BELHELVIE COMMUNITY COUNCIL’ PREFACE
This book has its origins in the collection of photographs, reprinted here belonging to Jim Forbes of Eigie House. These formed the core of a Local Reminiscences Project led by Norma Milne, Community Education Co-ordinator at Eigie House. Local children became involved in a Victorian pageant and picnic at Balmedie House. Not wishing to be left out, a group of “middle years” formed a local history group which then decided to seek funding to publish the information gathered.Belhelvie Community Council wished to make a Millennium gift to the parish, funds were obtained from the Millennium Funds for All of the National Lottery.
We are delighted with the meticulous work and dedication of Alexia Grosjean and Steven Murdoch who took a box of cuttings and produced this fascinating text. The modern photographs taken in the parish are all by Gordon Milne or Debra Storr. Debra also scanned Jim Forbes photographs, incorporated all the images into the text and did the final technical wizardry to bring this book to completion. Permission was granted to reproduce photographs of items from the parish by the Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen Historic Collections.
A copy of this book is being given to every household in the parish. The Community Council hopes you will enjoy dipping into the past and seeing the remarkable contribution Belhelvians have made to our heritage. Further copies to send to exiles far and wide can be obtained via the Community Council. Do send us anything you can add to this history and we shall publish as many as we can on our web site at http://www.belhelvie.org.uk.
Happy Millennium from Belhelvie Community Council.
Audrey Jeffries
Chair, Belhelvie Community Council
AUTHORS’ FOREWORD
We would like to thank the people of the parish of Belhelvie for all the information and material they provided us with in our research for this book. Our work simply could not have been done without their efforts. Jim Forbes at Eigie House provided the inspiration for the project through his collection of original photographs of parish life. The parish newsletters were especially useful in pointing us in the right direction for further research. We would also like to thank the staff of the Special Collections Library at Aberdeen University and, in particular, of the local history section at Old Meldrum Library for their help in retrieving all kinds of sources for this book. Dr. Harper and Dr. Mackillop of the History Department at Aberdeen University were also most helpful. It goes without saying that we have not accessed every piece of information relevant to Belhelvie parish, but we hope that what we have found proves a useful and interesting read to all who obtain a copy of this work.
There are many references to Belhelvie in several published works already. The main primary sources for the history of Belhelvie parish are the various Statistical Accounts, Great Seal, Privy Council and Kirk Session records for Scotland. In addition, secondary sources such as The Thanage of Fermartyn by Reverend William Temple and J.A. Henderson’s Aberdeenshire Epitaphs and Inscriptions contain much collated material. James Morrison created one of the most valuable visual sources of parish history. He lived from 1865 to1952, and ran a bicycle shop at Menie, but he was also an avid photographer. His 500 photographs was discovered in Stoneyards Farm near Balmedie were eventually presented to the Buchan Heritage Society.
Not every development in parish history has been discussed here. Rather an attempt has been made to portray the place Belhelvie had within wider Scottish history, as well as within her own local concerns. In particular it was not possible to list all the events of community life that modern times have brought. Suffice it to say that Belhelvie parish has moved with the times and seen the changes of any modern built-up area. It was necessary to choose a cut-off point for this historical perspective, and thus this history will only make brief references to events from the second half of the last century. It is probably impossible to please everybody’s idea of what a parish history should be, but it is hoped that most people will find something to enjoy in this book.
Alexia & Steve
Orrok, November 2000
murdochresearch@hotmail.com
LIST OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
THE ORIGINS OF BELHELVIE
THE BELHELVIE KIRKS
THE MINISTERS OF BELHELVIE NORTH KIRK
MEDIEVAL BELHELVIE
SOCIAL HISTORY
THE COVENANTING MOVEMENT, 1638-1649
BELHELVIE AND THE MILITARY
LANDOWNERSHIP IN BELHELVIE
SCHOOLING IN BELHELVIE
LOCAL INDUSTRIES
BELHELVIE PARISH IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Appendix 1 : In Memoriam Rev. William Thomson, late minister of the parish of Belhelvie
Appendix 2: The Bonnie House o Airlie
Appendix 3: Memorial to the fallen
Select Bibliography
Endnotes - Sorry - while Alexis and Steve meticulously referenced the book, we have been unable to reproduce those references here.
Text © A. Grosjean and S. Murdoch 2000 Photographs of beakers, torc and kayak © and reproduced with kind permission of Marischal Museum, University of Aberdeen Historic Collections
Modern photographs © Gordon Milne and Debra Storr
Old local photographs © Jim Forbes
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission from the publishers or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Designs and Patterns Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.