North Berwick
"BERWICK (NORTH), a parish, containing a royal burgh and post-town
of the same name, on the north coast of Haddingtonshire. It is bounded on
the north by the frith of Forth, and on other sides by the parishes of Dirleton,
Prestonkirk and Whitekirk. Its length from east to west is 3 miles; and
its breadth is upwards of 2 1/2 miles. Toward the east, the coast is rocky
and bold; but toward the west, on both sides of the town, it presents considerably
stretches of level sand and flat grassy downs, of the kind called links ...
Population of the parish in 1831, 1,824; in 1861 2,071." from the Imperial
Gazetteer of Scotland, edited by John Marius Wilson, 1868.
A lengthier description is available.
Bibliography
See "The North Berwick story" by Rev. Walter M. Ferrier published
at North Berwick in 1980 (102 pages). This may be consulted through LDS family history centres.
"Tales of Old North Berwick" by Ben Millar covers the history of
the town from 1800 or so in some detail.
Cemeteries
The Scottish Genealogy Society
holds a list of pre-1855 gravestones in this parish (123 in total) in its
library in Edinburgh.
The East Lothian Library's Local History Centre at Newton Port
in Haddington holds a similar list, with a plan.
Church History
The following quotation comes from the Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland,
edited by John Marius Wilson and published in 1868. This reference was found
in volume I, page 156:
"The parochial church was built in 1670, and repaired in 1819,
and contains 550 sittings. The Free church contains about 400 sittings ...
The United Presbyterian church was built in 1832, and contains 390 sittings.
The Episcopalian church is recent, and contains about 200 sittings. The old
parish church is famous in the annals of witchcraft as the reputed favourite
rendezvous of the witches and wizards of the Lothians."
Some photos of the churches in North Berwick are now available. More to follow!
Church Records
The parish church (Church of Scotland) has registers dating from 1653.
Old Parish Registers (before 1855) are held in the General Register Office
for Scotland in Edinburgh, and copies on microfilm may be consulted in local
libraries and in LDS Family History Centres
around the world. Later parish registers (after 1855) are often held in the
Scottish Record
Office as are any records of non-conformist churches in the area (often
unfilmed and unindexed, and only available there).
East Lothian Library's Local History Centre at Newton Port
in Haddington holds a copy of the Burial Book/Mortcloth Records for this parish.
Civil Registration
Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland on 1st
January 1855. For details of these and other records held at the General
Register Office in Edinburgh, see the GRO tutorial.
Gazetteers
Extracts for this parish from the 1868 National
Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland are available.
Nearby places can be identified from the GENUKI Gazetteer.
Local photographs can be identified from various websites.
Land and Property
The burgh registers for North Berwick include several records relating
to land and property, in particular the sasine registers which record changes
in ownership of land and the stent rolls (land valuations). The original records
are held in the Scottish Record Office
in Edinburgh, but copies on microfilm may be consulted in LDS family history centres around the world.
The microfilm copies include the sasine registers for 1834-1943 and the stent
rolls for 1658-1841.
Law and Legislation
Burgh registers for North Berwick are held in the Scottish Record Office
in Edinburgh together with other court and legal records relating to the area.
Copies of the burgh registers can also be consulted on microfilm in LDS family history centres around the world.
The records include sasine registers, stent rolls (land valuations) and minute
books.
Population
Here are some figures showing the parish's population through time:
| Year |
Population |
| 1755 |
1412 |
| 1801 |
1583 |
| 1811 |
1727 |
| 1821 |
1694 |
| 1831 |
1824 |
| 1841 |
1708 |
| 1851 |
1643 |
| 1861 |
2071 |
| 1871 |
2373 |
| 1881 |
2686 |
| 1891 |
3038 |
| 1901 |
3649 |
For a social and economic record of the parishes of East Lothian together
with considerable statistical material, see Sir John Sinclair's Statistical
Account of Scotland, which was compiled in the 1790s. Follow-up works to
this were the New Statistical Account (also known as the Second Statistical Account)
which was prepared in the 1830s and 1840s; and more recently the Third Statistical
Account which has been prepared since the Second World War.
Thanks to a joint venture between the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh
the First and Second Statistical Accounts can now be accessed on-line at
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland,
1791-1799 and 1845.
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Last updated 7 April 2009
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