Place:Bothwell (town), Lanarkshire, Scotland

the following is a condensation of an article in Wikpedia

Bothwell is a small town now located in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, nine miles east-south-east of Glasgow city centre.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Bothwell expanded with the coal, iron and steel industries which predominated in the area, as did nearby Hamilton and Blantyre. Over the past 50 years Bothwell changed into an affluent commuter town. In the 2001 census (latest available), Bothwell had a population of 6379.

The parish church, restored at the end of the 19th century, contains the choir of the old Gothic church of 1398. A memorial honours the poet Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) who was born in the manse.

Bothwell Castle

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

The picturesque ruin of Bothwell Castle occupies a position on a bluff above a bend in the River Clyde on the edge of Bothwell, which here takes the bold sweep famed in Scottish song as the Bothwell bank. This fortress belonged to Sir William Moray, known as 'le Riche', who died in England in 1300. It passed eventually by marriage to the House of Douglas. The lordship was bestowed in 1487 on Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hailes, 1st Earl of Bothwell. When he resigned in 1491 the title passed to "Bell-the-Cat", Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus. The title ultimately passed to the Earls of Home.

The castle is a fine example of Gothic architecture. It consists of a great quadrangle with circular towers on the south. At the east end stand the remains of the chapel. An unpretentious mansion was built nearby by Archibald Douglas, 1st Earl of Forfar (1653–1712), and was known as New Bothwell Castle, but suffered mining subsidence and was demolished in 1926. The castle can be accessed through scenic Clyde Walkways.

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.

Further Sources of Reference

Please note and respect the copyright warnings on these websites.

• GENUKI article on the parish of Bothwell
• Scottish Places article on the town of Bothwell--more information may be found by following the tabs on the right. The parish maps in this series are very useful.
• The maps website of the National Library of Scotland allows comparisons of modern-day and old maps of the same place. 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 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.