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[GENUKI Caithness Pages - last updated 05 July 2003 - MarK Dodd]

GENUKI : Caithness County - Contents Page

Caithness County is a county in the north east of Scotland, bounded on the north by the Pentland Firth; on the east and south east by North Sea; and on the west and south west by the county of Sutherland ... [It] is about 43 miles in length, and thirty miles in breadth; comprising an area of 618 square miles ... On account of its remote situation, Caithness had little intercourse with the principle parts of the country, and consequently is connected with few historical events of importance, except occasional hostilities with the Danes and Norwegians. From "A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland", 1951

If you should find any errors (no matter how small) on any page I have written, please email me, mdodd_genuki_cai put an at sign here frayston.demon.co.uk, giving the subject as the address of the page, and I will correct the problem(s). Sorry for the convoluted email address, the embedded email address in the web page gives me about 40 spam per day.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR CAITHNESS



Archives & Libraries

North Highland Archive, Wick Library, Sinclair Terrace, Wick, Caithness KW1 5AB, Scotland.

Be sure to include return postage or international reply coupons when writing to the libraries or archives, it is considered good manners.

Please also refer to the section Societies.


Bibliography

A list of Scottish books in print is available.

Another supplier of books (including MIs) about Scotland is Books From Scotland.

Following are a list of books I have gleaned from various sources. If I know where a current copy exists, I will put the source and a short description of my impression of the book. Other biographical material can be found on this page under specific sections. Any books that have been useful to others, I would be most interested in hearing about to add to this page.

The Caithness Book
Donald Omand (Ed), Pub:Highland Printers Ltd, Inverness, 1912/1972, 270pp.
A good general book on the natural environment, history and development of the county. Held at Inverness Library, 1997.

The County of Caithness
John Horne (Ed), 1907, Wick, 470pp.
Interesting historical, botanical and geographical account of the county. Includes significant dates in Caithness' history, an ecclesiastical history and summary to current (1907) times. Good list of local terms and meanings of places names. Held at Inverness Library, 1997.

Civil and Traditional History of Caithness from the Tenth Century
J.T.Calder, Wick, 1887, 370pp.
A detailed and interesting, but rambling book on the history of Caithness. Frequent mention of individuals in the text of various levels of social standing made. Held at Inverness Library, 1997.

Index To J T Calder's Sketch of the Civil & Traditional History of Caithness from the Tenth Century
Sara Jayne Donaldson, Caithness, Scotland. 101pp.
Available from Sara Jayne Donaldson Genealogical Research.

Index to "Civil and Traditional History of Caithness from the Tenth Century"
Author : unkown, 40pp.
A quite well put together index of the above book. Held at Inverness Library, 1997.

Caithness : 1770 to 1832
I.Sutherland, Glasgow, Pub:Lowland Print, 1995, 110pp.
Includes a list of registered voters in Caithness in 1835 - approx 660 people. Frequent mentions to local individuals, but alas no index. Held at Inverness Library, 1997.

A Bibliography of the County of Caithness
John Mowat, Wick, 1940.

Bibliography of Caithness and Sutherland
John Mowat, London (Viking Club), 1910.

The book of Ross: and Sutherland and Caithness
Donald MacDonald, Dingwall, 1932.

Caithness in the 18th century
John E. Donaldson, Edinburgh, 1938.

Cemeteries

All (?) of the monumental inscriptions (MIs) in Caithness have been collected and are in print currently from Books From Scotland amongst other places. I have a copy of these and am willing to do limited lookups, as long as the parish is known, as they are not indexed very convieniently.

There is an index of sorts for these MIs at here. It is of limited use, since there are no christian names listed, but it may help narrow the search. Please quote cemetery code and transcription number as it will same me some time.

Sara Jayne Donaldson has published an index to burials at Bower, Dunnet, Reay, Bunnahaven and Kirktown.

If you know of any Caithness records on the net, please email me at markdodd_genuki_cai put an at sign here frayston.demon.co.uk and I shall put a connection to them on this page.


Census

Census records for the years 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, and 1891 have been microfilmed and are available at LDS Family History Centers around the world. Look here for an index to the appropriate LDS microfilms.

In Scotland, research can be done at the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh.


Church History

Steve Bulman has an excellent site featuring pictures of churches throughout the Highlands, perhaps when there are enough Caithness photos he will put a Caithness page.

