- source: Family History Library Catalog
- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Blair Atholl (from the Scottish Gaelic: Blàr Athall) is a small town in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the Grampian Mountains. The Gaelic place-name Blair, from blàr, 'field, plain', refers to this location. Atholl, which may mean 'new Ireland', is the name of the surrounding district.
At the request of the people of the town, on 13 March 2008, it was announced that Blair Atholl (together with some other Highland Perthshire villages) would be included in the Cairngorms National Park.
The town is bypassed by the A9 and has a railway station on the Highland Main Line. The main road north from Perth to Inverness ran through the village until it was bypassed since 1984.
Blair Atholl is also a parish, located in the Perth and Kinross Council Area in Scotland, some 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross and 18 miles (29 km) south of Kingussie in the Highland Council Area. A map illustrating the old parishes of Perthshire labels the parish Blairatholl and Struan. Struan is a village in the parish.
Prior to 1975 Blair Atholl was located in the old county of Perthshire, which was replaced by the Tayside region and in 1996 by the unitary authority of Perth and Kinross.
The parish has an area of 768.5 sq. km (296.7 sq. miles). As well as the village of Blair Atholl, the parish includes the settlements of Dalnacardoch, Trinafour, Calvine, Struan, Mains of Bonskeid, Lude House, Bridge of Tilt and Tenandry.
- the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia
Blair Atholl's most famous feature is Blair Castle, one of Scotland's premier stately homes, and the last castle in the British Isles to be besieged, in 1746 during the last Jacobite Rebellion. The Castle was the traditional home of the Earls (later Marquesses, now Dukes) of Atholl. The Duke of Atholl is the only person in the United Kingdom allowed to raise a private army. This army, known as the Atholl Highlanders, conducts largely social and ceremonial activities, and primarily consists of workers on the extensive Atholl Estates.
For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Blair Atholl.
Notes for Perthshire
Family history societies and historical associations covering Perthshire are:
All of these associations publish their aims on their websites as well as a list of publications. In many cases the publications are also available through the Scottish Genealogy Society (see below).
Sources for Old Parish Registers Records, Vital Records and Censuses
- 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.
- See the publications lists of the above Family History Societies.
- The FreeCen Project for Perthshire has a searchable (not browsable) transcription of the major part of Perthshire for 1841 and 1851. The Scotland FreeCen page states that some work has also been done on 1861.
Transcriptions of Gravestone Inscriptions
- The Scottish Genealogy Society provides a series of monumental inscriptions either in print in booklet form or on CD. Most of these were prepared by John Fowler Mitchell and Sheila Mitchell and published 1967. A new edition has been printed, with corrections, as a 4 volume set.
- GENUKI has further details
Further Sources of Reference
Please note and respect the copyright warnings on these websites.
- GENUKI article on Perthshire. This was last updated in February 2014.
- The Gazetteer for Scotland article on the the county of Perthshire. 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 Perthshire provides direct reference to FamilySearch holdings on many topics with respect to the county.
- 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.