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"I was immediately impressed with your accessability, and your prompt and detailed responses to my questions.  Within an hour or two of each message sent off, you would respond with helpful information, and I really enjoyed reading the information you unearthed for me."
 
Michael McQuary, Washington State, USA 
 
Just a wee note to thank you so much for all of your hard work on our behalf in
connecting my husband to the 18th Century poet James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. We had always suspected there was a link but could never get through our brick wall. Now that we have all your information we intend to visit the area to look at the places you have found where our family once lived. Thank you so much.
 
Janet McQueen, Clackmannanshire, Scotland.

 
PROFESSIONAL FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH
& Genealogical Problem Solving Service

 

Family Records and Archives

     Logo of the General Register Office

The starting point for your Scottish family history research will usually be found within the country's two foremost archival repositories - the General Register Office for Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland. Both buildings are situated beside each other on Edinburgh's Princes Street, and from Spring 2008 will merge to form the cornerstones of the new Scotland's People Family History Centre.

THE GENERAL REGISTER OFFICE FOR SCOTLAND

The GROS in Edinburgh holds the statutory birth, marriage and death records from 1855 to the present day; the pre-1855 Church of Scotland baptismal, marriage and mortcloth registers; the census from 1841 to 1901; monumental inscriptions; maps, published family histories, directories, Debrett's Peerage and other major genealogical assets to help you form the basic structure for your family tree.

Situated in the same building at New Register House is the Court of the Lord Lyons, responsible for all matters to do with Scottish heraldry. 

 

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SCOTLAND

There are two main buildings storing the Scottish nation's archives, the main being situated beside GROS, and the other a ten minute walk away at West Register House. Between them they hold an impressive collection of archive material that can help bring your family history to life:

 

 

  • Records of the Dissenting Presbyterian Churches (Free Church of Scotland etc)
  • Roman Catholic Baptism and Marriage Registers
  • Kirk Session Registers (Established and Non-Established Churches)
  • Court Records in Scotland including Criminal Trial Papers
  • Wills, Testaments, Inventories and Sasines (land transfer records)
  • Maps & Plans
  • Government Papers (Pre & Post the Union with England)
  • Valuation Rolls and Tax Records
  • Family & Estate Papers

 

If you live overseas, the NAS have very helpfully put their entire catalogue online at

http://www.dswebhosting.info/NAS/dserve.exe?dsqApp=Site20&dsqCmd=Index.tcl.

 

The buildings are open between 9.00am and 4.45pm, and access is free.

 

Copies can be purchased of many records, subject to their condition.

 

 
OTHER IMPORTANT ARCHIVES
 
In addition to the two main repositories in Edinburgh are many other archives equally of use.
 
 
Glasgow's Mitchell Library holds an Archive and Special Collections department containing thousands of records relating to Glasgow and the surrounding area. The building houses local church records, local poorhouse records, shipbuilding archives, family and estate papers, business archives, the Strathclyde Regional Archives, the Glasgow Corporation Archives, archives of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen, special collections, sasines, and the unique Glasgow Collection, including newspapers going back to 1741.
 
For more on the Mitchell's holdings, visit
 

 

 

 

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