Scottish Genealogy
"Meat feeds, claith cleeds, but breedin maks the man"
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If your ancestors lived north of Hadrian's wall - whether Lowland, Highland, or the Islands - this page is for you.
Last updated 2nd August, 2007 |  |
 |  The Scottish family tree detective : tracing your ancestors in Scotland, by Rosemary Bigwood. (2006).A practical, user-friendly guide to researching your family history in Scotland.... It shows how to make the most of research resources and catalogues of collections held in archives and libraries, both online and on paper. Emphasis is laid on locating, selecting, evaluating and using sources, as well as finding out what is locally available and what is kept in Scottish central archives. Guidance is given on how to keep records and make a research plan. Other sections look at topics such as birth, marriage and death, how to use the core sources of statutory registers, census returns and parish registers. (book jacket).
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 | Scottish roots : the step-by-step guide to tracing your ancestors, by Alwyn Jones. (2002). A step-by-step guide to tracing Scottish ancestry, using an example of two Scots trying to discover their roots. Jones covers how to start the research process and gradually layer up a picture of the overall family tree. |
 | Discovering your Scottish ancestors : how to find and record your unique heritage, by Linda Jonas & Paul Milner. (2002). One of the more up-to-date resources, it assumes living outside Scotland in the "electronic era". Definitely written from a practical point of view, rather than theoretical, Jonas and Milner step the reader through the records of an actual family to illustrate how it can be done. |
 | Tracing your Scottish ancestry, by Kathleen Cory. (1996). Although this is becoming a little dated now in terms of electronic sources, this is still a recommended guide because of its approach. It is very readable with many helpful tips, and lessons from the author's experience. All the usual sources are covered but particularly useful are the many appendices - especially one which describes step by step she pieced together generations working backwards from the known, sketching the stories even from scant official records. This methodology is particularly helpful for the beginning researcher, making sense of the often long lists of sources which some other books favour.
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 | Ancestral trails : the complete guide to British genealogy and family history, by Mark D. Herber. (1997) Again, although getting a little dated now, if its helpful to have Scotland within its wider British context, much information can be found in this 674 page tome.
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Gathering the clans : tracing Scottish ancestry on the Internet, by Alan Stewart. (2004)As the title suggests, this has an emphasis on using the internet as a tool for tracing your Scottish heritage.
Going abroad, by John MacGibbon. (1997)
Although this is the story of MacGibbon family who emigrated to Otago and Southland, this well-illustrated book contains many historical examples of documents of the time (1840s-1860s). Examples include NZ Company advertisements, food rations on board ship, all which contribute to painting a slice of life - why people came, and what they encountered en route and here.
A fascinating thematic atlas reflecting surveys on agriculture, crime, education, law, marine, military and naval, Poor Law and pauperism, politics, population, religion, etc. To consult this book ask at the Second Floor Desk, Central Library. It cannot be borrowed. |
Scottish genealogist, (magazine).
Scots link, (magazine).
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Official state records didn't commence until 1855. Before this date, the best 'single' source is the Old Parochial Registers (OPRs), compiled from the Church of Scotland parish books, and the index can be found as part of the International Genealogical Index. There are now a range of ways of accessing this information and which you select is likely to depend on the stage of your research and the depth of your pockets.
When beginning, the simplest access for this is via the free Church of the Latter Day Saints Family History Search Service. Obviously it's not comprehensive, and there are whole books devoted to its foibles, not the least of which is spelling by the (often) English registrar of unfamiliar accents, but its a very good place to start. You can either just rely on the index, or go one step further to view the actual register (which does contain more information such as witnesses).
Viewing the registers:
a) Online access via Scotland's people is the official government source of genealogical data for Scotland as the General Register Office of Scotland site. Use to access details of records post 1855, but it also contains the OPRs to provide complete coverage.
Most of the OPR information appears as transcripts, although the project to digitise the actual registers is well underway.
It costs 6 pound to search for 48 hours for 30 "page credits". From the search results you may view, save and print images. To view an image costs five credits.b) Microfilms of Old Parish Registers ordered via the Family History Search Service (Church of Latter Day Saints, Hataitai). It may be more laborious, and time-consuming, but does have other advantages, such as cost (a microfilm roll which may contain a whole register) costs about $5 for viewing.
 | SCOTLANDS PEOPLE TIP Charging is based on the number of pages actually displayed, not on the number of records retrieved. Each time you do a search, you are told how many records have been found. Before displaying the records, you have the opportunity to re-define, and narrow the search, without displaying the results. By juggling search parameters e.g. date, do consider re-defining the searches, to maximise what can be determined without downloading spurious results needlessly. |
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From 1841 there were national censuses every ten years - 1851, 1861 etc. There were isolated pockets of earlier censuses, but usually these were counts rather than detailed dwelling and individual records of these years. Scotland'speople now includes 1901 Census information.
