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When Scotland was reorganized into "regional government" areas in 1973, the counties of the southwest-- Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Dumfriesshire--became the Dumfries and Galloway Region. The region was divided into four districts
- Annandale and Eskdale with headquarters at Annan and a population of 37,130
- Nithsdale with headquarters at Dumfries and a population of 57,220
- Stewartry with headquarters at Kirkcudbright and a population of 23,690
- Wigtown (originally named Merrick) with headquarters at Stranraer and a population of 30,077
In 1996 the regional system of government was abolished throughout Scotland. Dumfries and Galloway Region did not change its area coverage and almost retained its name, becoming the Dumfries and Gallway Council Area, a unitary authority with "committee areas" in charge certain parts of the administration of local areas.
Research tips
- 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).
- collections of wills and testaments and
- property tax listings
- an extensive collection of local maps
- kirk session records for individual parishes (added in 2021 and not yet complete).
This site is extremely easy to use. There are charges for parish register entries, collections of wills, and census listings (the 1881 census is free to view, also on Ancestry and FindMyPast). The charges are reasonable and payable by online transfer. Viewing the kirk session records is free, but a charge will be made for a copy.
- The National Library of Scotland have an online map collection of historic and modern day maps which can zoom in on a specific farmhouse or street in a town. Their collection also includes London and some counties of southeast England.
- Gazetteer for Scotland contains an article for each parish from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland by F. H. Groome, (published 1882-4) and short details about each parish today including names of small settlements within a parish.
- The FamilySearch Wiki explains a great many legal terms only found in Scotland and provides a gazetteer for genealogists for each parish across the county. It reviews the availablility of parish registers.
- GENUKI Scotland which provides for each Scottish parish (indexed by county), 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 possibly other gazetteers from individual counties and regions. It is worth reviewing one of its county pages to see what is available online or in print from local archive providers. Each county page has a "Where in ---shire is .... ? section--very helpful in pinpointing the small places below parish level.
- A list of Burial Grounds in Scotland is now available on the website of the Scottish Association of Family History Societies.
- 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.
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