Ayrshire OPR Burials Index

[SarahND]

- what happened to Sorn Still no sign of it for those who were looking for it last time around.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but according to GROS there are no existing OPR death records for Sorn

Regards,
Sarah

[LesleyB]

Hi Sarah
Ah, oh well, that explains it.

Best wishes
Lesley

[AndrewP]

It seems that the minister in Sorn did take account of the deaths in his parish, bit what did he do with them? Were they ever written down (they certainly never reached the OPRs), or were they stored in his mind? See below this quote from July 1837.

Parochial Registers:- The parish registers commence in 1692, when Mr Mungo Lindsay was ordained minister of the parish, and have since been regularly kept. The register of baptisms is not by any means complete, as parents belonging to dissenting bodies frequently neglect the registration if their children. Care, however, is taken to enforce this duty on parents belonging to the Establishment. There is no record of deaths, although the minister, in the course of his visitations, is in the habit if taking and exact account of them.

For anyone seeking records of Sorn prior to 1692, then look to Mauchline. Sorn parish was separated from Mauchline in that year. Mauchline's records go back a few more years to 1670.

All the best,

AndrewP

[SarahND]

Were they ever written down (they certainly never reached the OPRs), or were they stored in his mind?

There is no record of deaths, although the minister, in the course of his visitations, is in the habit if taking and exact account of them.

That is an odd one, Andrew! It's certainly a good thing he was "in the habit"... I wonder if he wrote them on the back of his hand, where many of my students seemed to take their notes Perhaps an exhumation is in order? Sorry, couldn't resist...

Regards,
Sarah

[emanday]

I'll bet there is a wee notebook stuck down a wee crannie somewhere in the manse just waiting to be discovered.

[keewik]

Keewik Thanks for your offer, the main areas would be Ardrossan & Stevenston. Starting from my eldest ancestor.
William Dunlop & wife Margaret Robertson both b1730 & M 1751 Stewarton.
John Dunlop b7/9/1760 Stewarton Died between 1841/1851 he married 30/10/1790 at Dreghorn to Margaret Brown b 26/2/1769 d approx1851/1861
Margaret Dunlop b 23/10/1791 & married 6/10/1810 to James Wilson b1777 at Carluke died approx 1856
James Wilson b 27/6/1820 M 11/2/1843 @ Saltcoats to Mary Henry b 24/9/1819 @ Symington
James Wilson b 12/1/1848 d 13/2/1922 @ Saltcoats Married 26/11/1874 to Margaret Guthrie b21/3/1851 D 29/11/1911 @ Saltcoats Buried Dec. 1911
Peter Guthrie b17/12/1819@ Stevenston D approx 1875 married 5/6/1841 Marion Scott b 24/1/1820 d15/1/1902
William Guthrie b abt 1789 married 15/4/1809 to Helen Mc Fadyen b abt 1789
I think that will be enough for now. Thanks again for your kind offer
Regards James

James, I checked all the above and I'm sorry to say, I've found nothing. First I checked the surnames (including maiden names) and then as a cross-check (i.e. I'm cross-eyed with the lists!) I checked all records for Ardrossan (not many), and for Stevenston between years 1751 and the present (thousands) - this was in case there might have been any funny spellings. Sadly I found none of yours, which mirrors my experience with my own lot from Irvine - I found only one there, though I know there are a few buried in a churchyard. The records pretty well stop at 1854 - there was only 1 beyond that for the year 1936.

Mind you, I did discover there must have been a terrible cholera outbreak in Stevenston in 1832.

[keewik]

Re Sorn ... would the following provide any sort of solution? ...

"Sorn

Dalgain was the 'old' name for Sorn up until about 1800"

I got this from http://fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/Towns/Sorn/Sorn.htm

[Waverley]

Keewik
Thank you for your response and your time in researching my request 1 door closes another will open