A History of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Caithness
Rev. J.B.Craven, Kirkwall, 1908, 300pp.
Detailed extracts from kirk sessions and history of the Episcopal Church in Caithness. Good index of place names. Includes a list of some baptisms, marriages, burials, convictions of drunkedness and absences from the kirk ! Dates covered : 1650s-1750s. Held at Inverness Library, 1997.


Church Records

Details of individual parish records can be found on the parish pages.

Records of non-conformist churches are held at the National Archives of Scotland.

The Church of Scotland parish records for all of Caithness have been microfilmed and are available at LDS Family History Centers worldwide. The LDS have also made them available through computer search via a Scottish Church Records CD-ROM or by microfiche. Many of them have been extracted on the IGI (International Genealogical Index). Look here for an index to the appropriate LDS microfilms.

In Scotland, research can be done at the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh.


Civil Registration

Civil Registration of all births, marriages and deaths began in Caithness, as in all of Scotland, in 1855. The records for 1855-1875, 1881, and 1891 have been microfilmed and are available at LDS Family History Centers worldwide. Indexes to these records are also available on LDS microfilm up to the year 1955. Look here for an index to the appropriate LDS microfilms.


Clans

Please refer to Names, Personal


Description and Travel

The Scottish Citylink website with timetables.

For those more inclined to Rail-travel, Rail Track provides a very worthwhile train travel information, allowing from/to stations specifications on certain days, and the program will supply a complete itineary for the journey.

The Scottish Highland Explorer Caithness and Sutherland page is here.

Caithness & North of Scotland Bulletin Board provides a useful contact point for people interested in Caithness to swap messages. Includes a useful search facility to browse an archive of FH and other queries on the County. Unfortunately the site hosting this service has withdrawn it.


Internet Resources

There are so many resources on the net now, that I'm leaving it to others to maintain lists. Included here are the very big lists and pages that have significant references to Caithness and are too general to fit into any other category.

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet is one of the most complete lists of genealogy web pages. Quite well indexed and categorised.


Maps

UK Ordnance Survey maps contain a vast wealth of information, including a villiage search facility. Available for sale in the UK as well as abroad, often through larger bookstores.

Here is an interesting set of maps (very graphic intensive) Expedia. It has a powerful zoom feature and panning across the world combined with an excellent search facility.


Military History

The Sword of the North - Highland Memories of the Great War
D.MacEchern, Pub:Robert Carruthers & sons, Inverness, 1923.

Caithness and the War 1939-1945
N.M.Glass, Pub:North of Scotland Newspapers, Wick, 1994, 2nd printing, 155pp.
The first half of the book is a short descriptive and pictorial account of Caithness during World War II. The second half lists Caithness' medallists and war heros of various categories with descriptions of individual's role in the war. Held at Scottish Genealogical Society, Edinburgh, 1998.


Names, Personal

Graham Jaunay now has taken over my list of surnames. It can now be found at Caithness surnames list and your own research interests can be submitted here. Well Graham's web pages arent holding together very well and this link is gone. If anyone finds it, please let me know.

Please, please, please dont email me with research requests, as apart from a copy of the MIs, I have no access to any other material than you would probably have (I live in Southern England).

The Gathering of the Clans page has some interesting information on clans, but more significantly has a searchable index for surnames submitted by individuals.

The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History
George F. Black, 1946.

The Highland Clans
Sir Ian Moncrieff, Pub:Brian & Jenkins, Revised Ed., London, 1964.

The Clans of the Scottish Highlands
R.R.McIan, Pub:Webb & Bower, Exeter, England


Newspapers

A collection of current Scottish newspapers exist at All the Worlds Newspapers.


Public Records

Records of testaments, inventories, tax, court records etc. are held at the National Archives of Scotland.

In Scotland, research can be done at the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh. The GRO will be making its indicies available online in 1998. Visit their website for more information. As soon as the website is up and running, it will be linked from this page.


Societies

The Caithness Family History Society. Details of meetings and membership can be found here.

Highland FHS, c/o Reference Room, Inverness Public Library, Farraline Park, Inverness, IV1 1NH.

Scottish Genealogical Society. 15 Victoria Tce, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL.

Please also refer to the section Archives and Libraries.


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