Argyllshire, Scotland Genealogy



Argyllshire is a maritime county in the west of Scotland, bounded on the north by Inverness-shire, on the east by the counties of Inverness, Perth, and Dumbarton, and on the south and west by the Firth of Clyde and the Atlantic Ocean. It is about 115 miles in extreme length and about 50 or 60 miles in average breadth, comprising an area, including the various islands connected with it, of about 3800 square miles. It contains about 50 parishes and six civil districts. It includes the royal burghs of Inverary and Cambelltown and has several other small towns and villages.

At a very early period, the area was inhabited by the Scots who migrated from the Irish coast. After the subjugation of the Picts and the union of the two kingdoms, it became identified with the general population of the country. It is a place of celebrated romantic legend, the principal scene of the exploits of the heroes of the race of Fingal. The family or clan of Campbell, ancestors of the Dukes of Argyll, for many generations possessed an absolute and sovereign authority over their vassals in the county.

(Source: Samuel Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, 2nd ed., 1851.  Family History Library book .)

Parishes
Here is a list of historic parishes for the county of Argyll with their parish numbers. The insular parishes are islands off of the mainland. Click on the parish name to see information about records.

Archives
Argyll and Bute were combined into one county in 1974. The county archives is the Argyll &amp; Bute Council Archives, located in Lochgilphead. Situated at Manse Brae (for GPS use cross-street Cossack or Lochnell), the archive is small but well-equipped to assist researchers in family history. It is best to book a table before arrival. If you give them some idea of what type of records and the time period you want to research, the staff can be better prepared to assist you. They have a binder which lists family history sources, and the records are filed by the number given in that binder. To help prepare for a visit to the Argyll &amp; Bute Council Archives, prepare a list of source numbers from the family history source binder. The council also accepts enquiries by letter, email, or text, and has a limited research service for those who cannot visit the archive. For details, see the archive website.

Census
The Scottish government began taking censuses of its population in 1841, and every ten years there after. The records must be 100 years old before they are released to the public, so the most recent record available is for the 1911 census. Read more about Census Records.

Many census records have been indexed by surname. Some indexes cover one parish (and will be listed in the Wiki on the parish page) and some indexes are for the county as a whole. The Family History Library has county-wide census placename indexes for Angus for, and. Click here for other census indexes available at the library.

Maps


Here is an historic map of Argyllshire. Click on the map to see a larger version. Click on the map again, then click on the 'Expand' button when it appears in the bottom right-hand corner of the map.

Click here to see an outline map of the parishes of Argyll.

[Return to county list.]

Argyll Patent - New York.
In the mid 18th century, the governor of New York colony sought settlers from Britain. Captain Lauchlin Campbell, from Islay, Argyllshire, Scotland, transported over 470 individuals in 1738, 1739, and 1740 from Islay on his ship Happy Return. The records of the land they finally received are found in the documents of the Argyll Patent. On the Washington County, New York, United States, US GenWeb site is a map of the Argyll Patent. The land was located along the Hudson River.

A list of the emigrants may be accessed from the map page.

Surnames among the Argyll Patent families include: Anderson, Beaton, Caldwell, Campbell, Cargill, Carmicheal, Christie, Clark, Dougall, Ferguson, Fraser, Gilchrist, Gillaspie, Gillis, Graham, Hammell, Hunter, Johnston, Lindsay, Livingston, McAlister, McAllister, McAlpine, McArthur, McCallman, McCallor, Mccarty, McCollum, McCore, McCoy, McDonald, McDougall, McDuffie, McEachron, McEuen, McFadden, McFaden, McFail, McGours, McGowne, McGuire, McIlfender, McIlvray, McIntire, McIntyre, McKinvan, McKinzie, McLean, McLeod, McMillan, McMitchell, McEacron, McNaughton, McNeil, McNiven, McVarich, Montgomery, Nutt, Read, Reed, Reid, Roy, Shaw, Taylor, Thompson, Torry, and Widrow.

Islay consists of four parishes: Kitchoman, Kilarrow, Kildaton, and Jura.

References:

James MacNaughton, Jr. The Argyle Patent And Its Early Settlers. Hopkinsville, KY: The Sleeper Co., 1999. FHL974.749.R2 [Contains history of the patent, list of those who were awarded land, and a lot by lot description of 18th and 19th century transactions of each lot.]

Jennie M. Patten.''The Argyle Patent And Accompanying Documents. Excerpted from History of the Somonauk Presbyterian Church.'' Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1965. FHL 974.749 R2 or FHL Film #1033649 Item 2

Margaret C. Storrie.ISLAY: Biography of an Island. Islay [Argyll] : The Oa Press, c1981 FHL 941.38 H2

Argyll Colony - North Carolina.
A group of individuals from Argyllshire settled in the Cape Fear area of North Carolina. Information about these emigrants can be found through this link on the NCpedia website.

Poorhouses
There were 5 workhouses in this county:


 * Campbeltown
 * Islay Combination
 * Lorn Combination (Oban)
 * Lochgilphead Combination
 * Mull Combination

A description with drawings and photos of them today along with databases of those living there from the 1881 Census are provided on the links above located on the site entitled "The Workhouse.org.uk" which is owned and operated by Peter Higginbotham.

Helpful Websites

 * Argyllshire Resources and help pages on RootsChat Argyllshire Resources and help pages. (Free).