Place:Urquhart and Logie-Wester, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland

source: Family History Library Catalog

Urquhart and Logie-Wester a parish on the Black Isle in the Highland Council Area, some 3 miles (4 km) southeast of Dingwall and 7 miles (12 km) northeast of Beauly. It is on the south side of the Cromarty Firth and extends its northwestern border along the Conon River.

Prior to 1975 the parish was located in the old county of Ross and Cromarty, which was replaced in that year by the Highland Region and in 1996 by the unitary authority named the Highland Council Area.

The parish has an area of 55.4 sq. km (21.3 sq. miles). The largest village within the parish is Conon Bridge. Other settlements within the parish include Alcaig, Balvaird, Bishop Kinkell, Corntown, Culbokie, Duncanston, Highfield Park, Muir of Allangrange, Newton of Ferintosh, Newton of Kinkell and Newmore (all redirected here).

History

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

The parishes of Urquhart and Logiebride were united in the 1660s to form one parish. Logiebride forms the western half of the parish--hence Logie Wester, and Urquhart forms the eastern half. Both Urquhart and Logiebride previously had their own parish churches, both of which are now in ruins. However today there are several churches of later date in the parish.

The Battle of Logiebride took place in 1597 between men of the Clan Mackenzie against men of the Clan Munro and the Bain family of Tulloch Castle.

Urquhart and Logie-Wester was a medieval parish and a parish for civil and religious purposes from the sixteenth century until 1975. The boundaries of the civil parish were altered by the Boundary Commissioners in 1891.

Notes for the Highland Council Area and the Western Isles Council Area

The local archives are held by The Highland Archive Service which is based in Inverness with branches in Stornoway, Fort William and Caithness. It is "responsible for locating, preserving and making accessible archives relating to all aspects of the history of the geographical area of the Highlands."

Family history societies and historical associations covering the Highland Council Area and the Western Isles Council Area are:

• The Highland Family History Society based in Inverness.
• Lochaber and North Argyll Family History Group based in Fort William.

These associations publish their aims on their websites as well as a list of publications. In many cases the publications are also available through the Scottish Genealogy Society (see below).

• The FreeCen Project--Scotland has a searchable (not browsable) transcription for each of the counties in the area. Nairnshire and Caithness have the 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 complete. Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty have 1841 complete with some work on 1851 and Sutherland has not completed 1841.

Transcriptions of Gravestone Inscriptions

• The Scottish Genealogy Society provides a series of monumental inscriptions either in print in booklet form or on CD for each of the counties in the area (Caithness, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire, Ross and Cromarty, and Sutherland). Some of the booklets cover only one graveyard, others cover a group. Prices vary. In many cases the coverage is of pre-1855 stones only--this is because gravestone inscriptions are often used by family historians as death registration equivalents in the era of the Old Parish Registers (when deaths were not universally recorded).
• The Fearn Peninsula Graveyards Project has a paid website which allows browsing in ten graveyards in Easter Ross. They charge £2.50 for 24 hours of usage with unlimited searches.
• An index of monumental inscriptions from Caithness compiled by D J Ryrie might prove to be a useful start for searching gravestones in that county. GENUKI states "All (?) of the monumental inscriptions (MIs) in Caithness have been collected and are in print currently from Books From Scotland amongst other places." The Scottish Genealogy Society also has a list of their holdings.
• Sutherland cemeteries are covered in Pre-1855 tombstone inscriptions in Sutherland burial grounds by A S Cowper & I Ross, published at Edinburgh in 1989 by the Scottish Genealogy Society.
• There are no specific notes for gravestone transcriptions for either Inverness-shire or Nairnshire in GENUKI. However, the Scottish Genealogy Society lists booklets for both counties.

Sources for Emigration Records

• Hebrides People have a database containing lists of people who emigrated to North America from a number of parishes in the Western Isles.