Treat "exact" ages given in the census cautiously, particularly in the earlier ones. Both the occupants and/or the officials had a tendency to round ages up or down, seemingly without any reason other than that was 'close enough'.
| HOT TIP Although it is by no means complete, a free census record site is available at http://freecen.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl - FreeCEN. More records are being uploaded by volunteers regularly. Standard search options are available. |
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For actual death records after 1855, see something like Scotland's people, which includes up to 1952.
Deaths are more rarely recorded in the Old Parochial Registers. A more common source is the cemetery records, usually referred to MIs, or monumental inscriptions. These are for sale very cheaply from the Scottish Genealogy Society Online Shop . [Note that some societies have excellent indexes that you can try before buying, though. In addition, historians and genealogical society volunteers have spent much energy transcribing many cemeteries and many are available directly on the internet - so its also worthwhile doing a general internet search for your parish or district. Just put keyword details e.g. Rousay cemeteries, into a search engine like Google .
Wills are also available via the Family Search Service of the Church of the Latter Days Saints, but increasingly are available from Scottish Documents Online.
They offer free access to a fully searchable index of over 350,000 Scottish wills and testaments dating from 1500 to 1875 (soon to be extended to 1901) with a copy for sale at 5GBP per document. They also hold many other court records.
Examples of wills include -
Dundee Wills, Inventories and Confirmations, 1832-1875 (SC45/31/1-26)
Kirkwall Wills, Inventories and Confirmations, 1827-1875 (SC11/38/1-8)
Lerwick Inventories, 1827-1875 (SC12/36/1-6)
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Handwriting
Even when in English, some early documents can be impossible to decipher!
Scottishhandwriting.com is a website offering online tuition in palaeography for historians, genealogists and other researchers who have problems reading manuscript historical records written in Scotland in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The emphasis of the website is on practical help, with tutorials and a weekly tip.
Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic has similarities to the other Celtic languages, such as Irish, so that some understanding is possible.
Scots
Like English, Scots stems from Anglo Saxon. It is spoken in Lowland Scotland. A passing understanding of it may help unravel some old handwriting or inventive spellings in documents! Sites can be viewed in Scots or English.
Scots Language Resource Centre .
Scots Online .
Online dictionary of Scots, Dundee University.
 | Luath Scots language learner : an introduction to contemporary spoken Scots, by L. Colin Wilson. (2002). The book assumes no prior knowledge on the reader's part as they are guided step-by-step through vocabulary and the subtleties of grammar and idiom that distinguish Scots from English. |
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Marriages can be searched for in the same way as births, as above - via the OPRs (IGI) until 1855.
Historically, although monogamy and marriage was vital, the actual 'wedding' in Scotland has never been afforded the lofty sacramental status as elsewhere, even if performed in the Kirk. For example, it was common to be married at home (by the minister), with a separate Kirk service at another time. Moreover women often retained their "maiden name".
In the parochial registers you may find several stages or just one of the following recorded in the Register of Marriages :
1. The "Consignation of Pledges" - pledge by the couple that (a) they would definitely marry, and (b) that they would abstain from sexual relations until that marriage. This practice had largely died out by the start of the 19th century.
2,3,4 The "Proclamations". (similar to the banns) Sometimes more than one is recorded on the same date - if there was a risk that a child might be born before 9 months had elapsed, the Kirk might be
persuaded to make more than one on the same day (for a fee, of course).
5 The marriage itself. Sometimes there can be two dates recorded for one "marriage" if the bride and groom were from different parishes.
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The UK National Archives holds discharge papers for soldiers who were discharged to pension from 1760-1913. They are held in the WO 97 series (where WO stands for War Office). You can search the catalogue online. Use the form to order the actual records if you wish, although there may be sufficient information in the index as it lists place of birth, age at discharge, regiment, and dates of service.
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| NAMING PATTERNS in SCOTLAND | ||||||
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| This was usually not followed slavishly, as there are a lot of exceptions, but it can be a very useful tool in working back through the generations. For example, when you have found a family in a Census (so you know the names of the children), but you can't at first distinguish the birth records of the parents, because there is a choice in the IGI. The ones sharing the children's names are more probably the ones.
From this point often the pattern is to go in turn through parent's brothers and sisters in order of age (i.e. 4th son is usually father's oldest brother). However, it is common for the pattern to break down from the fourth child onwards, and by the time one gets to the 12th child they may have searched rather further afield for names! The naming pattern is also one reason that there may be more than one child with the same name, particularly if the earlier child died. The second child is not likely to be named after the earlier child per se, but to keep the grandparent's name pattern intact. Also, what we might regard as variants of the same name may occur within the one family if the grandmothers/mother also share the one name. Another common naming practice was for the mother's family name to be given to all the children in addition to the above e.g. Annie Mackie Fyfe, Susan Mackie Fyfe. As long as this is treated as a series of clues (which need to be verified) then the naming pattern can save a lot of time.
