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Borders Family History Society

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Our Exhibition, Archive and Search Room is open every Monday from 6pm to 8pm, and every Thursday from 10am to 4pm.

Gordon

Berwickshire map

Gordon is centrally situated in the County of Berwick being bounded on the north by the Parish of Greenlaw, on the east by the Parish of Hume, on the south by the Parish of Earlston and on the west by the Parishes of Legerwood and Westruther.

Old Parish Birth Records exist from 1652 to 1726 and from 1728 to 1854.
Marriage Records exist for the same periods.
Death Records exist from 1748 to 1753 and from 1784 to 1854.

Sales List

1841 census Gordon.
1851 census Gordon.
1861 census Gordon.
Gordon, Nenthorn and Westruther Memorial Inscriptions edited by Elspeth Ewan 1999 (contains Hearth Tax, Militia List, List of Ministers and transcription of the War Memorial).
Gordon Deaths 1818-1854 by Nigel Hardie.

See our sales list for full details and cost of postage.

Gordon Parish Church

Volumes available for consultation within our Archive;

Pre 1855 Memorial inscriptions of Berwickshire by David Cargill.
The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire by G.A.C. Binnie.
C.D. The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire by James Robson 1896.
Index to Particular Register of Sasines for Berwickshire.
Pigot's 1837 Directory of Berwickshire and Roxburghshire.
Rutherford's Southern Counties Register and Directory 1867.
C.D. Slater's History of Berwickshire 1903.
County Directory of Scotland 1912 - Borders Towns and Villages.

Magazine Articles;

Please note that the heading Author includes persons who have compiled or transcribed records; and that the topics indexed, and the synopses are subjective opinions.
See the Sales List to buy copies of the magazines containing articles in which you're interested.

Title	Synopsis	Size Description	Issue No	Author
Maxwellheugh Cottage - the biography of a house	A review of the families who had inhabited a house on the outskirts of Kelso.	8 pages or more	73	Isobel Gordon
The battle of Otterburn 600th Anniversary	The history of the battle of Otterburn and the families that took part, also, Walter Scotts version is different to that of the English version in The Chevy chase.	2 pages or more	8	Violet Jardine
A Cockburn Family in Berwickshire and Its Descendants - The Book	The author's Cockburn family history - mostly recent.	3 pages or more	24	Andrew Cockburn

Map of Gordon from Quarter-inch to the mile, Scotland, 1921-1923 or One-inch to the mile, Popular edition, Scotland, 1920-1930
by kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Use the control at the top left of the map to zoom in or out and drag the map left, right, up, or down as you wish.

20 Most Common Surnames

The 20 most common surnames on gravestones recorded by us in the Gordon, Nenthorn, & Westruther monumental inscriptions volume are (number of gravestones in brackets): HENDERSON (51), SCOTT (33), WOOD (24), ROBERTSON (22), MCDOUGAL (22), WILSON (22), PURVES (20), ALLAN (19), HOGARTH (19), BROWN (18), MURRAY (18), GIBSON (18), ANDERSON (17), WALDIE (17), JOHNSTON (17), HUNTER (17), PRINGLE (17), TROTTER (16), HAY (16), SMITH (16).

Scottish Borders Archives and Family History Centre, The Hub Hawick hold the following records;

Gordon Hospital Minute Book 1909 to 1930.
Gordon Schhol Board minutes 1873 to 1919.

The Scottish National Archives Edinburgh hold the following records;

1801,1811 and 1821 census records - ref CH2/457/2.

Gordon Parish Church;

Minutes 1652 to 1718 and 1818 to 1899.
Accounts 1690 to 1748 and 1753 to 1875.
Names of Heads of Families 1834 to 1842 - ref; CH2/457.

Gordon Free Church;

Roll of Children with Baptismal Dates.
Session Minutes 1844 to 1883.
Roll of Members 1843 to 1880.
Register of Deaths and Burials 1843 to 1887 - ref; CH3/165.

Berwickshire Naturalists' Club has published the following articles;

Vol. 9 Gordon - its Ministers.
Vol. 22 Gordon by the Rev. J Ritchie.
Vol. 28 Brumfields of Gordon.
Vol. 36 Ministers of the 17th. century.
Vols. 40 and 41 Gordon Parish School.

Websites;

First Statistical Account by the Rev. Mr. Alexander Duncan (click "browse scanned pages" and insert Parish name).

Second Statistical Account by the Rev. James Paterson (click "browse scanned pages" and insert Parish name).

RCHAMS website Scotland's Places contains details of;
Farm Horse tax 1797-1798.
Medical Officer's of Health Reports 1891.
Land Ownership Commission Report 1872 -1873. (available on C.D. in Society Archives).

Place and Farm names in Census Records;

1841 census: Gordon, Rumbletonlaw, Rumbleton, Bellitaw, Middlethird, Hexpath, Max Mill, Mid Mill, Nether Mill, Byrewalls, Anchor Hill, Moors, West Mains, Braefoot, Fawside, Greenknow, Easter Huntlewood, Wester Huntlewood, Bents.
1851 census: Gordon, Mains, Gordon Moor, Hexpeth, Maxmill, Fawside, Greenknow, Huntlywood, Anchorhill, Gordon Mill, Mid Mill, East Gordon, Rumbletonlaw, Rumbleton, Bellataw, Middlethird, Byrewalls.
1861 census: Gordon, Huntlywood, Bents, Greenknowe, Little Ireland, Maxmill, Rumbleton Law, Rumbleton, Hexpath, Fawside, East Mains, Gordon Mill, Byrewalls, Anchorhill, Middlethird, Bellata.

Population;

The population has been recorded as follows:1755 - 737, 1791 - 912, 1801 - 802, 1811 - 851, 1821 - 740, 1831 - 882, 1841 - 903, 1851 - 983 1861 - 931.