Banffshire


Banffshire is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest community is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray Firth to the north, Morayshire and Inverness-shire to the west, and Aberdeenshire to the east and south.

Local government council

Between 1890 and 1975 the County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, had its own county council. In 1975 Banffshire was abolished for the purpose of local government and its territory divided between the local government districts of Moray and Banff and Buchan, which lay within the Grampian region. In 1996, the Grampian region was abolished, and the area now lies within the council areas of Moray and Aberdeenshire.

Geography

Banffshire consists of a segment of coast along the Moray Firth from Spey Bay to Cullaykhan Bay, the immediate hinterland, plus a long, tapering 'tail' stretching inland for around or so, thus giving the county a rather odd, elongated shape. The coastal section is fairly flat, with a large numbers of bays and headlands can be found on the border with Aberdeenshire. The county's largest lochs are also located in the far south, such as Loch Avon, Dubh Lochan, Lochan a' Bhainne, Lochan nan Gabhar and Loch Builg. The main rivers are the Deveron, Spey, Isla, Aven, Fiddich, Ailnach and Livet.

History

Considerable evidence of prehistoric human habitation exists particularly near the coastal area. For example, the Longman Hill cairn and Cairn Lee are situated in the northern portion of Banffshire in the vicinity of the Burn of Myrehouse.
Located in the area are the ruins of several medieval castles and the 12th century kirk of Gamrie.
The region remained largely Roman Catholic after the Reformation and suffered greatly in the ensuing struggles.
During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Banffshire was a Royalist stronghold.
Until 1891 the county contained various exclaves which were locally situated in Aberdeenshire, the biggest being the parish and village of St. Fergus.

Civil parishes

Civil parishes are still used for some statistical purposes, and separate census figures are published for them. As their areas have been largely unchanged since the 19th century this allows for comparison of population figures over an extended period of time.
From 1845 to 1930, parishes formed part of the local government system of Scotland, having parochial boards from 1845 to 1894.
  1. Aberlour
  2. Alvah
  3. Banff
  4. Bellie
  5. Boharm
  6. Botriphnie Drummuir
  7. Boyndie
  8. Cabrach
  9. Cullen
  10. Deskford
  11. Fordyce
  12. Forglen
  13. Gamrie
  14. Glass
  15. Grange
  16. Inveraven or Inveravon
  17. Inverkeithny
  18. Keith
  19. Kirkmichael
  20. Marlach or Marnoch
  21. Mortlach
  22. Rathven
  23. Rothiemay Milltown of Rothiemay
  24. Rothnie
  25. Ontiquhill or Ordiquhill

    Settlements

The Aberdeen–Inverness railway line runs through the town of Keith in the north of the county.

Architecture

Principal mansions

Principal mansions in Banffshire c. 1854 The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland Vol. I. by the Rev. John Marius Wilson lists the following :
Most common surnames in Banffshire at the time of the United Kingdom Census of 1881:
  1. Smith
  2. Grant
  3. Wilson
  4. Reid
  5. Watt
  6. Stuart
  7. Morrison
  8. Murray
  9. Cowie
  10. McDonald