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A genealogical gazetteer of Scotland : an alphabetical dictionary of places..., compiled by Frank Smith (1971).
Essential reference source to track down those tiny districts, or where names have changed over time. Population data is given based on the 1851 Census.
Gazetteer for Scotland
Historical Maps series
Modern street maps of Scotland
Land "interest" was recorded in Sasines at any time, but rarely in Wills. ("interest" is a better term than ownership.) When land interest was transferred in Scotland, the transaction was recorded in the Registers of Sasines. From 1617 to 1868 there was a General Register of Sasines for property anywhere in Scotland, and Particular Registers of Sasines for the lands belonging to each district. They contains all the recorded Minutes (precis of deeds) in chronological order so it can provide a history of a property, eg its owners, charges, mortgages, etc.
| HOT TIP Sasines indexes and records are available through the Family History Centres at the Church of the Latter Day Saints, which have copies from the National Archives of Scotland. |
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Ships and passengers from Scotland to New Zealand.
Excellent site with many further helpful links.
White Wings, by Henry Brett. (1924). 2 vols.
If you're looking for more details about the ship and voyages, then this is a great starting place. Most ships have a photograph, and approximately one page of information.
More information can be found on our Early Shipping page featuring books from our Stack. Particularly The colonial clippers.
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Statistical Accounts of Scotland
These were a series of very detailed accounts prepared in 1799 and 1845 for each parish. A mine of social history information, containing details such as topography and natural history (including geology, botany, zoology - such as lists of birds), civic history - "eminent men", land-owners, buildings, population, industry, livestock and produce, economy, church and other sundry titbits e.g. 1845 Methlick (Aberdeenshire) reads "In 1841 a parish library was instituted for the purpose of affording instructive and religios reading to the parishioners. There were about 80 subscribers, and nearly 400 volumes."
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 | Tartan : the Highland Habit, by Hugh Cheape. (2006). Hugh Cheape, Head of the Scottish Material Culture Research Centre at the National Museums of Scotland, explores the story of tartan from the medieval love of display to the Victorian invention of exclusive clan identity. With the spotlight also thrown on Bonnie Prince Charlie's kilt and 'ancient' tartans, the history of the Highlands and its society is brought vividly to life. A revised edition of a classic text, this book contains a full-colour section on clan tartans, with useful historical information to find our more about your own tartan, and family history and genealogy. (book jacket) |
Collins Scottish clan & family encyclopedia, [compiled and edited by] George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire. (1994).
One of the advantages of this books is that it is not simply restricted to a few Highland familiies. There is a lending as well as reference copy at the Central Library. There are many other books on tartans shelved at 929.8 .
Tartans of Scotland - the definitive guide.
Complete Register of all Publicly Known Tartans online, which includes details and images of over 2800 tartans, together with a search facility and important tartan information such as making, wearing, reading and history of the tartan.
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Remember! A huge amount of the WWW is American. Bear this in mind when subscribing to some sites which advertise the ability to search zillions of international names. Very few of them will be Scottish.
FamilySearch, including Scottish OPRs, and 1881 British Census (but not Scotland, despite appearances).
Scotland on GENUKI
As well as national family history resources, provide wonderful county level access.
ScottishDocuments
Free access to the index of Scottish wills and testaments from 1500-1875. Many other "FAQ" and help pages.
Cyndi's List for Scotland
Major internet directory. Also - Cyndi's List - Scotland County Index .
The best overall genealogical website directory has recently overhauled its Scottish section to provide a better directory by Scottish County.
and Scottish sayings
Transcripts of Various Acts of Parliament of interest to the Genealogist.
Full texts of various Acts relating to birth, deaths and marriages.
Occupations List.
A list of over 800 occupations, their definitions and variants, taken directly from the index to Scottish Wills and Testaments 1500-1875.
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 | Newsplan 2000 project. MORE than 600 Scottish newspaper titles have been successfully preserved as part of an ambitious archiving campaign by the National Library of Scotland. Although not available on the Internet, microfilms and readers have been widely distributed around Scotland and the UK with selected titles. Use the links on this site to find titles and locations which include Aberdeen, Angus, Argyll & Bute, Dundee, East & North Ayrshire, Edinburgh City, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, Midlothian, North & South Lanarkshire, Orkney, Perth & Kinross, Renfrewshire, St Andrews University, Stirling, West Dumbartonshire, West Lothian for regional access. |
