Why did your Ancestors settle in Banff
Old Parish Records
OPR's began in Banff in 1620. Banff is Parish no 147 in the County of Banff.
The Early Years
Banff is a sea port and as early as the 12th century it was part of the Northern Hanse, an alliance of leading mercantile towns. Banff Castle was built to guard the entrance to the harbour from Viking raids, and in the 12th century it served as a royal residence.
Monks from Arbroath built a Carmelite priory at Banff, and the houses that now stand on the south side of Carmelite Street are on former monastic land. There is a very fine merkat (market) cross, dating to at least the early 16th century, though the shaft upon which it stands was made around 1607.
The 1700 and 1800s
There are many examples of 17th century architecture surviving, but Banff's real claim to fame was as a fashionable 18th century resort town, and much of the period architecture dates to that time.
On Low Street, the Biggar Fountain stands on the spot where, in 1701, James McPherson played his fiddle in a last defiant act before he was executed for piracy.