- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
Torphichen was a parish in the former Scottish county of West Lothian. The Scottish county and parish system of administration was abolished in 1975.
The parish had an area of 40.2km2(15.5 sq. miles) and had 6 neighbouring parishes: Bathgate and Linlithgow in West Lothian; New Monkland and Shotts in Lanarkshire; and Slamannan and Muiravonside in Stirlingshire.
Since the second reorganization of Scotland's administrative structure in 1996 the area covered by Torphichen is situated in West Lothian Council Area. Torphichen is located some 3 miles (5 km) northwest of Bathgate in West Lothian and 5 miles (8 km) south of Polmont in Falkirk.
The village or hamlet of Torphichen (population in 2001 less than 600), has an interesting history described in Scottish Places.
Research Tips
Sources for Old Parish Registers Records, Vital Records and Censuses
-
- 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 West Lothian
- The Scottish Genealogy Society has published a comprehensive volume of Pre-1855 Monumental Inscriptions in West Lothian, compiled by John F Mitchell and Sheila Mitchell.
- FreeCen has an index of 1841 census records including the whole of West Lothian. The Genealogical Society of Utah sponsored the collection of 1881 census records and these will be found at FamilySearch
- The parish church has records for births dating from 1675, for marriages from 1697 and for deaths from 1686-1704 and from 1808-1854 (mortcloth fees)
Further Sources of Reference
Please note and respect the copyright warnings on these websites.
-
- Scottish Places article on the parish of Torpichen. The tabs of the right provide more information, and comparitive maps.
- The FamilySearch Wiki article on Torpichen 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.
|
