In the course of my research into the family history, I made transcripts of the Old Parish Records for Strathdon; Crathie and Braemar; Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn; and Auchterhouse, selecting those references to the name McHardy and those that are related in any way to the Ordachoy McHardy family. I then went on to do likewise for the Roman Catholic Registers for Braemar as well as the census records for the same parishes for some of the years 1841, 1851 and 1861. This page is the gateway to learning About the OPRs and the RC Registers; downloading transcripts of the OPRs, the RC Registers, and the census records; and viewing selections from the transcripts containing references to Ordachoy and Ordachoy-related McHardys.

Strathdon OPR 240
Crathie & Braemar OPR 183
Glenmuick, Tullich, Glengairn OPR 201
Auchterhouse OPR 273/4
RC Registers for Braemar
1841 Census for Strathdon, ED1
1861 Census for Strathdon, ED1
1841 Census for Glenmuick, Tullich &         Glengairn
1851 Census for Glenmuick, Tullich &         Glengairn
1841 Census for Crathie & Braemar
1851 Census for Crathie & Braemar

Downloading

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About the OPRs and the Roman Catholic Registers

In an effort to try to track down the parents and siblings of James of Ordachoy, I began what turned out to be a lengthy project. Starting with Strathdon OPR volume one and carrying on through volume four, I transcribed every reference to the name McHardy that I was able to find and decipher up to the year 1857. Still not having found James' origins, I moved on to transcribe McHardy references in the Crathie and Braemar OPRs, the Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn, and the Auchterhouse OPRs. I also went through the Roman Catholic Registers for Braemar and Glengairn. Unfortunately, I found no conclusive information; however, there are some tantalizing hints -- see Research Reports for more details.

But, all this effort has not gone to waste. With the kind permission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and of the Church of Scotland to make such publication, I have included every reference to Ordachoy and the Ordachoy-related McHardys on separate web pages, and have also made available for download the original transcriptions in .pdf format, for which you will need Adobe® Reader® . If you do not have this program on your system, you can download it for free from the Adobe® web site, the link to which is available by clicking on the button above. Until I determine the question of copyright ownership for the RC Registers, I am not making the RC transcripts available.

I have tried to transcribe the OPR and census records as accurately as possible, inserting a ? where a word is completely illegible and [?] where I have enough to work with to make a reasonable guess. Any notations I have made appear in square brackets: [...]. Andrew McHardy of the Corryhoul web site has kindly helped with place names in OPR 240/1, where illegibility, spelling, and, at times, an antiquated style of script make it particularly difficult to know what place name is referred to with absolute certainty. His comments appear in [blue]. To help other researchers locate specific entries, I have listed records in the order they appear in the original volumes and included section headings, notes, and other navigational pointers. Original entries in the OPRs are often not chronological in order, pages are sometimes mistakenly duplicated or are out of order, and some entries are duplicated between volumes. In some volumes I found I would get through to a certain year and then find myself back at the beginning year again.

I have also tried to make the transcripts as clear as possible; however, I cannot guarantee that I have not made mistakes, and some text is so difficult to read different people may decipher it in different ways. To ensure the accuracy of your own research, please make these transcripts a starting point and check them against the original records.

Strathdon OPR 240, volumes 1 through 4

My source for these volumes are the microfilms produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source call numbers 0102538 and 0993299, which are photographed copies of the original Parish Records held by the Register General for Scotland in Edinburgh. Microfilm 0102538 was filmed in 1952, and contains OPR 240 volumes 1 through 3. It has white text on black background, and is actually better to work from for volume one. Microfilm 0993299 contains all four volumes, but, filmed in 1978, has black text on white background and much of volume one is so faded out that it is totally illegible. I therefore worked with 0102538 for volume one and 0993299 for the other three.

Dates covered by each volume:

Crathie and Braemar OPR 183, volumes 1 and 2

My source for these volumes is the microfilm produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source call number 0993177, which is aphotographed copy of the original Parish Records held by the Register General for Scotland in Edinburgh. Microfilm 0993177 was filmed in 1978, and is black text on white background.

Dates covered by each volume:

Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn OPR 201, volumes 1 and 2

My source for these volumes is the microfilm produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source call number 0993189, which is a photographed copy of the original Parish Records held by the Register General for Scotland in Edinburgh. Microfilm 0993189 was filmed in 1978, and is black text on white background.

Dates covered by each volume:

Auchterhouse OPR 273/4

My source for these volumes is the microfilm produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source call number 0993409, which is a photographed copy of the original Parish Records held by the Register General for Scotland in Edinburgh. This microfilm was filmed in 1978. Published on the View Selections page are all the transcriptions I made for this parish; therefore, there is no need for a download file

Dates covered:

Register of Baptisms, Roman Catholic Congregation,
St. Andrew's Parish, Braemar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

My source for these volumes is the microfilm produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source call number 0873821, which is a photographed copy of the original Register of Christenings in the Roman Catholic Church of Braemar and Glengairn, as transcribed by Archibald Strath Maxwell, a professional genealogist, in 1969. A copy of the original Register is held in the Aberdeen City Library, in the RC Archives in Edinburgh, and by the Register General for Scotland in Edinburgh. Microfilm 0873821 was filmed in 1978, and is black text on white background.

Dates covered: