This is a short and very incomplete list of some of the sources of Strathnairn history. We are always adding to it but we trust that what we have here will help you get started with your research into the heritage of Strathnairn.

The following list is far from comprehensive, but contains some of the material we have found useful over the years. Most of these references can be found at Highland Council Archives (appointment necessary), or the Reference Section at the Main Library in Inverness at Farraline Park.

PRIMARY SOURCES:

Census records, which were gathered every ten years from 1841, and are publicly available after one hundred years. These provide a snapshot of people living in Strathnairn at the time of the census, and in many cases whole families can be traced through these. Occupations, ages and family relationships are given.

Vital records: births, baptisms and marriages can be found in parish records, but these are sadly incomplete in the case of Daviot and Dunlichity. These were not compulsory, so many events were never recorded. Births from 1774-1819; marriages, 1774-1824; births 1820-1854; marriages, 1820-1836 From 1855, registration of deaths was compulsory. At one time there was a registrar in Farr.

Kirk Session minutes: April 1777 to May 1835 – but blank December 1788 – May 1834.

School Board Minutes: for the Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity. The Education Act of 1872 made good primary schooling compulsory throughout Scotland, and School Boards were set up in each parish to supervise the building and running of schools which replaced the good but haphazard parish/church schools which existed previously. These minutes provide a fascinating record of this time of burgeoning education.

Mackintosh of Mackintosh Muniments: these estate papers are held at the Scottish Record Office, but Highland Archives holds an index. The Mackintosh Estate included the major part of Daviot.

Plans of the Estates of Gask and Inverernie: held at Inverness Museum

Ordnance Survey Maps: early editions of these are interesting in the extreme, being the first attempt to map the whole of Britain in a systematic way and with typical Victorian thoroughness. Comparison of the first and second editions (c 1870s and 1900s) provide much information as to the changes taking place at this time.

Ordnance Survey name books: these list all the places on the OS maps, with a description of the place, sometimes the meanings of the Gaelic words, and always the names of the local authorities consulted.

Register of Sasines, Burgh Court Records: These exist for Inverness and the surrounding area, and many references to Strathnairn can be found in them, land ownership transfers, court cases etc.

Post Office Records: these are to be found in the Post Office Archives in London

Highland Railway Records: these are now in the Scottish Record Office.

Commissioners for Roads and Bridges: these records are available locally, and contain references to Strathnairn.

Other Associations specific to Strathnairn have existed, and in some cases still exist. There were branches of the WRI in Strathnairn. There is a Strathnairn Farmers Association. There is a Strathnairn Community Council. There are Halls at Daviot and Farr, with Committees of Management. All these would have had/have records, but inspection of these is at the discretion of the association concerned.

SECONDARY SOURCES:

Clan Chattan Journals:

Many other references in the transactions of the Inverness Field Club, particularly, 1876 excursion to Strathnairn,1877 excursion to Craggie, 1890 excursion to Duntelchaig, 1891 excursion to Duntelchaig and Dunlichity, 1894 Leanach and Daviot and those of the Inverness Gaelic Society, especially Place names in the Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity, Rev Macpherson, 1955 and Poems and Fragments of poetry of Strathnairn, Andrew Cumming

Stuart Farrell: Dunlichity Churchyard, a survey of its memorials, 1997

Bishop Forbes: Journals of the Episcopal Visits of the Rt Rev Robert Forbes in 1762 and 1770, 1886

James Fraser: Strathnairn in the Olden Times, Inverness Gaelic Society Transactions, 1883.

Charles Fraser-Mackintosh: Confederation of Clan Chattan, the MacBeans of Faillie, the MacPhails of Inverarnie.

Charles Fraser-Mackintosh: Minor Septs of Clan Chattan, 1898

Charles Fraser-Mackintosh: the MacGillivrays of Dunmaglass, Inverness Gaelic Society Transactions, 1894.

Alexander Gordon: Statistical Account of the United Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity (known as the first statistical account, and reproduced on our website) 1793

I F Grant: Along a Highland Road, 1980

A. R. B. Haldane: New Ways through the Glens, 1962

Thomas Dick Lauder: An Account of the Great Floods of 1829, 1873

William Mackay: A famous minister of Daviot, Michael Fraser, 1672-1726, Inverness Gaelic Society Transactions, 1886

Alexander Mackintosh: Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan, 1903

Mrs Mackintosh of Mackintosh: The Clan Mackintosh and Clan Chattan, 1948

James Macphail: New Statistical Account of the Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity (also reproduced on the website), 1845

Rev. Macpherson: Account of the Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity (the third statistical account and also on the website)

William MacQueen: Tales from Dunlichity, edited by Charles Fraser Larimer, 2001

Edward Meldrum: From the Nairn to Loch Ness

O.S. Nock: The Highland Railway, 1973

Rev. Lachlan Shaw: History of the Province of Moray, with a section on the Parish of Daviot and Dunlichity.

Major Charles Shaw-Mackenzie: History of Clan Shaw.