A name firmly rooted in North East Scotland.
We know from our late father, Ian Pirie, and from our researches, that our family were fishermen involved in the herring industry. In the Scottish censuses 1851-1901, the occupations of four generations of our Pirie family are recorded as either 'fisherman' or 'whitefisher' (a fisher of whitefish like Haddock) in the fishing village of Portknockie overlooking the Moray Firth, approximately midway between Fraserburgh and Inverness.
According to the UCL Surname Profiler, 1881 census data indicate that the highest concentration of the surname 'Pirie' was to be found in North East Scotland with the second highest concentration on the East coast, whereas data from the 1998 electoral register show the surname dispersed across the whole of Scotland; the highest concentration still in the North East, but the second highest in the Orkney and Caithness area. The dispersal of the Pirie surname from North East Scotland to the Orkney and Caithness area is consistent with the development of the herring industry and its ports in the North East and North of Scotland.
Work on our family history was started in 1998 by Neil's brother, Cameron Pirie, tracing five generations of our Pirie line.
Neil then set about collecting documentary evidence from photographs, censuses, statutory registrations of births, marriages and deaths, and then Old Parochial Records (OPRs) using the research centre of the Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society (ANESFHS). In doing so, the Pirie line has been extended and documented. Other related family lines are being documented too.
All our research is contained in 'The Master Genealogist' (TMG), the excellent genealogy package from Wholly Genes Software. The presentation of our family history data on this website has been realised using 'Second Site 8' by John Cardinal.
Obviously the information provided is not exhaustive as this is very much work in progress. Where possible we have referred to original sources of information to make sure that our Pirie lines of decent are 'proven' and that events have been recorded in TMG as accurately as we can. As work progresses further, we will periodically add new information and photographs to the site.
For guidance on using this site, please refer to the Get started page.
On the Charts page you can explore the drop chart of our great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather George Pirie and his descendants, as well as drop charts for related families.
On the Calendar page you can browse a calendar of anniversaries of births, marriages and deaths of those shown on this website.
If you have any comments or queries, or if you have ancestors shown on my site, I'd love to hear from you. You can either click the Neil Pirie link at the bottom of any family history page to create a new e-mail message, or use one of the Contact us links on the main site.
View recent updates that have been made to Person Pages on this site in the last 3 months.
Family History data were last updated on 9 November 2024.