Place:Stichel and Hume, Roxburghshire, Scotland

source: Family History Library Catalog

"Stichel and Hume, is a united parish in the district of the Merse, on the mutual border of Roxburghshire and Berwickshire. Stitchel is in Roxburghshire, and Hume is in Berwickshire; they were united in 1640; and each contains a village of its own name. The united parish is bounded by Gordon, Greenlaw, Eccles, Ednam, Nenthorn, and Earlston. Its length from north to south is between 5 and 6 miles; and its breadth is between 3 and 4 miles."
From the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by John Marius Wilson, 1868 and reprinted in GENUKI.

Stichel had an area of 11.3km² (4.3 sq. miles) and had 3 neighbouring parishes: Ednam in Roxburghshire, and Eccles, and Nenthorn in Berwickshire.

Research Tips

From GENUKI

In 1901 a collection of writings of the late Rev. George Gunn (1851-1900), minister of Stichill and Hume, was published at Alnwick by Henry Hunter Blair. The publication covers a number of topics and is divided into several sections whose headings are as follows:

• "The Early History of Stichill", pp 1-22
• "Domestic life and manners in the Border village of Stichill during the Commonwealth, from 1649-1660", pp 23-51
• "The Church of Hume", pp 52-62
• "A Century of Church Life in the Borders", pp 63-71 (covering 19th century)
• "Notes upon the Kirk Session Records of the parish of Bunkle", pp 72-78

The remainder of the book consists of sections about the late minister himself. The book is listed in the LDS Family History Library catalogue as being available on microfilm at FHCs. Note the FHLC reference at the top of this page.

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. There is a description at Scotland under Genealogical Resources.

Notes for Roxburghshire

• GENUKI has a list of references for Roxburghshire. Some of these may be superseded by more modern material.

• The Borders Family History Society provides a page of facts and publications for each of the parishes in its area. They have a lot of material and they publish monumental inscription books or CDs for many parishes. On each parish page is a map of the local area taken from either the Ordnance Survey Quarter-inch to the mile, Scotland, 1921-1923 series or the Ordnance Survey One-inch to the mile, Popular edition, Scotland, 1920-1930 series. These maps are not visible immediately upon opening a page, but worthwhile scrolling down to find.

• The FreeCen Project has transcriptions of the whole of Roxburghshire online for the 1841 and 1851 censuses and 87% of the 1861 census.

• The Stichel and Hume Parish Registers for the Church of Scotland provide records of baptisms (1640-1854), marriages (1648-1854) and burials (no entries retained). See the FamilySearch Wiki article on Stichel and Hume for other church denominations.

Further Sources of Reference

Please note and respect the copyright warnings on these websites.

• GENUKI article on Stichel and Hume. These articles often include a bibliography.

• Scottish Places article on the parish of Stichel. The tabs of 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 Stichel and Hume provides direct reference to FamilySearch holdings on many topics with respect to the parish.

• 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.