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Mochrum is an agricultural parish, described by its minister in 1838 as bleak but healthful, some ten miles from the excellent loamy soils of the east to the stony rocky west, and stretching four or five miles inland from its flat smooth gravel beach on the Irish Sea, halfway between Luce Sands and Burrow Head. Many prehistoric forts, including the Mesolithic Barsalloch Fort, and many earthworks, standing stones, mottes, crannogs or artificial defensive islets, and crosses both early and medieval are throughout the parish. In the east are the ruins of St. Finian's Chapel, while the fells of the coast recall the Norse settlers of around 900 AD. Old Place of Mochrum, the ruined home of the Dunbars, now restored by the Marquis of Bute, was originally built in 1368, so set amid its moorland lochs that some have seen it as a "ship at sea". The White Loch was once reputed not only for its cures but also for its detergent properties!
One of the Dunbars was preceptor or tutor to King James V of Scotland, and later Bishop of Glasgow and Lord Chancellor of Scotland. The Maxwells of Monreith with their widespreading policies or estate, almost at the boundary with Glasserton, are a famous family of Galloway. They built from about 1650 though the 1800s, Port William, a little fishing port and today a resort. It is the only harbor on the Mochrum shores, Corwall Port by St. Finian's being no more than a beach landing.
"The 'Old' (1791) and 'New' (1834-45) Statistical Accounts of Scotland provide detailed parish reports - and in the case of the 'New' county reports - for the whole of Scotland, covering a wide spectrum of subjects including agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs." (EDINA, hosted by Edinburgh University Data Library).
This is a must read, as it contains excellent physical and social descriptions of the parish, Use the link below to access the scanned extracts. You may choose to read county reports which give a more general view of Wigton(Wigtown), or go directly to the pages devoted to your parish of interest.
| C118921 - C118929 | M118921 - M118929 |
General information on all Wigtownshire census is more fully explained on Wigtownshire Census Records.
The 1851 Census is today available, as a full transcription,
on the Dumfries and Galloway local government's library
system web site, for Dumfries and for the two Galloway
counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbright, and we are
pleased to cite their URL where you can browse it as you
wish. To access the census directly, enter:
http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/historicalindexes/census.aspx
But please do remember that these are transcriptions, and therefore, despite best efforts of the volunteers who worked on them, they are liable to introduced errors. The information should therefore always be backed up by reference to original data, using for example the LDS film of the original census.
This 1851 census has also been indexed by John Roy, by Heads of Households, and we are very happy that we are able to include his invaluable key on these pages. In a rather compact manner, it offers both an index and an overview for those who need a more rapid feel for the location of entire groups of families by surname, for instance. Also, if you intend to use the D&G census you may find it useful to refer to John Roy's index to obtain the page number, as the noted URL reference doesn't give that information..
Census references are by parish number / enumeration district number / page number, for example the first entry of the first district on the Leswalt film will be 891/1/1. The exception to this was in 1851 where the page numbers were abandoned and replaced by 'entry numbers'. Therefore, the first entry in Leswalt will have the same number as other years but the second entry, which will normally be on the same page, will read 891/1/2.
The on-line 1851 census developed by the Friends of the Dumfries Archives does not use parish numbers in the search fields, instead, you need to type in the parish name (be careful with the spelling) if you are narrowing the search down to an individual parish. Once you find a likely candidate for the family you are searching for you can start a new search by typing in the parish name and the reference number in district / household number format That will bring up all of that entry only.
| Census | |
| 1841 | 1042847 and 101940 (another filming) |
| 1851 | 1042556 and 103774 (another filming) |
| 1861 | 103921 |
| 1871 | 104112 |
| 1881 | 224061 |
| 1891 | 220461 |
| Church Records | |
| Parish Registers, 1720-1854 | |
| Baptisms,1720-1842 Marriages,1720-1743 Baptism and Marriage Index 1720-1743 |
1068038 Items 5-6 |
| Baptisms,1841-1854 Marriages,1820-1854 |
1068039 Item 1 |
| Another Filming, 1951 | Vault, 102351 |
| Church Indexes | |
| Births/christ., A-Z, 1720=1854 |
6901454 |
| Marriages, A-z, 1720-1854 |
6901455 |
To request a lookup please provide all information necessary such as full name and age.
Please avoid asking for a blanket search of a surname, ie. "all Browns in the parish".
1841 census - Carrie Gulline
O.P.R.s refer to Old Parish Records which prior to civil registration in 1855 were ledgers in which the parish cleric entered vital information such as marriage, birth/christening, and in some cases deaths. Parish registers were kept only as well as the cleric had time and inclination to do so. In some parishes, within a particular time, the records are exact, precise and a joy to read, in other periods of time, the same parish records could have sporadic, or barely legible, entries. To read more about Old Parish Records, and see image samples, please view Old Parish Records (OPR)for Wigtownshire
Covers period between 1720-1854.
Published in 1916, Parish Lists of Wigtownshire and Minnigaff, 1684 contains nominal rolls recorded in 1684 of all persons, male or female, over the age of 12, by parish, and domocile. To read more about this index, and to find a link to the Kirkmaiden parish roll, [click here].
To view pictures of Mochrum, please click here.
| 1801 | 787 |
| 1811 | 1,006 |
| 1821 | 1,283 |
| 1831 | 1,374 |