Place:Forgue, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

[Condensed from F. H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4) provided online by the Gazetteer of Scotland]

The parish of Forgue is located on the northwestern border of Aberdeenshire. The church, near which a hamlet once existed, is situated 5½ miles E of Rothiemay station, and 7½ northeast of Huntly, under which there is a post office. The parish is bounded on the north and northeast by Inverkeithny in Banffshire, on the east by Auchterless, on the south by Culsalmond and Insch, on the west by Drumblade and Huntly, and on the northwest by Rothiemay in Banffshire. Its maximum length, from north to south, is 7-5/8 miles; its breadth, from east to west, varies between 2 and 5-3/8 miles; and its area is 17,379½ acres, of which 25½ are water. The river Deveron winds 9 furlongs [1-1/8 miles] along the Rothiemay border; Glen Water or the Ury, flowing 2-3/8 miles eastward through the Glen of Foudland, traces all the southern boundary; the Ythan rises in the southern interior, and passes off into Auchterless; whilst Forgue and Frendraught Burns, uniting below the church, carry most of the drainage northward to the Deveron. The surface declines along the Deveron to 242 feet above sea-level, at the confluence of Forgue and Frendraught Burns to 232, along the Ury to 538, and along the Ythan to 508; and the interior is a fine alternation of vales and hillocks, holms and knolls. The hillyest sections are in the northwest and the south.

The chief rocks are greywacke, clay slate, limestone, granitic gneiss, and syenitic greenstone, of which the slate and limestone were formerly quarried at Lambhill and Pitfancy. The soils are various- sandy, gravelly, loamy, clayey, and mossy; some rich and grateful, others poor and barren; some yielding from eight to ten returns of the seed sown, others returning no more than two or less than three. Much of the land incapable of being turned to any better account is covered with plantations [planted trees].

In Forgue was born the eminent antiquary, John Stuart, LL.D. (1813-77). A large distillery is at Glendronach (still in existence), and fairs are held at Hawkhall. In 1875 a neat cottage hospital was built in this parish by Mrs Alexander Morison of Bognie, for local residents, as a memorial to her husband. Mansions are Auchaber, Aucharnie, Boyne's Mill, Cobairdy, Corse, Drumblair House, Drumblair Cottage, Frendraught, Haddo, and Temple-land. Five proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 8 of between £100 and £500. Ythan-Wells is a quoad sacra parish and a village within Forgue. Its church, erected in 1819, is a substantial edifice, with 900 sittings, Gothic windows, and a fine-toned organ, presented by Walter Scott, Esq. of Glendronach, in 1872. There are also a Free church of Forgue, and an Episcopal church, St Margaret's.

Population Growth

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 Turriff, 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. )

• Scotlands People, the website of the Scottish Register Office provides

• 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).
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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.