Islay Old Parish Registers
Prior to 1855, when Statutory Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths came into law, records of these events were kept locally by individual parishes of the Established Church of Scotland.
These OId Parish Registers (OPR's) contain the details of Births & Baptisms, Banns & Marriages. There are no Death & Burial records for Islay.
The responsibilty for maintaining these registers was usually incumbent upon the Parish Minister or Session Clerk and some were more diligent that others. Therefore these records vary greatly from parish to parish and also from year to year.
These very early records can be difficult to read, the detail may be sparse, and may contain incomplete or unreliable or even inaccurate information.
Registration in Church of Scotland registers coiuld be costly and was therefore unpopular, so many people did not register events at all.
The registers for Islay comprise the following:
Births & Baptisms:
Kilarrow Parish - 1763 to 1854
Kilchoman Parish - 1821 to 1854
Kildalton Parish - 1723 to 1762 and 1789 to 1854
Kilmeny Parish - 1802 to 1854
Oa Parish - 1833 to 1854 (pre 1833 are recorded within Kildalton Parish)
Portnahaven Parish - 1830 to 1854 (some 1821 to 1833 are recorded within Kilchoman Parish)
Banns & Marriages:
Kilarrow Parish - 1771 to 1854
Kilchoman Parish - 1821 to 1854
Kildalton Parish - 1722 to 1766 and 1789 to 1854
Kilmeny Parish - none
Oa Parish - 1833 to 1854 (pre 1833 are recorded within Kildalton Parish)
Portnahaven Parish - 1833 to 1854 (some 1821 to 1833 are recorded within Kilchoman Parish)