B-

BANK PASS BOOK - where these survive they give an interesting insight into the financial circumstances of an ancestor and for some may even give an idea of their income. Sometimes people kept detailed accounts of their expenditure particularly if they ran a business, although not a bank pass book, they can provide much more detail than otherwise might be available. Farm Ledger of Thomas Torrance 14 January 1928 - Lion Garage Ltd. 12 gallons of petrol 14110d (74p) 28 January 1928 -BenvickBreweries Ltd7 gallons EnglishGin 24.10.0 (24.50) 26 March 1929 -Gerard Morgan, Edinburgh - Crown with gold foundation to 2nd left front tooth 2 shillings off 2.

BANKRUPTCY PAPERS- this might not, initially, seem like a promising avenue
but as so often happens the misfortunes of life seem to be better recorded. If you have an ancestor who was in business and it failed there may well be a wealth of information to uncover. For businesses that failed before 1839 the Court of Session records should be consulted. There is a large card index of these cases at West Register House in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. Another avenue is to consult List of Court of Session Productions produced by the List and Index Society that lists business books to be found in thc Court of Session papers (CS96). For bankrupts from 1839-1913 it is best to consult the alphabetical list compiled by Glasgow University Archives. If successful there is a guide at NAS which explains how to progress the search. Some bankrupts may be traced through the Sheriff Court Registers of Sequestrations.
In the case of my ancestor James Allan of Seabraes Foundry, Dundee an invoice for a large pumping engine built for a firm In Norway was not paid and the Dundee Union Bank stepped in and started a process of sequestration. James Allan was permitted to continue in business in the hopes that he would repay the bank loan but the struggle became too much. Eventually, the remaining stock was sold off for the benefit of the creditors. This included: Many files, 1 winding machine, 6 spinningframes, 1 spreading machine, 6frames (not sold), reel frame, much wood:- boards, deals, planks, beech, plane, rosewood, mahogany, staves, spindles. Cloth, spades, shovels. etc., Sal amoniac, pinching screws, resin, imery, paint, cast steel, solder lead, brass. copper, chains, burning coals, fire clay. Allan and his partner, John Brown, who had fled to the Netherlands, run up debts of 21 586.4.5'12. (About f11/4mat today's prices). After the roup of the remaining goods an advertisement was placed in the Edinburgh Gazette, on 16 November 1847, informing the creditors that those who had lodged their claim prior to 30 October that year would be considered for the first and final dividend, which would be paid at David Wilkie's, merchant, 8 New Inn Entry, Dundee, on 31 December 1847. There were 50 registered creditors who shared assets of 142.8.9, giving them a dividend of l'112d. per 1.

