I have a deep and ongoing interest in Maryculter and its history. This preoccupation began with research into a line of my ancestry which lived in the parish from at least the mid-18th century. My great-grandfather, Alexander Nicol, was born in Aberdeen in 1847, but grew up in Maryculter, the home parish of his mother, Rebecca Esson (ca1806-1888). Alexander lived with his uncle, Charles Esson, and tended cows on the farm in Westside as a boy. He later worked as a carpenter for John Duthie and Sons in Aberdeen before emigrating to America in May 1870.

In 1996-97, I took a year-long distance learning course from the University of Stirling which resulted in the Certificate in Scottish Family History Studies. The final paper I wrote for the course was published in 1999 by the Aberdeen and NE Scotland Family History Society as "Maryculter in the Eighteenth Century - Lairds, Kirk and People in a Lower Deeside Parish." By that time I had already embarked on a larger project regarding Maryculter - a complete verbatim transcript of the Maryculter parish registers from 1696 to 1855. To make the work more useful than other indexes to parish registers, complete everyname indexes for both personal names and place names have been compiled. The indexes, especially the name index, were then annotated by adding information about each person where it could be found. The additional information is drawn from the decennial censuses of 1841 to 1891, monumental inscriptions (gravestones), estate records and other miscellaneous sources. Some names in the index have no added notes as nothing further could be found, but many have extensive listings of further generations into the 20th century. Also included is information sent to me by others with Maryculter ancestry, as well as how to contact them by regular or email.

As this is being written, the completion of the book is drawing near and it will soon be turned over to the ANESFHS for publication. I did not plan to stop at this point as I have two more books about Maryculter in the planning stages. The second volume will be extracts of genealogical and local history interest from the Maryculter Kirk Session Records, which begin in 1719. To do the work required, I asked the National Archives of Scotland (formerly the Scottish Record Office) to microfilm the Kirk Session records for me and this they did on five rolls of microfilm. I expect to begin writing that volume when I return to my home in the U.S. after my present work in Oxford is finished in October. The third volume is planned as a detailed history of Maryculter and its people from the late Middle Ages up to about the end of the 19th century. It will be a few years before I begin work on that book, however, as I still have some research to do in the NAS and in the Aberdeen area.

Meanwhile, I enjoy my occasional visits to Aberdeen and the parishes along the Dee. I've walked some of the roads my ancestors walked and have gazed at their gravestones in both old and new Maryculter kirkyards, as well as others in Durris and Old Machar. I hope to continue to visit this beautiful and inspiring place for many years to come.

Norman D. Nicol, Ph.D.

Professional Genealogist/Family Historian

Specializing in NE Pennsylvania, England, esp. Cornwall and Scotland