Place:Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Watchers
NameFraserburgh
Alt namesFraserburgh (burgh)source: town within parish
Broadseasource: hamlet in parish
Philorthsource: old name of Fraserburgh
TypeParish, Burgh
Coordinates57.67°N 2.012°W
Located inAberdeenshire, Scotland     ( - 1975)
Also located inGrampian Region, Scotland     (1975 - 1996)
Aberdeenshire (council area), Scotland     (1996 - )

Scottish Record Office Number: 196
(used by ScotlandsPeople, see Research tips, below)

Churches: St Peter, Fraserburgh, Scottish Episcopal
Fraserburgh Old Parish Church, Fraserburgh, Church of Scotland
Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Drostan, Fraserburgh, Roman Catholic

Cemeteries: none listed in GENUKI, but check with the Aberdeen & NE Scotland FHS (link under Research tips)

Old Parish Register Availabilty (within FamilySearch):
Baptisms: 1733-1854
Marriages: 1750-1817, 1820-1854
Deaths: 1763-1817

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.

the following text is based on an article in [[wikipedia:Fraserburgh|Wikipedia

Fraserburgh (Scots: The Broch or Faithlie; Scottish Gaelic: A' Bhruaich) is a parish and burgh (until 1975) in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Aberdeen, and 17 miles (27 km) north of Peterhead. It is the biggest shellfish port in Scotland and one of the largest in Europe, landing over 5,450 tonnes in 2016. Fraserburgh is also a major port for fish of the open sea (i.e. pelagic fish).

Contents

History

16th and 17th century: Origins

The town or "burgh" was named after the Fraser family that bought the lands of Philorth in 1504 and thereafter improved the area through investment over the next century. Fraserburgh became a burgh of barony in 1546. By 1570, the Fraser family had built Fraserburgh Castle at Kinnaird Head and a year later a church was built for the area. By the 1590s, the area (now known as Faithlie) had developed a small harbour.

In 1592, Faithlie was renamed Fraserburgh by a charter of the Crown under King James VI (later James I of England). Sir Alexander Fraser was given permission to improve and govern the town as Lord Saltoun. At present, this title is still in existence and is held by Flora Fraser, 20th Lady Saltoun and head of Clan Fraser. The Royal Charter also gave permission to build a college and university in Fraserburgh allowing the Lord Saltoun to appoint a rector, a principal, a sub-principal, and all the professors for teaching the different sciences.

In 1601, Fraserburgh became a burgh of regality or "royal burgh".

18th and 19th century: Further growth and development

The population of Fraserburgh grew with peaks due to seasonal employment. The population was estimated at 1,700 in 1755, and about 2,000 in 1780, when 1,000 resided in the town proper. There were a further 200 people in the adjacent village of Broadsea.

In 1787, Fraserburgh Castle was converted to Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, Scotland's first mainland lighthouse and the first in Scotland to be lit by the Commissioners of Northern Lights.

In the 1790s, Rev. Alexander Simpson of the Fraserburgh Old Parish Church describes the harbour as small but good, telling that it had the capability to take vessels with '200 tons burden'. The Reverend noted that shipbuilding had become a main industry in the town, especially after 1784, and that the locals were making donations and seeking government assistance to have the harbour enlarged. [Ref. Old Statistical Account (1791-99), see Research tips below]

In 1803, the original 1571 church building was replaced and enlarged to seat 1000 people. The Auld Kirk was to be the standing authority in the town up until the 1840s. This period also saw the extension of the harbour. A northern pier of 300 yards was constructed between 1807–1812 and, in 1818, a southern pier was built.

Image:Aberdeenshire north eastern parishes smaller.png

Fraserburgh's population boomed in the early 19th century, from 2,271 in 1811 to 2,954 by 1831. This was primarily put down to the growth in herring fishing, which intensified in 1815. The herring season also brought with it an additional 1200 people working in the parish. Contemporary accounts mention the increase in general wealth brought by this increased trade spurring a change in dress and diet as well as a considerable amount of new houses being built in the town.

