Parish Number - 102
Births: (Film # 990711) Kingussie - 1724 to 1854, Insh - 1783 to 1854
Marriages: (Film # 990711 ) Kingussie - 1724 to 1854, Insh - 1783 to1854
Deaths: (Film #990711) Kingussie & Insh - 1783 to 1854Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, 1868
KINGUSSIE, a parish, containing the post-office village of Kingussie, and the villages of Ralia and Newtownmore, in the district of Badenoch, Inverness-shire. It is bounded on the south by Perthshire, and on other sides by the parishes of Laggan, Moy, Dalarossie and Alvie. Its length eastward is about 21 miles; and its breadth is about 18 miles. It is flanked by the Moadhleadh Mountains on the north, and by the great Grampian range on the south; and is more elevated above the sea, and farther distant from the coast in every direction, than almost any other parish in Scotland. The descent of the surface from the flanking mountain-ranges is pretty gradual, and terminates in a fine valley of alluvial land, traversed by the Spey. That valley has an avenue elevation of about 850 feet above sea level; it contains, together with the bottoms of some small lateral vales, most of the cultivated land in the parish; it is sprinkled with alder and birch trees, and is overlooked variously by sylvan slopes, by shaggy acclivities, and by abrupt rocks and broken
mountain surfaces, so as to form a scene truly picturesque. Six miles of Loch Ericht lie within the south-western border, Loch Inch lies on the south-eastern border, and there are several other lakes… By far the greatest part of the surface is healthy and mountainous, and consists of extensive sheep walks… The Kingussie estate anciently belonged to the Comyns, the lords of Badenoch; it afterwards became the property of the Gordon family; and, at the death of the last Duke of Gordon, it was purchased by James Evan Baillie, Esq., formerly of Bristol. There are four other landowners. The chief antiquity is the ruin of the barracks of Ruthven, built by government in 1718… on the south bank of the Spey, on the site of the old castle of Ruthven, the seat of the lords of Badanoch… This parish is in the presbytery of Abernethy; and synod of Moray… The parish church was built in 1792…"-Kirk Session Records
The Kirk Session of a parish consists of the the minister of the parish and the elders of the congregation. It looks after the general well-being of the congreation and, particularly in centuries past, church discipline within the parish. These records can sometimes provide invaluable information that is available nowhere else. An example would be the case of an illegitimate child. In many cases, the fornication resulting in the birth of the child would be a matter of church discipline and would thus be recorded in the minutes of the Session. It has been known ot occur that the parish register recorded the name of the mother of an illegitimate child in error, such error being brought to light by examing the Kirk Session records dealing with the birth of the child. There is also a possibility that other valuable information concerning the parents might be contained in the Kirk Session records. Kirk Session records are generally held at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburg. These records have not in most cases beeen microfilmed by the LDS Church.
Kirk Session records for Kingussie & Insh are available for the following periods: Sept 1724 to May 1753 [Blank - June 1732 to June 1746 and Sept 1751 to may 1753; July 1782 to April 1810; August 1810 to April 1844; Nov. 1844 to February 1876; July 1875 forward.]