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St. Machans Parish/Larkhall Parish Church, Larkhall

 
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David McNay
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 11425
Location: Lanarkshire, Scotland

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:49 am    Post subject: St. Machans Parish/Larkhall Parish Church, Larkhall Reply with quote

The sign at this church states it is St Machans, but the memorial says Larkhall Parish. Perhaps there has been an amalgamation in the past. I only photographed one side as the gates were shut. Perhaps there are St Machans names on the other side. Anyone from Larkhall on here who can confirm this?

IMG_1979 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr
IMG_1980 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr
IMG_1981 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr
IMG_1982 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr

First World War names:

IMG_1983 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr
IMG_1984 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr

Second World War:

IMG_1985 by Scottish Military Research Group, on Flickr


Last edited by David McNay on Sun Jul 02, 2017 3:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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spoons



Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 4991
Location: St John's Town of Dalry

PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 9:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There are 3 parishes in Larkhall - Chalmers, St Machan's and Trinity - authority http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/contact/contactmap17.htm#L
Does that help?
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Adam Brown
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Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 9:51 pm    Post subject: Re: St. Machans Parish/Larkhall Parish Church, Larkhall Reply with quote

David McNay wrote:
The sign at this church states it is St Machans, but the memorial says Larkhall Parish


In 1929 Larkhall Parish Church was renamed St Machan's when the Church of Scotland and United Free Church merged.

Adam
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Tom Lang



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
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PostPosted: Sat May 15, 2021 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spoons wrote:
There are 3 parishes in Larkhall - Chalmers, St Machan's and Trinity - authority http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/contact/contactmap17.htm#L
Does that help?


Scottish Counties and Parishes
************************
The National Library of Scotland explains "Scottish Counties and Parishes: their history and boundaries on maps" much better than I can.
See:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/boundaries/history.html

Their web page provides a very detailed history and description of a parish as "... derives from the Greek para, 'beside', and oikos, 'a dwelling', and was applied by the Normans to ecclesiastical districts having a minster type of church".

The article continues:
"In the reign of David I (1124-53), the erection of parochial churches was made an act of deliberate policy, as was the compulsory exaction of teind (tithe) from the lands served by a church. In more southern areas of Scotland, and up the east coast, the connection between Norman land ownership and parishes was often quite strong (with parochial lands granted to feudal Norman lords), but in other areas, older boundaries influenced the pattern".

Ecclesiastical to Civil Functions
*************************
The history is well described above, and continues the changes from 'ecclesiastical' to 'civil' functions.
"Historically, the civil and ecclesiastical functions of parishes were always combined, but in the 19th century these functions were often dealt with by separate types of parish unit. The civil parish, or 'quoad civilia' parish was defined as "an area for which a separate poor rate is or can be made" (Interpretation Act, 1889), and was shown on Ordnance Survey maps. Their important local government role was confirmed by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1894 and they were not abolished as local government units until 1975. Very often these parishes had existed from the Reformation or earlier, and they therefore had ecclesiastical as well as civil functions, sometimes being called 'quoad omnia' parishes as a result. In the 19th century, and particularly from the 1840s, many new parishes were created with solely ecclesiastical functions ('quoad sacra' parishes) although these had no local government functions or boundaries shown on Ordnance Survey maps. However, before the growth of civil functions for parishes in the 19th century, many parishes were primarily ecclesiastical, or 'quoad sacra' parishes".

Churches kept records (for a small fee) of births, deaths and marriages as another source of income, additional to the Sunday 'collection'. These extra 'fees' boosted the 'ecclesiastical' income, and thereby the wealth and strength of any particular parish church.

Over history and time, the 'ecclesiastical functions' of a parish became a 'civil' one - primarily as a source of income. Government income was boosted by introducing laws requiring the registration of births, deaths and marriages. This in turn, required the payment of a 'fee', thereby transferring the 'ecclesiastical' income to a 'civil' one.

These changes led to the formation of Burghs, then Counties, and even introduced the formal recognition of where the Scotland/England boundary lay.

Unintended Consequences
*********************
As with all things, unintended anomalies arose.

