-1975)
  • Region: Tayside (1975-1996)
  • District: Perth and Kinross (1975-1996)

Cities, Towns, Villages, and Hamlets:

Callander, Cuilunum Moss, Gartmore, Port of Monteith, Ruskie, Tomachar

Estates:

Cardross, Rednock


PARISH TIMELINE

PRE-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Diocese: Dunblane

POST-REFORMATION GOVERNANCE:

  • Synod: Perth and Stirling
  • Presbytery: Dunblane

PAROCHIAL OVERVIEW:

The church of Port of Menteith belonged to the Priory of Inchmahome. In 1615 this parish was considerably enlarged by the addition to it of the lands taken from the parish of Leny. The Augustinian Priory of St Colmog at Inchmahome in this parish was founded in 1238 by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith.

Disjoined Quoad Sacra Parishes:
Gartmore. A chapel was built here in 1791. The parish of Gartmore was disjoined from Port of Menteith and Drymen, and erected 19 July 1869.
Norrieston. A chapel was built here in 1650 on a site gifted by Gilbert Norrie of Norrieston. The parish of Norrieston was disjoined from Port of Menteith, Kincardine-in-Menteith, and Kilmadock on 16 July 1877. A new church was built in 1879.
Trossachs. The parish of Trossachs was disjoined from Callander, Aberfoyle, and Port of Menteith, and erected 6 June 1866.

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND CLERGY:

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

Port of Menteith (QO)

  • William Stirling, 1567
  • Andrew Dougall, 1574
  • William Stirling, 1578
  • William Stirling, 1597
  • James Seyton, 1616
  • Thomas Henderson, 1638
  • James Donaldson, 1667
  • Robert Ramsay, 1682
  • Patrick Bell, 1683
  • Arthur Forbes, 1697
  • John Fergusson, 1726
  • Robert Stirling, 1769
  • William MacGregor Stirling, 1799
  • William Wyllie, 1825
  • Alexander Turner, 1843
  • John Johnston, 1872
  • Charles Edward Stuart, 1902
  • Thomas Burnett Peter, 1907
  • David James M'Queen, 1916

Gartmore (QS)

  • Walter Blair, 1795
  • John Brown, 1805
  • James Taylor, 1811
  • Peter Brydie, 1816
  • Alexander Leitch, 1825
  • Alexander Turner, 1833
  • William Eason, 1833
  • David Black, 1839
  • William MacLaren, 1848
  • Hugh Niven, 1850
  • Hugh Ramsay, 1854
  • William M'Robie, 1856
  • James Markland, 1857
  • George Brown, 1866
  • Andrew Irving, 1871
  • James Christie Johnston, 1899

Norrieston (QS)

  • Henry Moir, 1729
  • Robert Wingate, 1746
  • John Bruce, 1752
  • David Carmichael, 1758
  • John Knox, 1761
  • Robert Stirling, 1766
  • John Snodgrass, 1772
  • Patrick Caldwell, 1775
  • John Hughes, 1796
  • Hugh Laird, 1801
  • John Findlay, 1803
  • Samuel Cameron, 1808
  • John Sommers, 1810
  • Walter Nicol, 1840
  • William Wyper, 1845
  • James Forfar, 1870
  • James Gordon Mitchell, 1879

Trossachs (QS)

  • Edward Place Dewar, 1849
  • William Monteith, 1850
  • Neil MacPherson, 1862
  • John M'Diarmid, 1866
  • William Wilson, 1884

(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. 1697-1819
  • (2) B. and M. 1820-54

OPR and RD Numbers
Date RangeNameNumberType
1697-1854Port of Menteith388OPR
1855-1953Port of Menteith388RD
1954-1971Aberfoyle and Menteith325RD
1972-2003Aberfoyle and Menteith397RD
2004-2006Stirling; Aberfoyle and Menteith397RD
2009Stirling, Aberfoyle397RD
2026Stirling Council; Port of Menteith 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)

Population:

Statistics from informal and official censuses

  • 1755: 1,865
  • 1831: 1,664
  • 1841: 1,446
  • 1851: 1,375
  • 1861: 1,374
  • 1881: 1,179
  • 1901: 1,088
  • 1911: 1,035

RESIDENTS


Common Surnames:

Blair, Campbell, Ferguson, Graham, Johnston, Keir, Mitchell, Robertson, Stewart, Wood

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 Cunningham CUNNINGHAM-GRAHAM, Esq., of Gartmore
  • David ERSKINE, Esq., of Cardross
  • James FORRESTER, Esq., of Polder
  • James GRAHAM, Duke of Montrose
  • James GRAHAM, Esq., of Leitchtown
  • (General) Alexander Graham STIRLING, of Duchray and Auchyle

Other land-owners:

  • EASTMONT, of Drunkie
  • HOME, of Argaty

Other residents:

By Mr W Stirling.
"The inhabitants of the parish, in 1755, amounted to 1865. It is believed, that, for some time, they have been on the decrease, owing partly to the junction of farms, and chiefly to the emigration of cottagers and their families to great towns, and to the cotton manufactures. Most of the adults are employed in agriculture, excepting a few weavers, tailors, shoemakers, blacksmiths, and wrights, stationed in different places for the accommodation of the neighbourhood."
(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 7, p. 139
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1834-1845), Volume 10, p. 1095

See Parish Page Sources for all source information and links.


Photo credits: (Featured) Port of Menteith Church, © 2016 Richard Sutcliffe, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.0, (Related Resources) Perthshire Locator Map, © 2024, Elianfoo, used under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related Resources
Map of Scotland with Perthshire highlighted
Location of Perthshire
See more maps at Wikimedia Commons
Glossary
  • Burghs:
  • Royal - Towns on royal lands
  • Regality - Towns granted to noblemen/landowners
  • Barony - Towns granted to tenant-in-chief (laird)
  • Police - Towns with elected officials
  • Small - Population under 20,000
  • Large - Population over 20,000
  •  
  • Chapel-of-Ease: Small church for those living far from the main church
  • Collegiate church: See What is a Collegiate Church?
  • Commune kirk: Owned by a larger church
  • Court of Teinds: Controlled funds for support of clergy
  •  
  • Friars:
  • Black - Dominican
  • Grey - Franciscan
  • Red - Trinitarian
  • White - Carmelite
  •  
  • Iron chapel: Building made of corrugated galvanized iron
  •  
  • Landward District: Rural part of a district
  •  
  • Mensal: Source of income to support clergy member (Roman Catholic)
  •  
  • OPR: Old Parochial Register
  •  
  • Pre-Reformation: Before 1560
  • Prebend: Source of income to support a clergy member
  •  
  • QO: Quoad Omnia - Civil and church control
  • QS: Quoad Sacra - Church control only
  •  
  • RD: Registration District - Civil control
  •  
  • Tryst: Large-scale market or fair, particularly for livestock
  •  
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