More t:uit;llir~ngly t1ie1.c 1s rcfcrcl~ceto tlie cornpang 's letter books. c;1s11hoolts and tilnc hooks ill tlie C'oul-Iof Sc55iu11 papers. hut as .lames 'Allan \\as allo\\.cci lo continire in birsincss these books \\.ere not retained. t ~ ~ ~ ~ . it~ i lci ~r.~ n i ~ tc o ~ i i c c r ~ il;11ii1.y l ) i~i i ~~ ~ c c ~ l r j t iands debts \\.ere Ihund in tlic Forfar Register ~I'Suhinch. ~\
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BAPTISMS hlost ot'thcse ;ire lo he found in the old parish rcgi\tc~.s Scotlanil nl of the Natiollal Archi\ es ot' Scotland ( N A S ) . Kcsearclicr~sho~rldhe n\\;ll.c that ~111Icss J;ltcs. l'hc c)ther~.isc \t:tted the ciiites in the OPR arc dares of baptism r;ltIicr tli:l~ibi1.111 D:lg Sai11t.shas p ~ . o d ~ ~ c e~nic~.aliclie a d incic\ of'thc hirpti~liisin the C l i ~ ~ r cof L a t ~ c r li O P R of Scotland. Thih is ;~\.ailahlc line at \ \ \ \ \ \ .scotla1iils~7eopIc.~o\ . Otllcr on .~11t ~ t s c t i books for the Scc>ttish rescarchcr are: Tlrc, f~ri~.i\/~c,s. ~l Rogiris1~81..\ R~'~i\ri.c/i.\ CC of Scntt~sli,Associatirm of Familg. History Socictics (S.\FIIS). Ic)O3. \\Iiich .Y~.o/li/~~tl. contain.; parish maps. lists of dfitcs co\ercd h!. thc (IPR and a list o f ~ ~ s c l i ~ li ~ i r e \ s ~ ;~~ 111 .Y(.ot1(11id. Di:rnc Haptic. S A t l lS. 2000. \\ h ~ c h Regi.51~>1.\ .YL'L.('.\..<~oI~ (~'/ii~/.(~Iio.~ of'til~, arc)und lists bil-111. mirrriage and dcvrli register.; 10 be found in tlie \ ariouh ;~rclii\cs Scotland. (Both \ olumcs i~\-uil;~hlc tlirougli \\ \\ \\ .hcothcenci~log c u - sales) .-\ \mall . of i Sccllti5Ii aliloLi~i~ ~ ~ n i n d e s c d inforliiation coiice~.ning ('a~liolichap~isliis\ held nt ~ l i c ('athutis :\rchi\.es.\\ \\ \\ .catholic-hcritacc.net sea. Photocupich ofall prc- I SSi Roman Catholic parish 1.egisters :rye to be found at tlic U . l S ill the rel7ertc>r! Kli2 I -. (See HIKTCIS)
B I B 1 , E S Little need be iard ahout tlic ~ ~ h c f i ~ l nofsbible, that contain l i \ t ol'birtli. e s marriage and death dates. BILLS Tlicsc ca!i tl~ro\\- great dc~rlol'liglit ~ i v olil!. 011\\lint o ~ ir~iccstors cl'c a t ~ r ~iiorc 17~1rchasing ;rIso the cost of items. People ~iiailc ~ ~ c l i ~ ~ofs:rcco~rnt\at shops hilt m c SII hills. rutherthan L I S ~ I ~ ~ C L ~ancl tlicyn crc s~'~itmontlil!~ Hills can also rcll L I Smureahout the owners c~ftlic b~~sincsscs: poxtnl & telegraphic adclresses. tclcplionc nir~iibcrs a~ici details of \cr\.ict.s pro\ idccl. Some letters lieads Ii:~\.cfiiic cngra\ ins\ ot' h u i n c s s premiscx.
-

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This bill is for tlic fi~rnisliing I I Hill\ ic\\ Perracc. Edi~lburgllin October 1004. the of total cost including a 2 ' ;",, discount and tr;lnsport li-om Nc\\c;istle upon T!,nc to w Edinb~~rglia5 f35 1.2.0. The most cspcnsi\c itc~ii\\.as a maliog~~n!inlaid displa! cahinct at f 2 7 . A ~iialiogany ~ ~ t h e r l a ~ n d still ~lsctt thc a ~ ~ t h o r c otsIt.7.6(t'l.37\ S table h?

