Parish Number - 104
Births: (Film # 990713) 1775 to 1854
Marriages: (Film # 990713 ) 1780 to 1854
Census: 1841 (Film #1042639), 1851 (Film #1042066), 1861 (Film #103835)
1871 (Film #103999), 1881 (Film #203424), 1891 (Film #208640)Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, 1868
LAGGAN, a highland parish, comprising the south-west of the district of Badenoch, in
Inverness-shire. It has a post-office of its own name. 11 miles from Kingussie. It is bounded on the south by Perthshire, and on the other sides by the parishes of Kilmonivaig, Boleskine and Kingussie. Its extent from north to south, and also from east to west, is about 22 miles; but only a tract of about 3 miles in breadth contains nearly all the inhabitants. The general surfaces wildly and confusedly mountainous, consisting of a congeries of lofty, heathy, barren heights, of gloomy aspect, looking as if huddled together, or heaped up summit on summit, yet plentifully intersected by corries, ravines narrow glens, the beds of lakes, and the upper part of the valley of the Spey. The uplands, for the most part, are dismal to the eye, and of very small economical value; but the inhabited parts,
together with the hill slopes adjacent to them, are pleasant and beautiful, comparatively fertile in soil, and affording some noble expanses of picturesque scenery. The central
Grampians, overhanging Loch Ericht, are on the southern border; the Monadhleadh mountains, in their alpine heights around The sources of the Spey, are on the northern border; and the mountains which flank Loch Laggan, and form the watershed between Badenoch and Lochaber, are on the west… Thousands of springs rise among the uplands, forming considerable brooks; and these are ever liable to be suddenly swollen by heavy rainfalls, into voluminous torrents… The landowners are Baillie of Kingussie, Macpherson of Cluny and Macpherson of Glentruim… The parish is in the presbytery of Abertarff
And synod of Glenelg. The parish church was built in 1842… The ancient church of Laggan is supposed to have been dedicated to St. Kenneth. The ruins of it are still to be seen at the head of Loch-Laggan, 7 miles to the west of the present church."-Kirk Session Records
The Kirk Session of a parish consists of the the minister of the parish and the elders of the congregation. It looks after the general well-being of the congreation and, particularly in centuries past, church discipline within the parish. These records can sometimes provide invaluable information that is available nowhere else. An example would be the case of an illegitimate child. In many cases, the fornication resulting in the birth of the child would be a matter of church discipline and would thus be recorded in the minutes of the Session. It has been known ot occur that the parish register recorded the name of the mother of an illegitimate child in error, such error being brought to light by examing the Kirk Session records dealing with the birth of the child. There is also a possibility that other valuable information concerning the parents might be contained in the Kirk Session records. Kirk Session records are generally held at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburg. These records have not in most cases beeen microfilmed by the LDS Church.
Kirk Session Minutes are available for the Parish of Laggan for the periods of October 1775 to May 1819 and December 1827 onwards.
