The Baptismal Diary of the Rev. William Inglis

William Inglis was born in 1741, in Leslie, Fife, and was ordained as minister over the First United Associate Congregation of Dumfries in 1765.  Known as the Loreburn Church, the first minister was the Rev. Thomas Herbertson. William Inglis, the second minister, was to remain as minister to the congregation for 62 years.  He was also Moderator of the United Associate Church, which covered an area from Stranraer to Whitehaven.
The inscription on his monument in St.Michael’s Kirkyard reads:
"He was possessed of an amiable temper, and of a peculiar suavity of manners,  which endeared him to all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance; as a minister he was a fearless reprover of vice, a faithful promoter of virtue, assiduous and punctual   in the discharge of his various duties; he was a steady and sincere friend, a loving and affectionate husband, a tender father, an exercised Christian, and an honest man."

Robert Burns, whose family pew was at St. Michael’s, was often present at Mr Inglis’s sermons.  When asked why, he replied “I go to hear Mr Inglis because he preaches what he believes, and practises what he preaches”
This diary begins in 1765 and ends in 1808.  The book has Session Minutes at one end, and this Diary at the other.  It has obviously been copied from a “working” Diary, some entries are out of sequence, in several cases the names have been forgotten.  All baptisms are by The Reverend William Inglis unless stated.

Many names are spelt phonetically, and should be understandable to the reader:
For e.g.  Muswald = Mouswald
One exception may be “Nockenshang” = Knockenshang, now buried deep inside the Ae Forest.
Urr Congregation of the United Association Church
This register has been kept by the Session Clerk and covers the period 1824 to 1840 plus a page of marriages dated 1817 to 1825 and a separate list of the family of William McGeorge.
Although there is significantly less information given than in the record of Mr Inglis, it does contain marriages as well as baptisms.  The register is written almost completely in the style :
            Aug 20  baptised a child to James Murray  Dalbeattie   named John
 
In an attempt to make the register easier to understand it has been transcribed thus:
            20/8/1824 John Murray, son to James Murray, Dalbeattie.
 The marriages have been left almost intact.
Transcribed by Ian A McClumpha and Alison Etchells
Home Website Owner :  Ian McClumpha  : imchad@freeola.com Last modified: September 05, 2005 About IMCHAD Ancestry