On 13/08/2013 10:37, Tom Graham wrote: > I suspect a Parish Council in this context is not in any way related to the > church, but is just using the parish boundaries to define the area relevant > to a particular local committee. That is correct. The Parochial Boards were first set up in 1845, their chief responsibility at that time being administering the new civil Poor Law. Their territory was based on that of the existing Kirk parishes, and while there was probably some overlap in membership between the Parochial Board and the Kirk Session, the activities of the Parochial Board and their salaried employee, the Inspector of the Poor, was supervised by a system of inspection answerable ultimately to the Civil Service, not to the Kirk. Gavin Bell