BIRTHS Some O P R gi\ e birth dates as \\.ell as bnptism dates. From IS55 on\\ards birth ccrtiticatcs are a\-ailablc. Tilt.!, Inay be consultecl at Nc\\. Register House. l e , gThese tend tIdinbu~.gli. r on-line at \ ~ \ \ ~ \ \ . s c o t l a n d s ~ ~ e c i l ~.t~li.c ~ \ birth certitjc~~tcs o to be much fi~ller than the OPR. For more details see Ti-cic,irlg>hlii.Sc.otlic.lr.4irc.c,.\t/:r. Kathleen B. ('or?. 3'" edition. Edinburyli 2001. rc\ised and updated by Lcslic - s:~lc.s). Nc\\.spapers also Hodgson. (A\ailablc ~lirougli\ \ - \ \ - \ \ . s c o t s e e n e a l o ~ ~ ~ , c c ~ ~ i i carry i l l ~ i ~ l l a ~ i of hirtli and it may \\,ell be \vortli sc:rrcliing loc:rl nc\\ spapcrs. More ons births arc listed in,journals such as 7/rc~ Sc,o/.c.\lii,yiiri~rc, (usefi~l period 1 7.79- 1816)irncl i~l 771~. (;c,~ltlorilriii '.c .Ilcigci:iilc. ( ~ ~ s e tperiod 173 I - 1 ShS) the parents' names arc gi\'cn ancl the birth date. but the names of tlie children are ri~relygi\.c~i. (See R.APTISMS)
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RIRTHD.4,. C;\RDS \\.here i tliesc ha\-c s111.\\ cd they ma) gi\ c tlie names of' pre\.iously ~ ~ n k n o \ \ - ~ rclati\.cs or friends and also y i \ e an idea o f ~ l i e zeitgcii~. This birthday card. in [he form of a postcard. \vas sent to Miss tlel.ric!i <)fNott~ngliam in 19 I0 h> her cousins E\.a and Kathleen. The standard ol' \el-se \\,riting does not appear to Iia\.c i r n l x o ~d o \ cr the !,cars! c B O S D S oticn a \\,ritten obligation to pay I I I O I I C ~ to pay a dcht and interest and to or P I \ e 3 dis1)ositi011of' land as sccuritj fbr tlie debt. Bond5 \\ere c o m ~ n o n l y used in the past as ready moneL- \\.as not as aiailable as it is tocia!-. Many bonds tell 11slittle m<)rc tlla~l\\.I10 o\\.cd \\hat to \\horn. but there may bc enough detail to add more detail to :I f'nmily history. In the case of Sir Samuel McClella~iLord Pro\ost of Edinburgh I 1706- 1708) \\ 110 was a merchant. little had comc to light ;IS to \\.list mc~.cliandisc he traded but three bonds gi\ c ;In indication:
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i Bonds areto befo~uiclat tlieNAS in: llic RcgislerofDeeds (RL)) b~ittlienclcscs lo them li arc patchy: SheriffCo~11-t Deeds (SC') f01.\\.liich fe\\' indexes exist: B ~ ~ r gIleeds ( B ) again ther-e are few indcxe.4 but occasionally the \ olume5 may ha\-ca chro~lological r o

alphabetical list of contents. All \ olumes 111;i!, Iia\.e the names oftlic principal parties \\ ritten in the margin by the deed or bond. In other c;lses \\here there is no \ o l u ~ n e ut b bundles of papers the principal parties and the t pc of dcctl is \\ rittcn on the oi~tside of the folded paper.
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BOOKPLATES these often ha\.e the full name of the book's o\\ ncr. a n illi~stration (often a crest o r a coat of arms) anti sometimes ;I date. .At lhc \'cry least they t c l l i ~ tliat s OLLS ancestors \yere bibliophiles and treasured their books. Bookplates may also pro\,ide a history of a book as in the case of my copy ofP.H.M'Kerlie's Hisro1:l-of tlic L ~ ~ I I(/lid tll(>il.011,11(~1:s C ( I I I ~ I I , 3'" edition. Paisley 1906. that I purchased f i o ~ n LIC ill L~.. Thins. Edinburgli in 1990. A little rectangular label states that the book \\.as sold b). ( Fcny 8 Co.. Plain Strcct. Cape To15.n. The lirst o u m r \vas .lohn Carr Maclcllan \\ho through w\\ v, .scots~cncaloc\corn . appears in The McC'1cll;uis in Gallo\\.ay(..l\\~ailable - sales). The secolltl o\\ ner was Soscph Kobison \\ ho wrote estensii el! on the b ~ ~ r g h of Kirkcudbl-ight. llis hook plate is datcti 1920 so he must h a \ c acquired thc' \olumc after tliat date. The third o n ner was Lesley Gordon of C o n dcnclcugh a member of the Scottish Genealogy Society anti compiler of the first Register of Member'.; Interests. BOOKS much could be written i111dc.r hcading but suffice to say that it is nov, this much easier to trncc \carcc bookr as Inany libraries now h a \ c on-line catalogues. A search \vould h a \ c lo be ~ ~ n d c r t a k efor specific libraries but \\.\\\\.nls.uk \\.ill g i \ c n access to the National Libnlry of5cotland Catalogue. T o disco\ cr \\.hich L K public libraries hu\,e websites and on-line catalogues isit h t t ~ :ds.dial.uiueu.com to\\n square ac940 \\ cblibs.htm1
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Ifyou \\,is11to purchasc books thcrc are Illany book dc;ilcrs' sites to consult but one site that is used by Inany second hand dealers is - v,.\v\\~.abebooks.co~iiLinks to some others can be fo~und the SGS \\.ebsite: \\,a,a on .scotscene;iIocv.com

