This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Forfarian Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.scotland.ans.general/5895.1.1.1.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: My apologies. It never entered my head that someone might interpret 'deacon' as an ecclesiastical term. In all the many, many references I have found to deacons in Forfar, all of them have been deacons of guilds (mostly shoemakers, because that's what my Forfar ancestors mostly were). My understanding is that (male) deacons are a relative innovation in churches in Scotland, and I am pretty sure there weren't any in the 18th century. There's an article about deacons on Wikipedia which seems to bear this out. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.