Papers relating to the Roman Catholic Church, Glengairn and Braemar

The papers described below are mainly transcripts of original records once in the library of the Roman Catholic Training College at Blairs, Aberdeen (Blairs College). Their existence may be related to the publishing activities of one of the Spalding Clubs, which were active in Aberdeen in the 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the records is believed to be an original Blairs College manuscript (GB 231 MS 0191/2/2)

GB 231 MS 0536 - 0538 MS 0536 MS 0536 Register of baptisms, St Andrew's Catholic Church, Braemar, 1703-1757. Transcribed by John Black, 1910 (typescript).

MS 0537/1 Place name and personal name index to GB 231 MS 0536 (Register of baptisms, St Andrew's Catholic Church, Braemar, 1703-1757). Compiled by Jean Kennedy, 1910 (typescript).

MS 0537/2/1 A Description of the Mission of Braemar, lying on the head of the River Dee, in the Diocese, and Sheriffdom of Aberdeen, 1740, by Patrick Gordon, S.J. Missionary there Includes lists of inhabitants. This is a transcript (typescript) of GB 231 MS 0919/2/1 (see below)

MS 0537/2/2 Short Account of the Change of Religion in Braemar, by Charles Farquharson. S.J., 1788. Endorsed by P. Macpherson, Edinburgh, 1793. This is a transcript (typescript) of GB 231 MS0919/2 (see below)

MS 0538 Register of Baptisms administered in the Catholic congregations of Glengairn and Braemar, from the year 1782, by me Lachlan McIntosh. This transcript, probably also compiled by John Black, c 1910, contains details of baptisms in the Roman Catholic congregations of Glengairn and Braemar, 1782 - 1845 (typescript with personal and place name index).

GB 231 MS 0918 - 0919 MS 0918 Extracts from parish register of Glengairn, Aberdeenshire, relating to Roman Catholic families, 1830-1840. Compiled by P.J. Anderson, n.d. (typescript and indexed)

MS 0919/2/1 A Description of the Mission of Braemar, lying on the head of the River Dee, in the Diocese, and Sheriffdom of Aberdeen, 1740, by Patrick Gordon, S.J. Missionary there. Includes lists of inhabitants. Transcript of original (Blairs College) manuscript, compiled c 1819.

MS 0919/2/2 Short account of the change of religion in Braemar, by Father Charles Farquharson, S.J., 1788. This appears to be an original (Blairs College) manuscript. An endorsement by P. Macpherson, dated 5th Mar 1793, Edinburgh, states that this manuscript was written at the desire of Bishop Geddes by Father Charles Farquharson of the Society of Jesus in the year 1788. This Farquharson was son to Mr. Lewis Farquharson of Auchendryn and uncle to the late Mr. Farquharson of Inerey/ ?Inverey. He came to the mission in 1746, was long a zealous missionary in Glengairn and afterwards in Braemar where he lives today. This was related by the above-mentioned Bishop Geddes to me Paul Macpherson.

GB 231 MS 2005: 1 file (310 leaves) Register of baptisms, St Andrew's Catholic Church, Braemar, 1703-1757. Transcribed by John Black, 1910 (holograph). This appears to be John Black's original (holograph) transcript of the register, from which the typescript copy in GB 231 MS0536 was made.

Braemar and Glengairn are parishes in the West of Aberdeenshire. St Andrews Roman Catholic Church, Braemar, was built in 1839, and the Church of St Mary Immaculate, Glengairn, was built in 1868. The locations of earlier churches in the parishes are not known, though a mission of the Society of Jesus was active in the area during the eighteenth century, through the work of Patrick Gordon (c 1740) and Father Charles Farquharson (from 1746). Further details can be found in the records described below, in particular GB 231 MS 0919/2/1, A Description of the Mission of Braemar, lying on the head of the River Dee, in the Diocese, and Sheriffdom of Aberdeen, 1740, by Patrick Gordon, S.J. Missionary there and GB 231 MS 0919/2/2, Short Account of the Change of Religion in Braemar, written by Father Charles Farquharson, in 1788. See also GB 231 MS 0537/1 -2 (transcripts of GB 231 MS 0919/2/1-2). Lachlan McIntosh (fl. 1782 - 1845) was probably also a missionary priest there, although this has not been verified.

Biographical details for John Black (fl 1855 - 1910) and P.J. Anderson (1852-1926) are available on separate collection level descriptions on the Archives Hub (see papers of John Black and papers of P.J. Anderson). Several transcripts and indexes deposited in Special Libraries and Archives bear Jean Kennedy's (fl 1910) name, though biographical details have not been established.

These are held as single items

Open, subject to signature accepting conditions of use at reader registration sheet

The manuscripts have been deposited in the University of Aberdeen at various times from ca. 1910.

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

No copies known

Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail: speclib@abdn.ac.uk ) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

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MSS 919/2/2 may be an original manuscript. The location of original material from which the other transcripts were derived is unknown. They may be with the papers of Blairs College, at present deposited in the Scottish Catholic Archives, Edinburgh.