Initially, parish churches were the nucleus of a small village which formed and grew around the parish church. As the village grew in population, it led to the name of the parish village being named after the parish of the same name.

Burghs
******
As Burghs formed, the same 'naming convention' persisted. For example (you can choose any you like), the Burgh of Hamilton grew from the small parish of Hamilton, and became the family seat of the Duke of Hamilton. Notwithstanding the Burgh Charters.

Counties
*******
But with the establishment of Counties, each was given its name in the same sporadic way as Burghs.
Each County was named after its County Town (or Burgh).

County Towns
************
This led to more anomalies, such that a County, a Burgh, a Town and a Parish could have the same name.
e.g. Lanark(shire), the Burgh of Lanark, the Town of Lanark, and the Parish of Lanark.

More Anomalies
**************
But the reverse of this sequence is not the same.
The Parish of Lanark contains many, many Towns and Villages.
To say that you were Born/Died/Married in 'Lanark' requires a slew of explanation as to the particular town or village.

Even More Anomalies
*******************
As with the anomalies that grew with the expansion of the population, it became necessary to rename some Counties. e.g.
Haddingtonshire was changed to East Lothian;
Edinburghshire was changed to Midlothian;
Linlithgowshire was changed to West Lothian;
Elginshire was changed to Moray;
Forfarshire was changed to Angus.

Cities
******
I will avoid the discussion of Cities, suffice to say "Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow" were independent local government areas in Scotland with many administrative powers of County Councils. They were created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1894, and abolished in 1975".

Parish Registrar
************
During the change from the parish 'ecclesiastical functions' to 'civil', a Parish Registrar was appointed within each 'civil parish'. This took the 'registration function' away from the 'ecclesiastical parish' (with the ensuing income), and gave the 'function' to the civil authority who appointed a 'Parish Registrar' to do the 'job'.

The job being the registration of births, deaths and marriages; the collection of 'fees'; and the forwarding of the 'fees' to the local taxation authority.

Registration Districts
*****************
As the population grew, it became more cumbersome to get to the 'Parish Registrar' within the lawful 'registration period' - birth 21 days; death 5 days; marriage 28.

Much legislation has been introduced in this area, and the upshot was the 'splitting' of the 'civil parishes' into 'Registration Districts'. This was usually due to the growth of a small village to become larger than the parish village.
e.g. As of 2006, the Parish of Dalserf is noted to have a population of 17,985.
This is mostly due to the population of town of Larkhall's 15,500.
The village of Dalserf itself has a population of 52.
Dalserf is also a traditional 'civil parish'. It includes Ashgill, Larkhall, Netherburn, Rosebank and Shawsburn (and other small nooks and crannies which form the total population).

In 1855, Scotland was divided into 1028 Registration Districts (RDs) based on the 'civil parishes'. This number rose to 1082 in 1910, but the number has fallen significantly in the 21st century.
Larkhall became it's own Registration District (RD), but this has since been moved to the Burgh/Town/Parish of Hamilton (for Registration & Administration purposes).
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/statutory-registers/registration-districts

All B/D/M Registrations for South Lanarkshire are now made in Hamilton.
This does NOT mean that if you were born in the Village of Lesmahagow, AND the Registration was made in Hamilton, that you were born in the Burgh/Town/(RD) Parish of Hamilton (Hamilton is its own RD).
Lesmahagow is its own small village and its own historic 'civil parish' - it is also the largest (geographical) Parish in the County of Lanarkshire.

Therefore:
**********
The 'income' of the churches in Larkhall was drastically cut in 1855 with the introduction of Larkhall becoming its own Registration District (RD).
I can imagine that this, in turn, caused the 'ecclesiastical' folks to stake their claim for the available Sunday collection. It probably also started this 'claim' that each church had its own 'parish', but you'll need to take account that in 1855 the law of the land named 'Larkhall' as its own Registration District (RD) no matter the claims by others.
_________________
'Lest We Forget'
Remembering my grandfather Pte 37091 Robert Lang 14th Bn HLI, killed in action 24 Apr 1917 at Gouzeaucourt, France.
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