Place:Auchencairn, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland

Watchers
NameAuchencairn
TypeVillage, Parish
Coordinates54.8438°N 3.8718°W
Located inKirkcudbrightshire, Scotland     (1856 - 1975)
See alsoRerrick, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotlandparish in which Auchencairn parish was located until 1856
Dumfries and Galloway Region, Scotlandregional administration 1975-1996
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotlandunitary Council Area since 1996
Contained Places
Cemetery
Auchencairn Cemetery ( 1856 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


Auchencairn is a village situated close to Auchencairn Bay, an inlet of the Solway Firth, 10 miles (16 km) east of Kirkcudbright. It was situated in the parish of Rerrick, in the former county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, until 1856. In 1856 it was declared at separate civil or "political" parish. See further note below.

From Stewartry of Kirkcudbright Memorial Inscriptions pre-1855, vol 1, by Alison Mitchell, published 1990 by the Scottish Genealogy Society, Edinburgh, Scotland:

"A church was opened in the village of Auchencairn in August 1855 and in June 1856 a parish was formed out of the east part of the old parish of Rerrick. This was only made possible by the generosity of David Welsh of Collin and and Miss Mary Culton of Auchenstony.
"Prior to 1843 there had been a Baptist Church in Auchencairn, and in the Disruption of 1843 a Free Church congregation broke away from the established Church in Rerrick 6 miles away to build a Free Church in Auchencairn. This congregation was endowed by Miss Welsh of Collin.
"A cemetery a half mile to the west of the village was opened in 1865 and is still in use today."

NOTE: The line "Located in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland (1856-1975)" denotes the time frame of Auchencairn as a civil parish. The village had been in existence long before that, and the ecclesiasticl parish is probably still in existence.

This area is now part of the unitary authority called the Dumfries & Galloway Council Area.

Research Tips

Refer to the parish of Rerrick for all details prior to 1856. Many of the details post 1856 will also probably be the same. Auchencairn will usually not be listed in the parishes of Kirkcudbrightshire because it was not a parish during the regime of the Old Parish Registers (which ended on 1 Jan 1855).