KIRKWALL FAMILIES

I have assembled the linked family groups from my personal transcriptions from my reading of the Kirkwall OPRs, together with a few transcriptions from other parishes. I have sorted the transcriptions into families and arranged them in chronological order (including entries where the parent(s) are witnesses for events in other families). In accessing the necessary records, I have been aided by Meg Greenwood, who has been extremely helpful by assisting me with reviewing original documents and deciphering obscured parts of faded pages.

Please note that I have tried to transcribe the entries exactly as spelled in the original. I have used an “f” to represent the cursive “s” (as in “witnefses”), a “y” to represent the “thorn” (as in “ye” for modern “the”) and a “z” for the “yogh” (as in “balzie” for “baillie”).

In all cases, these transcriptions have been made from microfilms of the original handwritten parish records, some at the Orkney Archives and some at the Scottish Genealogical Society in Edinburgh, but most at a library of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. The transcriptions have been made at various times during the period from 1996 to the present.

Each transcribed record has a first line which identifies the source of the record, including either a B (Baptism), M (Marriage) or D (Death). The sources from which these records have been gleaned are as follows:

I emphasize that these transcriptions represent a small portion of the total records included in the above sources, including only those records containing names of interest to me. They have been collated into the family groupings shown on the basis of names, estates, occupations and other identifiers contained within the records themselves, assisted by reference to a large variety of genealogical records for the period.

The period covered so far is from about 1652 to about 1715, with a few later transcriptions resulting from particular searches I have made. This is a “work in progress” and I intend to add later transcriptions as I find the time.

I also will welcome any verifiable additions which others may care to submit, or any corrections or other advice which may be offered. If you wish to offer any such help, please contact me.

To view the records transcribed for the following families, click the indicated link (During the period while this site is “under construction” the various families will be uploaded one at a time. If you find a link to a particular family does not work, please try again later. Thank you for your patience.):

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