Inverness-shire was and continues to be the home of several important clans, such as the McKenzies, the Frasers, the Grants, the McIntoshes, the McPhersons, the McGillivrays, the McBeans, the McQueens, the Davidsons, the Camerons, and other members of Clan Chattan. The burgh of Inverness was the administrative and commercial center for the county of Inverness-shire. The population of the burgh was around 10,000 in 1800 and rose to around 13,000 by mid-century.

The information herein is derived from a wide range of sources such as court records, contemporary newspapers and journals, monumental inscriptions, and documents found in archives. The published sources are worthy of special mention. The statistical Report of Scotland is a collection of reports by nearly 1,000 parish ministers compiled between 1791 and 1799. These reports cover a wide rage of topics for each parish, including geography, education, history, agriculture, shipping, population, and religious denominations. The Highland Clearances, from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, caused rural depopulation and a diaspora south to Lowland Scotland, England, North America, and Australasia, resulting in the New Statistical Report being compiled between 1832 and 1845. Finally, the publications of the Gaelic Society of Inverness cover a wide range of topics, most of which should be of interest to the family historian .