No less than £30,000 was spent developing the harbour between 1807 and 1840 by which time the harbour could hold eight vessels of 45–155 tons and 220 boats of the herring fishery. [Ref: "The Statistical Account on the Parish of Fraserburgh" (January 1840)], see Research tips below]

20th and 21th century

Fraserburgh continues to be a major white fish port and busy commercial harbour. The harbour boasts a state-of-the-art six berth slipway facility, storm gates, a large drydock, and fully refrigerated fish market facilities.


The Fraser family

Sir Alexander Fraser, on whose lands Fraserburgh was built, obtained a charter to do so from James VI, erecting it into a "burgh of regality", named, in compliment to its superior, Fraserburgh, by which appellation, also, the parish has since been designated. Sir Alexander, by marriage with the daughter of George, the seventh Baron Saltoun, succeeded to the title as tenth baron; and his descendant, the present Lord Saltoun, who is also hereditary provost of the burgh, is principal proprietor of the parish. [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1851) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016] (available on GENUKI)

The Wikipedia article Saltoun lists the holders of the title from 1400.

The town of Fraserburgh

The town, which is situated on the south side of Kinnaird Head, a bold promontory projecting into the German Ocean, near the entrance of the Moray Firth, consists of several spacious and well-formed streets, intersecting each other at right angles. The houses are substantially built, and generally of handsome appearance, and many of the more modern class are spacious; the streets are well paved, and the inhabitants amply supplied with water. In the centre of the town is the Cross, erected by Sir Alexander Fraser, an elegant hexagonal structure of nine receding stages, diminishing from an area of 500 feet at the base to twenty-three feet on the platform, from which rises a pillar twelve feet high, ornamented with the bearings of the Frasers, surmounted by the British arms. [ibid.]

Fraserburgh parish

Fraserburgh parish (as opposed to the burgh), is bounded on the north by the Moray Firth, and on the east by the bay of Fraserburgh, and is about eight miles in length, and three and a half in average breadth, but is divided into two nearly equal parts by an intervening portion of the parish of Rathen, more than a mile in breadth. It contains 11,000 acres, of which, with the exception of about eighty acres, the whole is arable. The surface near the eastern coast is low and sandy, and towards the north flat and rocky, with the exception of the lofty promontory of Kinnaird Head. From the shore the land rises gradually to the interior, and to the south are several hills, of which that of Mormond, covered with moss and heath, has an elevation of 810 feet above the level of the sea. The river Philorth, which has its source in the higher districts, and in its way receives some tributary streams, forms a boundary between this parish and Rathen, and falls into the bay of Fraserburgh. In some parts the soil is sandy and light, and in others clay, and loam alternated with gravel, and interspersed with moorland and moss: the crops are, grain of all kinds, with beans, peas, potatoes, and turnips. The system of husbandry has greatly improved: the farms vary from fifty to 300 acres in extent; the lands are partly inclosed and under good cultivation, and shell-sand, sea-weed, and bone-dust are the chief manures. The cattle are of the native breed, intermixed with various others, and of late years some of the Teeswater have been introduced: large numbers are shipped from the port to the London market, where they obtain a high price. The annual value of real property in the parish is £10,145. [ibid.]

Further online histories of Fraserburgh include
A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875, also available on GENUKI), and
F. H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland

Population Growth

Areaacressq mihectares
1801-19005,9209.252,396
1901-20012,8794.5 1,165
YearPopulationDensity per sq miDensity per hectare
18012,215161.10.62
18514,447323.4 1.25
19019,7152,158.9 8.34
195110,8472,410.4 9.31
200112,6682,815.1 10.87

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).


Research Tips

There was formerly a note on this page that the parish was linked to the Presbytery of Deer, Synod of Aberdeen, Scotland. It would appear that since 1975 the organization of the presbyteries and synods has been revised. Readers are reminded that the Church of Scotland is Presbyterian in nature while in England the Church of England is Episcopalian. (See Wikipedia. )

  • 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.