Place:Keithhall and Kinkell, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

The parish of Keithhall and Kinkell is located in the south-central area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland across the River Urie from the town and former burgh of Inverurie.

It was formed in 1754 by the merger of the two parishes found in its name. Keithhall had formerly been named Montkeggie, but was renamed after its 18th century owner--Keith, Earl-Marishal of Scotland. Kinkell took its name because its priest also held importance in Aberdeen and in six further parishes (Kintore, Kinnellar, Skene, Kemnay, Dyce, and Drumblade) all located between Kinkell and Aberdeen. In 1754 Kinkell was divided with one-third to Kintore and the remaining two-thirds linked to Keithhall.

Keithhall and Kinkell is bounded on the north by the parish of Bourtie, on the east by the parishes of Udny and New Machar, on the southeast and south by Fintray, and on the west (across the Rivers Don and Ury) by Kintore, Inverurie, and Chapel of Garioch.

The parish stretches about 5 miles from south to north. The distance across it from east to west is slightly less. The whole area is computed to be 7,693 acres. The general description of the landscape is undulating and hilly. Groome stated that two-thirds of the entire area was in tillage around 1880; forested areas covered 410 acres; and the rest was either in pasture or wasteland.

The estate of Caskieben (thereafter called Keithhall) was purchased from the Johnstons about 1662 by Sir John Keith, third son of the sixth Earl Marischal, who in 1677 was created Earl of Kintore and Baron Keith of Inverurie and Keithhall. By the addition about 1700 of a front and east wing to the older house, he rendered it a large and stately mansion, which stands near the bank of the River Urie, amidst a wooded park, 1 mile east of Inverurie. Two lesser proprietors hold an annual value of more, and 5 of less, than £100.

Other natives were Arthur Johnston (1587-1641), the eminent Latin poet, whose ancestors had held the estate of Caskieben for many generations, and Alexander Keith, D.D. (1791-1880), the well-known writer on prophecy.

The above notes were taken from

• A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland Samuel Lewis (1851), provided on GENUKI)
• A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed) (1875), also on GENUKI
• Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland F. H. Groome (1882-4) provided on the Gazetteer for Scotland website
• Wikipedia does not provide an article on this parish, but has a few notes on the estate of Caskieben and an article on Sir John Keith. It is noted that the birth and death dates given in this article [read June 2019] probably do not come from the same source.

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 Garioch, 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).
• references to wills and property taxes, and
• an extensive collection of local maps.

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.