John D. Stevenson. wrote: > >> Is www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk the best place to view the Kirk sessions you >> mentioned in your response to Mr. Sammis or is there a better location? > > >Good evening Jim,, >What , I think ,Sue was referring to were the "KIRK SESSION MINUTES" >These are held at Nat Arch of Scot, Edinburgh and are the original >handwritten volumes.. >They are a fund of information on all aspects of the parish life and can be >of great help to the family and local historian alike. > Could you please tell me what the difference is between the kirk session minutes and the OPR's? Sandi in Idaho

> Could you please tell me what the difference is between the kirk session > minutes and the OPR's? > Sandi in Idaho > Good morning Sandi, This is just a thumbnail if you want more detail please come back to me off list OPR. - OLD PARISH REGISTERS This was a register kept by the Session Clerk or the Minister but in some cases, especially in rural districts, by the local scoolmaster or doctor. It contained a record of b,m,d in the parish. The details recorded variing GREATLY from parish to parish. Up until the late 18th C it was the ministers responsibility to "find" and record these events hence the number of "blanks" we find. KIRK SESSION MINUTES The church had/has a "management committee" made up of the Minister, Session Clerk and the Elders of the Church. Their job was/is to ensure the Church and Parish were run in accordance with the teachings of the church., maintain the buildinngs help the poor and needy etc. These minutes, kept by the SC, record the meetings and work carried out by the Session in attempting to meet these goals. They contain a wealth of information for Family and Local Historian alike. Recorded are church/parish events , misdemeanors ( fornications etc) by parishiners, repairs,the financial affairs of the parish , care and maintenance of the local graveyard and many other details of the day to day running of the particular church.and parish Many SC's kept note of b, ch and d's plus the Mort Cloth at the back of the ledger some of which did not appear in the OPR.. ( these were events that earned the church/parish money) The quality of information recorded varies considerably and in some cases can be very sketchy Unfortunately as is bound to happen some of the volumes have not survived , but on the whole there is very good percentage of availability. Being a maritime researcher , rather than a genealogist, I find them of great help when researching coastal parishes where the majority of families had a connection with the sea . Trust this is of some help. Regards. John. John D. Stevenson, Trinity Research Services, Scottish Maritime History Research. Edinburgh.

Hello John, Are the Kirk Session Minutes only available for viewing in Scotland or does the LDS have any on film? Sounds like a great source of info. Regards from Canada, Barb ----- Original Message ----- From: "John D. Stevenson." <johndee.ships@btinternet.com> To: <SCT-EAST-LOTHIAN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 01, 2003 1:30 AM Subject: Re: [SCT-EAST-LOTHIAN] Kirk Sessions > > > Could you please tell me what the difference is between the kirk session > > minutes and the OPR's? > > Sandi in Idaho > > > Good morning Sandi, > This is just a thumbnail if you want more detail please come back to me off > list > OPR. - OLD PARISH REGISTERS > This was a register kept by the Session Clerk or the Minister but in some > cases, especially in rural districts, by the local scoolmaster or doctor. > It contained a record of b,m,d in the parish. The details recorded variing > GREATLY from parish to parish. > Up until the late 18th C it was the ministers responsibility to "find" and > record these events hence the number of "blanks" we find. > > KIRK SESSION MINUTES > The church had/has a "management committee" made up of the Minister, Session > Clerk and the Elders of the Church. > Their job was/is to ensure the Church and Parish were run in accordance with > the teachings of the church., maintain the buildinngs help the poor and > needy etc. > These minutes, kept by the SC, record the meetings and work carried out by > the Session in attempting to meet these goals. > They contain a wealth of information for Family and Local Historian alike. > Recorded are church/parish events , misdemeanors ( fornications etc) by > parishiners, repairs,the financial affairs of the parish , care and > maintenance of the local graveyard and many other details of the day to day > running of the particular church.and parish > Many SC's kept note of b, ch and d's plus the Mort Cloth at the back of the > ledger some of which did not appear in the OPR.. ( these were events that > earned the church/parish money) > The quality of information recorded varies considerably and in some cases > can be very sketchy > Unfortunately as is bound to happen some of the volumes have not survived , > but on the whole there is very good percentage of availability. > Being a maritime researcher , rather than a genealogist, I find them of > great help when researching coastal parishes where the majority of families > had a connection with the sea . > > Trust this is of some help. > Regards. > John. > > John D. Stevenson, > Trinity Research Services, > Scottish Maritime History Research. > Edinburgh. > > > > ==== SCT-EAST-LOTHIAN Mailing List ==== > Search the archives of this list by going to http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=SCT-EAST-LOTHIAN > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

, > Are the Kirk Session Minutes only available for viewing in Scotland or does > the LDS > have any on film? Sounds like a great source of info. Good evening Barb, The majority of KSM are held at National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, although a small number are retained at local archives. EXTRACTS from some KSM are available on line usually under family names I have no knowledge of the KSM being available at LDS but bear in mind having the facility on my doorstep I have had no need to find out !!! If you care to look at Diane Bapties site at http://genealogypro.com/articles/NAS.html you will find a full explanation of what is available. Come back if I can help further. Regards. John. John D. Stevenson, Trinity Research Services, Scottish Maritime History Research. Edinburgh.