Dissenting Church Perth MacGregor/Cameron

[debi-robo]

I'm currently stuck at my ancestors Robert MacGregor (b. Abt 1781) and May Cameron (b.1781) who were married on 12th November 1802 by David Sangster minister of the dissenting congregation in Perth.
Robert is recorded as a weaver and May as the daughter of Daniel Cameron Slater both of this Parish.

Their daughter Isobell MacGregor (GGG Grandmother) was born 9th Dec 1803 and baptised 11th Dec 1803 by the David Sangster minister of the dissenting congregation in Perth.

I haven't been able to find any further information on Robert or May and have no idea really what the dissenting church was.

If anyone could explain the dissenting church to me and where I might look for more information? I would very deeply appreciative.

Many Thanks, Deb

[Forfarian]

Dissenting Church (or Secession Church) is a catch-all term covering any Presbyterian church other than the Church of Scotland. There were umpteen different varieties of dissenting church.

There's an article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scotland#/media/File:Reformed_Scots_Church_Denominations.svg incorporating a chart of some of the various splits and recombinations of the church in Scotland, but even that doesn't include all of them - it doesn't, for instance, mention Glassites or Bereans.

In Perth there is a former Glassite church. It was also known as the Kale Kirk, allegedly because the services were so long that they took a break part way through for a bowl of kale broth to sustain the faithful during the rest of the service. See https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2070014

Also https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2070014 for more background.

The Old Statistical Accounts usually say what dissenting or secession congregations there were in the parish. The Perth one is at https://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk/static/statacc/dist/viewer/osa-vol18-Parish_record_for_Perth_in_the_county_of_Perth_in_volume_18_of_account_1/