Place:Chapel of Garioch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Watchers
NameChapel of Garioch
Alt namesLogie Durnosource: from redirect
Logie-Durnosource: former name of parish (before 19th century)
Garryochsource: another form of Garioch
Garvyochsource: another form of Garioch
Balquhainsource: castle in parish
Blairdaffsource: settlement in parish
Fetternearsource: settlement in parish
Fetternear Madrassource: another name for Fetternear
Durnosource: settlement in parish
Pitcaplesource: railway station in parish
TypeParish
Coordinates57.305°N 2.471°W
Located inAberdeenshire, Scotland     ( - 1975)
Also located inGrampian Region, Scotland     (1975 - 1996)
Aberdeenshire (council area), Scotland     (1996 - )

Scottish Record Office Number: 179
(used by ScotlandsPeople, see Research tips, below)

Churches: The Chapel of the Garioch Parish Church, Chapel of Garioch, Church of Scotland

Cemeteries: list available from the Aberdeen & NE Scotland FHS (link under Research tips)

Old Parish Register Availabilty (within FamilySearch):
Baptisms: 1750-1854
Marriages: 1782-1854
Deaths: 1783-87, 1850

NOTE: Civil registration of vital statistics was introduced to Scotland in 1855. Prior to that date births, marriages and deaths had been recorded in local churches in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs). The OPRs were collected by the Registrar for Scotland in Edinburgh as civil registration started. Although local churches continued to record bmd after 1855, these registers were not collected and stored by the Registrar for Scotland. Some may have found their way into local archives. FamilySearch and ScotlandsPeople both keep records prior to 1855, but only ScotlandsPeople retains microfilms of the original parish books.

Missing intervals in OPRs dates may be due to non-collection of volumes (possibly through loss or damage), or the events being recorded in another book held in the parish.

[From A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875]; complete transcription in GENUKI]

The old spelling of Garioch was "Garryoch", or "Garvyoch", which is derived from the Gaelic Garbh-chrioch, and signifies the rough bounds or district. Before the Reformation, there were two divisions in what is now the parish, and three places of public worship, viz:Fetternear, Logie Durno, and Chapel. Early in the seventeenth century, the parsonage of Fetternear, and the parish of Logie Durno, were united, and a church built in its present centrical situation, appointed by a decree to be called "Chapel of Garioch". It is bounded on the northwest and north by the parish of Rayne, on the east by the parishes of Daviot, Bourtie, Keithhall and Kinkell, and Inverurie, on the south by the river Don, and the parishes of Kemnay and Monymusk, and on the west by the parish of Oyne. Its extreme length, measured in a direct line, from a point on the Don, opposite to the Milltown of Kemnay, on the south, to a point near to Meikle Wartle, on the north, is 9 miles. Its greatest breadth along the water of Ury, from east to west, is about 6½ miles, by the course of the stream; while at a point at Braco, between the Inverurie boundary on the east, and the Oyne parish boundary on the west, it is under one half mile in breadth, and along the Don, from the burn of Keithny or Burnervie, it extends westwards for about 2½ miles. The whole area of the parish is computed to be 13,117 acres.

By 1880 the parish had a railway station at Pitcaple on the Great North of Scotland Railway (no longer exists) which follows the River Don to Inverurie. The soil in the river valleys could be cultivated, and the hills, none of which was more that 700 feet, are planted with larch, Scotch fir, and hardwood trees.

The ruin of Balquhain Castle is located on the River Ury within the parish. The Battle of Harlaw was fought here in 1411, between the Earl of Mar, who commanded the royal army, and Donald, Lord of the Isles. The principal mansions are Pitcaple Castle, Fetternear, Logie, and Pittodrie; and 9 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, and 3 of between £100 and £500.

Population Growth

Areaacressq mihectares
1801-190013,11720.495,308
1901-200113,06120.415,286
YearPopulationDensity per sq miDensity per hectare
18011,22459.7 0.23
18512,102102.6 0.40
19011,55976.40.29
19511,26461.90.24
20011,54275.60.29

Populations 1801-1951 from A Vision of Britain through Time (http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk).
2001 population from Scotland’s Census (https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk).

The following description is condensed from that for the parish in A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875, available on GENUKI)
Chapel of Garioch is located in the centre of Aberdeenshire and is bounded on the northwest and north by the parish of Rayne; on the east by Daviot, Bourtie, Keithhall, and Inverurie, on the south by the River Don, and the parishes of Kemnay and Monymusk, and on the west by Oyne.

It measures, at the longest, about 9 miles from north to south and about 6½ miles from east to west. The whole area of the parish is computed to be 13,117 acres. The ground is undulating, being composed of low rounded hills, and long flattish ridges; three-quarters of the parish were either cultivated or planted. The main water courses are the River Don (part of the southern boundary) and the River Ury both of which flow from west to east. At the time of the Gazetteeer there were two railway stations and a third on the border with the parish of Rayne. The largest of these was the station at the village of Pitcaple.

Logie Durno, often named simply Durno, is a village in the parish of Chapel of Garioch and the former name of the parish. It lies in the northern part of the parish, near to the parish of Rayne. Blairdaff, Garioch, Fetternear Madras and Pitcaple are other settlements in the parish. The estates of Balquhain (a castle and the ancient seat of the Leslies), Logie Elphinstone and Pittodrie are situated in the parish.

A description of the battle of Harlaw which occurred in 1411 between the Earl of Mar, who commanded the royal army, and Donald, Lord of the Isles, can be found in Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) (available on GENUKI)

There is no article in Wikipedia. Chapel of Garioch redirects to Balquhain stone circle which is located in the parish.

Research Tips

  • official civil (from 1855) and parish registers (from when first produced) for births, marriages and deaths for all of Scotland
  • original census images for all years available (1841-1911).
  • references to wills and property taxes, and
  • an extensive collection of local maps.

This site is extremely easy to use. There are charges for parish register entries and censuses. The charges are reasonable and payable by online transfer.

  • The Statistical Accounts of Scotland Online provides access to digitised and fully searchable versions of both the Old Statistical Account (1791-99) and the New Statistical Account (1834-45). These uniquely rich and detailed parish reports, usually written by local Church of Scotland ministers, detail social conditions in Scotland and are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Scottish history.
  • Scotlands Places
  • Gazetteer of Scotland includes descriptions of individual parishes from F. H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4)
  • The FamilySearch Wiki
  • GENUKI which provides, amongst other data, complete quotations from A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) by Samuel Lewis, John Bartholomew's A Gazetteer of the British Isles (1877), and A New History of Aberdeenshire edited by Alexander Smith (1875)
  • A list of Burial Grounds in Scotland is now available on the website of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies.
  • Aberdeenshire and Moray Records. Town Council minutes, accounts, letters, plans and harbour records provided by Aberdeenshire Council plus other local records.
  • Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society is one of the largest and most reputable family history societies in Scotland and has a long list of publications referring to individual parishes.