Borders Family History Society

Polwarth

Polwarth is a centrally situated Parish in the County of Berwick being bounded on the north by the Parish of Langton, on the east by the Parish of Fogo, on the south by the Parish of Greenlaw and on the west by the Parishes of Longformacus and Langton.

Old Parish Birth Records exist from 1652 to1688 and from 1747 to 1854.
Marriage Records from 1652 to 1688 , 1748 to 1772 and from 1824 to 1853.
Death records exist from 1652 to 1688 and from 1748 to 1772.

Sales List;

1841 census Polwarth.
1851 census Polwarth.
1861 census Polwarth.
Polwarth Memorial Inscriptions Vol.1 Berwickshire, edited by Elspeth Ewan 1995 (includes Hearth Tax and Poll Tax transcriptions, Militia List, list of Ministers and War Memorial transcription).
Polwarth Mortcloth Records 1755 to 1772 by Nigel Hardie.

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

Polwarth 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 Directory of Berwickshire 1903.
County Directory of Scotland 1912 - Borders Towns and Villages.
Historic Memoirs of Coldstream Abbey by W. B. Turnbull 1850 (contains Charters and early history of Polwarth).

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
A forgotten village-Huguenot refugees at Polwarth	The story of the Huguenot refugees who landed at Berwick on Tweed and travelling inland alighted on this secluded spot to settle there, is known, perhaps only by their descendants.	3 pages or more	6	Colin Wood
Know your Parish-Polwarth	Description of the village of Polwarth, its history, the inhabitants, and their occupations.	1 page or more	28
Polwarth on the Green	A history of Polwarth that was handed out by Colin Wood on the outing to Polwarth, Oct 1988.	1 page or more	8	Colin Wood
Extracts from Dunse Barony Records	Extracts from the author's book, Dunse Barony Records, in the 1760s.	2 pages or more	68	Ronald Morrison

Map of Polwarth 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 Polwarth monumental inscriptions volume are (number of gravestones in brackets): AITCHISON (8), JEFFREY (7), MOFFAT (7), ALLAN (6), HUME (6), VIRTUE (6), WATSON (6), JOHNSTON (5), LILLIE (5), NISBET (5), HUME-CAMPBELL (4), WINTER (4), JAFFRAY (4), DODS (4), HENDERSON (3), PURVES (3), MCDOUGAL (3), LAUDER (3), WILSON (3), WEBSTER (3).

Other Records;

Polwarth; The Historic Kirk, Parish and Village by Marga Hall, Margaret Totty and Tom Fleming 1997.
Marchmont and the Humes of Polwarth by Margaret Warrander 1894 - William Blackwood and Sons Edinburgh.

The Scottish National Archives Edinburgh hold the following records;

Polwarth Parish Church;

Minutes 1652 to 1668 - ref; CH2/721.

also the following MAP;

1731 Plan of Greenlaw and Polwarth Commons ref; RHP 224/1.

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

Polwarth Public School Log Book 1900-1963 Ref; B/ED/2/4.
School Board minute books 1873 to 1919 ref; B/ED/1/7.
School daily registers 1953 to 1962 ref; B/ED/9/1.

Berwickshire Naturalists' Club has published the following articles;

Vol. 28 Notes on the Polwarth Font by J. W. M. Loney.
Vol. 29 Polwarth Church by the Rev W. E. Grimwood.
Vol. 29 Patrick Hume concealed.
Vol. 29 Green, Thorn and Church visited.
Vol. 36 Polwarth Church (available in Society Archives).
Vol. 36 Ministers of the 17th. century.
Vol. 40 Polwarth Parish school.

Dunse History Society holds the following;

Various photographs of Polwarth Church and Marchmont House.
An account of life at John Watson's School evacuated to Marchmont House Polwarth during the Second World War.

The Southern Annual has published the following article;

1951 - A forgotten village - Huguenot Refugees at Polwarth (available in Society Archives).

Websites;

A History of Marchmont House.

Gavinton, Fogo and Polwarth Village Website

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

Second Statistical Account by the Revs. Mr. Robert and Walter Hume (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: Polwarth, Polwarth Mill, Polwarth Rhodes, Mount Robert, Charterdeanford, Cothill, Marchmont.
1851 Census: Polwarth, Polwarth Mill, Polwarth Rhodes, Mount Robert, Cothill, Charterford, Marchmont.
1861 census: Polwarth, Polwarth Mill, Mount Robert, Murrlyrigg, Marchmont, Cothill.

Population;

The population has been recorded as follows:1755 - 251, 1793 - 288, 1801 - 291, 1811 - 307, 1821 - 298, 1831 - 288 1841 - 260, 1851 - 331, 1861 - 251 1881 - 222.