Replicated here with attached PDFs below , are the statistical accounts for Scotland with related extracts specific to Rosneath. The extracts provide a wealth of information on our community and their lives, during significant periods of our nation’s history, giving a wonderful insight of our community past. Read them and ask yourself how much our physical and social environment has changed and yet, how much still remains the same. The three ministers involved in the submissions for Rosneath have done a great job which has endured beyond their lifetime and will provide a memory of our community for centauries to come.
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland are a series of documentary publications, related in subject matter, published at different times that covered life in Scotland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Today these accounts may be considered a useful source of information about the Rosneath community of the past from the Age of the Enlightenment to the Post-war Britain
The information provided was based largely on information supplied by our parish [church] ministers who submitted rich and detailed parish reports on a wide variety of topics such as wealth; social structures; poverty; climate; agriculture; fishing and wildlife; religion; population; schools, and the social habits of the inhabitants of our community.
As a background, the statistical reports had an intent similar to the Doomsday book. Surveys were proposed by Sir John Sinclair, Member of Parliament for Caithness and supported by the Church of Scotland. Sinclair had been aware of the that the ‘Germans’ used it to provide a collection of facts about the political strength of their country leading up to the dissolution of the old Holy Roman Empire. Seeking a similar outcome for Scotland, Sinclair applied “statistical” methods (fancy new word at that time) to measure what was described as the quantum of happiness. Sinclair believed that by collecting information on the economic, social, and natural resources of Scotland, he could improve the happiness of the population of Scotland.
Three Statistical Accounts for Rosneath
The Old (First) and New (Second) Statistical Accounts, provided some of the best contemporary reports of life, crucial to the understanding or community and Scotland on the eve of the Scottish agricultural and Industrial Revolution; the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars .
Third Statistical Account, was started after the second world war and was considered more rigorous and wide-ranging than either of its predecessors, this time covering industry, transport, culture and demographics. Although submitted by our minister here in Rosneath, the submission was considered more secular than before some parts of the account continued to focus on religious life of our community.
Dates and Authors (Ministers)
The Old Statistical Account, was published between 1791 and 1799 with the Rosneath section covering up to 1790. It was submitted by the Rev. Dr George Drummond.DD., who ministered in Rosneath between 1766 and 1819.
The New Statistical Account was published between 1834 and 1845, with the Rosneath section dated May 1839. It was submitted the Rev. Robert Story, who ministered in Rosneath between 1819 and 1860.
The Third Statistical Account took a long time to complete in Scotland taking over forty years and was published between 1951 and 1992. The Rosneath submissions where first submitted in June, 1950, then revised again in 1952 and 1955. These were provided by the Rev. Dr. Cameron Dinwoodie Ph.D. who ministered in Rosneath between 1939 and 1956.