The parish of Strathblane, some twenty square miles in size, lies in the south-west corner of Stirlingshire. It was at one time part of the county of Dunbarton and as an ecclesiastical parish is still part of Dunbarton Presbytery. It is a very beautiful district. The...
The applications for poor relief often survive as a separate series. Between 1845 and 1865 the information they contain is not much less than that in the registers of poor, but they are considerably less detailed than the general registers of poor introduced in 1865. For example, the application forms will not include the religious denomination, and probably there will be no details about dependants or other relatives. They will, however, contain far more entries per year than the registers, partly because of multiple applications from individual paupers, but also because they include the ‘casual poor’, that is, those relieved by the inspector without a decision by the board and therefore not on the poor roll.
The main source of early historical information about the area is John Guthrie Smith's book "The Parish of Strathblane and its Inhabitants from Early Times". This weighty tome was published in 1886 and contains vast amounts of information and is available to refer to...
Groome’s Gazetteer of Scotland offers a snapshot of Strathblane in 1884 at which point the valley contained “an ex-quisite assemblage of mansions, lakes, woods, and luxuriant corn fields”, according to the author. The huge printworks, employing hundreds of men, women and children, living in cramped tenements and cottages, receives only a passing mention.
The second Statistical Account (or NSA) was initiated by the Sons and Daughters of the Clergy in 1832 and published by Blackwoods and Sons. The first edition, which took the form of 52 quarterly parts, was published between March 1834 and October 1845. A re-issue in 33 county volumes was published between 1841 and 1845. A second re-issue, in 1845, took the form of 15 collected county volumes. The Statistical Accounts of Scotland online service hold digitised versions of the second re-issue.
Ray's Gazetteer, published in 1803, describes the parish of Strathblane in pre-industrial times, stressing the beauty of the Blane Valley with its spectacular views towards the Trossachs. Several errors are worth noting: it is not bounded by the Grampians and the...
A tax on farm horses was imposed in Scotland in 1797 to raise money to support the army and navy during the French Revolutionary Wars. In Strathblane inspectors counted 92 horses, of which 66 were eligible for the tax.
The first Statistical Account (or OSA) was initiated by Sir John Sinclair and published by William Creech of Edinburgh. It took several years to obtain all the reports and, rather than waiting until he had the complete set in his possession, Sinclair issued volumes as and when there was sufficient content: this means that the reports are not arranged by county or region.
This tax roll lists landowners and tenants liable for a 14 shilling tax on each hearth in their property, as well as six parish paupers who were exempt