Rosemary Kopittke  A partnership between ◦ the National Records of Scotland, ◦ The Court of the Lord Lyon and ◦ brightsolid (formerly Scotland.

Download Report

Transcript Rosemary Kopittke  A partnership between ◦ the National Records of Scotland, ◦ The Court of the Lord Lyon and ◦ brightsolid (formerly Scotland.

Rosemary Kopittke

A partnership between
◦ the National Records of Scotland,
◦ The Court of the Lord Lyon and
◦ brightsolid (formerly Scotland Online)

ScotlandsPeople is the official online source
of parish register, civil registration, census
and wills & testaments records for Scotland


Containing around 80 million records, the
ScotlandsPeople database is one of the
world’s largest resources of genealogical
information and one of the largest single
information resources on the Web
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Princes Street, Edinburgh


Statutory registers (General Register Office)
Church records (Old Parochial Registers)
◦ including Catholic Parish Registers



Census
Wills & Testaments
Coats of Arms



Births 1855-2009
Marriages 1855-2009
Deaths 1855-2009
Civil registration started in 1855 – much later
than in England, about the same time as New
South Wales



To respect privacy of living people, internet
access for images has been limited to
birth records over 100 years old
marriage records over 75 years
death records over 50 years
Mother's maiden surname appears on most
original statutory deaths register entries (if
known by the informant).
However, it was not captured on the index to
statutory deaths until 1974.
They are now starting to index the mother’s
maiden surname – partially done 1855-c1865

Births
◦ Gave parents ages and birthplaces
◦ Number of other issue living and deceased

Deaths
◦
◦
◦
◦

Place of birth
Details of marriage
Burial place
List of all issue – living and deceased
Marriages
◦ Gave places of both present and usual residences
◦ Details of former marriages
◦ Number of children by each former marriage, living and
deceased







Old Parochial Registers (OPR)
Births and Baptisms 1538-1854
Banns and Marriages 1538-1854
Deaths and Burials 1538-1854
Catholic Parish Registers – including the records
of the RC Bishophric of the Forces (worldwide)
Births and baptisms 1701-1992 (images to 1908)
Banns and marriages 1788-1934 (1794-1934)
Deaths and burials 1847-1955 (has images
before 1847!!)
Other events 1782-1909 (eg communicants,
confirmations, confessions, seat rents)



Only the registers for the Church of Scotland
and the Roman Catholic churches are
available
Some Free church and Associate church
entries also there – entered by the minister of
the Church of Scotland
Records for other churches need to be
sourced elsewhere







Name of child
Whether legitimate (usually recorded as
“natural” for illegitimate)
Date of birth/baptism (sometimes both)
Father’s name and mother’s name and
maiden surname (MS)
Place of residence
Occupation of father
Witnesses

Baptism of Charles Robertson, Perth 1798
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Place of birth
Date of birth & baptism
Lawful son
Parents’ names including MS of mother
Father’s occupation
Dissenting congregation
Can find all the
members of a
family at once




Include
the surname,
parents names,
an appropriate
data range
also a county if
known
All for 1 credit






Date (or proposed date) of marriage
Names of bride and groom
Parish of residence for each
Sometimes groom’s occupation
Occasionally the bride’s father
Sometimes all you get is the date and names
of the bride and groom

Two extracts of same marriage: 1790

Marriage of Andrew Brough and Katherine
Ronaldson on 11 Nov 1804 – Kirk Session
records




No requirement to keep these records
Often just find the name of the deceased
person and a date
Sometimes just the mortcloth record
Beware! In Scotland married women may be
referred to by their married name (unusual
except in the census), their maiden name or
simply as Mrs Andrew Laidlaw
Twice the number
with the old site –
each names appears
twice!!



1703-1855 is complete – if the records
survive they have been indexed and digitised
1855-1908 is incomplete – records available
to the Scottish Catholic Archives have been
indexed and digitised
Post 1855 the records are far from complete
Conducted every 10 years
 1841 census
◦ Householder’s name and dependants
◦ No relationships
◦ Ages exact for children up to 14, thereafter in 5 years
groups
◦ Occupations
◦ No exact place of birth

Later censuses
◦ Exact addresses, ages and birthplaces
◦ Relationship to head of household
◦ A widow (or a wife whose husband is away) may be listed
under her maiden surname

1871 Blackfriars, Glasgow



Conducted annually following the Lands
Valuation Act 1854
ScotlandsPeople will release indexes to the
years midway between the censuses
First one available is 1915-16
Good guide to these rolls on
www.nas.gov.uk/guides/valuationRolls.asp


Can search an index of over 611,000 entries
free on ScotlandsPeople dating from 1513 to
1901
Index includes
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦

Surname
Given names
Title
Occupation
Place of residence of deceased
Court and the date
Just changed how these purchased!


Records for the period 1672 to 1907
After 1907 need to contact the Court of the
Lord Lyon (www.lyon-court.com)



Some post 1854 OPR images
Kirk Session records
Testaments to 1925

Purchase 30 credits for £7

Statutory Registers, Old Parish Registers,
Catholic Parish Registers and Census
◦ Viewing one index page costs 1 credit (up to 25
entries)
◦ Viewing an image costs 5 credits
◦ RCE costs 2 credits

Valuations
◦ Viewing an index page costs 1 credit
◦ Viewing an image costs 2 credits

Wills & Testaments
◦ search free (10 credits to view document)

Coats of Arms
◦ search free (£10 to view document)

Access period now one year – unused credits
can be reactivated by purchasing more
credits (I let mine go for 3 years though I
visited New Register House in between)