Place:Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland

source: Family History Library Catalog

Troqueer was a parish on the west side of the River Nith and located in the former county of Kirkcudbrightshire. Both county and parish ceased to exist following the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1974. The parish had an area of 47.3km² (18.2 sq. miles). and had 4 neighbouring parishes: Lochrutton, New Abbey and Terregles in Kirkcudbrightshire, and Dumfries in Dumfriesshire.

In 1929 the northeastern part of the parish, basically Maxwelltown, was annexed by its neighbour on the other side of the Nith, the town of Dumfries. See the map in the Gazetteer for Scotland for the precise area that was annexed.

The part of the parish remaining in Kirkcudbrightshire included the following settlements: Cargen, Cargenbridge, Gillfoot, Islesteps, and Kingholm Quay. For a complete list, including single houses, see "Named Places in Troqueer".

All of Troqueer is now located in the Dumfries and Galloway Council Area, some 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Lockerbie and 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Castle Douglas.

Location

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Troqueer lies on the west side of the Nith, and was originally in Kirkcudbrightshire.^[1] The parish has an area of including the former burgh of Maxwelltown in the northeastern portion.^[2] It is about from north to south and from east to west, and is bordered on the east by the Nith.

An 1846 account said the parish included some woodland and plantations, but was mainly arable, meadow, and pasture. It went on: "The surface is intersected by three nearly equidistant and parallel ranges of heights, the first of which, rising gradually from the river, has been long in a high state of cultivation, and contains several nursery grounds and gardens of great fertility. The valley between it and the second ridge is also fruitful, and is watered by the Cargen, which flows into the Nith. The second ridge, of greater elevation, produces excellent crops of turnips and potatoes, with wheat, barley, and oats; and the interval between it and the third ridge is partly good meadow land, but chiefly moss, which might at a moderate expense be brought into tillage. The third ridge, and the highest, extends through the whole length of the parish; it is arable on the acclivities nearly to the summit, and though less fertile than the others, yields remunerating crops. The Nith, of which the water is beautifully limpid, abounds with salmon, grilse, and herlings, even beyond what is necessary for the supply of the surrounding district. The plantations consist of oak, ash, elm, and other foresttrees, with fir and larch; they are carefully managed, and in a flourishing condition".^[3]

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

There are two scheduled monuments in the parish: Pict's Knowe and Curriestanes cursus.

In the 12th century Alan filius Roland, constable of Scotland, built an earthwork motte and bailey fortress, the Mote of Troqueer, against the banks of the Nith. In the early 13th century the fortress was held by Durand filius Christin. Part of the flat-topped motte survives, but some of the motte is now covered by the suburbs, and the position of the bailey has been lost.

John Blackadder, the eminent Covenanter, was ordained minister of the Troqueer parish on 7 June 1653 during the time of the Commonwealth. Blackadder was expelled from his parish in 1662 after the restoration of Charles II because he refused to comply with the Episcopacy, which the government had introduced in Scotland.

The community around the Troqueer parish church was made a separate burgh of Maxwelltown in 1810, with its own council and court.^[1] In 1846 the parish containing 4,351 inhabitants, of whom 3,230 were in the burgh.^[3] As of 1887 the parish had a population of 5,524.^[2] During the 19th century Maxwelltown grew steadily as it acquired tanneries, a brewery, iron foundries, weaving shops, a brick and tile works, saw mills and the Troqueer and Rosefield Mills. Maxwelltown had become the second largest town in Dumfries and Galloway when it amalgamated with Dumfries on 3 October 1929.

Research Tips

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 Kirkcudbrightshire

• The Dumfries and Galloway Family History Society website may point to material of interest to the general researcher. Amongst their publications are indexes for the 1841 census. These are prepared as small booklets, one for each parish, and are alphabetically indexed transcriptions. Obtainable from the D & G FHS, address at website.

• The FreeCen Project has a searchable (not browsable) transcription of the whole of Kirkcudbrightshire online for the 1841 census.

• The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright Monumental Inscriptions pre-1855 by Alison and Angus Mitchell, published by the Scottish Genealogical Society. A series of 7 small volumes of transcriptions of gravestones from all the cemeteries in the former county. Obtainable from the Scottish Genealogical Society, Edinburgh, Scotland EH1 2JL. Troqueer is in Volume 7.

• A Historical Index of the People and Places of the Stewartry of Kirkcudbrught. A resource containing a variety of information to assist people interested in places in the Stewartry (or County) of Kirkcudbright including places and placenames, historical articles, newspaper marriage and death notices.

• The Troqueer Parish Registers for the Church of Scotland provide records of baptisms (1690-1764 and 1764-1854), marriages (1690-1993, 1698, 1718-1723, 1747-1748, 1754-1793, 1805 and 1799-1854) and burials (1764-1783). In additions there are entries for Maxwelltown baptisms (1837-1843) and Maxwelltown burials (1821-1848). See the FamilySearch Wiki article on Troqueer for other church denominations.

Further Sources of Reference

Please note and respect the copyright warnings on these websites.

• GENUKI article on Troqueer. These articles often include a bibliography.

• The Gazetteer for Scotland article on the parish of Troqueer. 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 Troqueer 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.