Place:Invergowrie, Angus, Scotland

Watchers
NameInvergowrie
TypeVillage
Coordinates56.46°N 3.064°W
Located inAngus, Scotland     (1845 - 1975)
Also located inTayside, Scotland     (1975 - 1996)
Perth and Kinross, Scotland     (1996 - )
See alsoLiff and Benvie, Angus, Scotlandparish in which Invergowrie was located
source: Family History Library Catalog


the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Invergowrie is a village on the northwest bank of the Firth of Tay to the west of Dundee in Scotland. Although formerly incorporated as part of Dundee in Angus, it is now located in the Perth and Kinross Council Area.

The old parish church, a roofless 16th century building currently in poor condition, survives on a mound in the old kirkyard, by the Gowrie Burn. This site was formerly close to the sea; much land has been reclaimed from the Firth of Tay in recent times, and it is now some way inland.

The village was formerly part of the estate of Mylnefield. The [stone] quarry at Invergowrie supplied important sites around the UK, stone being included in the base of Nelson's column and St Katherine's docks in London. The quarry workers hit a spring at the beginning of the 20th century and the quarry filled with water. The former quarry can be seen as you leave Invergowrie station by train heading to Perth and now looks like a large lake. Until 1967, the main source of work in the village was a paper mill.

Invergowrie was part of the parish of Liff and Benvie (sometimes known as Liff and Benvie and Invergowrie) in the county of Angus (formerly known as Forfarshire). In 1975 it became part of the Dundee district of the Tayside Region, but when Tayside was abolished in 1996, the parish was transferred to the Perth and Kinross Council Area.

Research Tips

Until 1928 Angus was known as Forfarshire. This name may come up in old documents transcribed online. The City of Dundee is now a separate "council area". Angus Council Area surrounds it and takes in some larger towns to the north and the east. Both areas are combined in this list of references. Some parishes along the Perthshire-Angus border have transferred from one county or council area to the other. These have been noted within the relevant parishes.

Family history societies

Family history societies and historical associations covering Angus and Dundee are:

All of these associations publish their aims on their websites, the first two also have a list of publications. In many cases the publications are also available through the Scottish Genealogy Society (see below).

Sources for Old Parish Registers Records, Vital Records and Censuses

  • FamilySearch (Indexes only)
  • Scotland's People This is a pay website providing vital statistics and census data for all of Scotland with original images provided under the auspices of the Scottish Record Office. There is a description at Scotland under Genealogical Resources.
  • Scottish Registration Districts and Parish Register names and numbers are available as a free Excel or PDF download from Scottish People.
  • See the publications lists of the above Family History Societies.
  • The FreeCen Project Angus (including Dundee) is complete for 1841 and some of 1851 has been done. This hyperlink is to the searchable index for the whole of the UK--you cannot browse a specific locality.
  • The Scottish Genealogy Society has numerous publications on various genealogy-linked topics. This is the introductory page to their catalogue. They will send their books, booklets and CDs worldwide.

Transcriptions of Gravestone Inscriptions

Further Sources of Reference

Please note and respect the copyright warnings on these websites.

  • GENUKI article on Angus. This was last updated in December 2010.
  • The Gazetteer for Scotland article on the county of Angus. The tabs on the right provide more information, and a map of the parish within its surrounding area, with small settlements highlighted and linked to more information.
  • Gazetteer for Scotland article on the City of Dundee (the post-1996 council area). The tabs on the right provide more information, and a map of the parish within its surrounding area, with small settlements highlighted and linked to more information.
  • The FamilySearch Wiki article on Angus (including Dundee) provides direct reference to FamilySearch holdings on many topics with respect to the county.
  • The National Library of Scotland have a website devoted to maps from the 1600s right up to the present. Comparisons of modern-day and old maps of the same place can be made. From the home page click on "Find by place" and then follow the instructions on the next page. Once you are viewing the place you want, use the slider <----> at the top of the map to compare the layout of roads and the place names of smaller areas, perhaps even farms, with the landscape today. The website takes some getting used to. The One-inch 2nd edition, Scotland, 1898-1904 OS is a series of maps with the parishes delineated. Each of these maps cover an area of 18 x 24 miles and will zoom to comfortable reading size with a couple of mouse clicks on the map itself. Unfortunately, they are not geo-referenced, and it is necessary to go to the OS One Inch 1885-1900 series to locate places by latitude and longitude.
  • The Statistical Accounts for Scotland In the 1790s and again in the 1830s, the ministers of the all the parishes of the Church of Scotland were asked to provide a description of their parish to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The original account request included 160 questions to be answered. These accounts are available in print in 20 volumes and are also online where it is freely available to browse. The browsing portal is below the viewing area of most computer screens. Scroll down to "For non-subscribers" and click on "Browse scanned pages". This brings you to another page on which one can enter the name of the parish in which you are interested.
  • Excerpts from The Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885 are provided by Scottish Places. Selections from Groome and other gazetteers from the 19th century are also found on GENUKI.


This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Invergowrie. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.