BURGESS ROLLS These lists \Yere maintained in Sco1~isli bur-ghs and cwntaincd names of merchants and craftsmen and ga\ c them protecled trading rigllls. Entr!. to the list could be by riglit. as son of a burgess or by marriage to n burge\\'\ daughter. as a gift for some servicc rendel-ed to the burgh or if thcrc \ \ a s a ~ l i i I I \\liortage In a ~ r a d c ntlier\visc a burgess had to pay all entry fee. The rolls. n here ~hc! c \ ~ \ l .\\ i l l tell ~ O L I the date of their admission. their tradc and to \\.horn they \\ere apprcnticcd. Cicneral information about a tradc may be found in histories of the arious merchant and craft g~lilds.
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Aberdeen
Aberdccn RLII-~I'\~c\ l(iO5- 1715. J.F. I\~cL)oIIII?II. < I AII~I.c\\
\

Aberdeen R e g ~ h ~ ( ~ l ' k l e r c l&~ I~ ~ ~ ~ er i I:ICIC HLIISC\SC\. IOOO- 1620 t .J \ l c l ) ~ ~ ~ i ~ i ~\ lI ~.~ I - ch.\ lc)94 51 l \ Re ~ ,AL?er~iee~i g ~ h l c~ ~ l ' k l ~ ~& TI:I~C~ i ~ c l i ~ i B(~ryc\\r.\. I - 1 (13~).I ..I \ l c D c ~ ~ i ~ ~tc I .l \. ~ i ~ l r c \ \1994 \ \.

.\herdern R e g ~ \ l e r i ' k l e r c l i ~ i n lS T~.atle o Hu~gcrrr.r. I(>40-l h i C ) F .I.\IcI)onncll. St \I~JI.c\\\. IC)c)4 ~ IIII ~ ..I 71 \. .Aberde?~i ? ~ I \ ~ o II~ ~ I ~ I L ~ I LC~TI;ICIC B ~ ~ r g c \ \ e \l . ~ ( i O - l ( ~ 7I L ) . klcDo1111~11. . \ ~ i ~ l r ? \ \ILK14 R ?

Aberdeen Registcr ol'hte~.clinnt Trade Burgesses. IhSn-l 7(lO. F..l.blcDonnell. St. Andreus. 1095 K Rurgesse5 of In~erurie.Aberdccn & NL Scotland Fl1S. journal. 1996. nos 5'1 K hl) List of thc [leans of(;i~ildof Aberdeen. A . N';~lker.I S'i Mrmor~nlr f thc Aldermen. Provost.; and Lord P1.o~os1s Abcrdeen. A.M.Munro. I X05 o of Merchant and Cr-aft gi~ilds. B a ~ n .Ahertleen. 1889. E. Register of Buryesae\ nfthc Burgh of ,Abe~.deen.1399-1700. N r n Spalding Club Miscellan!. LOIS. 1 Kr 2. 1890, 8: 1908 ed, b\ Alexander M. Munro. Register of Merchant K Trade Burgesses of Old .Aberdeen. 1605-ISU. 2 LOIS.. . McDonnell. St. F ,A~idre\~.s. 1 904. Bu%c\aesof InLerary 1665-1 96.7. E . Beaton K S.\\'. Macintyre. Scottish Rcccrrd Strciet). Edinbul-gh. A 19~10, . 4vr Beith Its Mcrcli~nta Others. IYi- 1791. Scottish (ienc;ilvy\r. *xu\. Sept. 1988. and Proceedings of the (iild Court of .A!;r T Uickson. A!r & \\'iftown Arch. Assoc. \,()I. I . tdir~burgh. 1878.

Banff
Burgess Roll of Banff. 1530-1 892. F J 3lcUonnell. St. Andrews. 1993. Dumbarton Roll of Dumbarton Burges\ 8. Guild Bretheren. IhnO- 1836. F e ~ p u r Roberta. Scottish Record Socict!. l93-. Dundee The Rull of Eminent Burgesses of Dundee. I5 13- 188'. A.H. hlillar. Dundee. 188'. Edinhurvh .An Historical Sketch o f t h e b l u n ~ c ~ p C'onstiti~tion Edinhuryli.1 S?(I. Tins work contains lists al of of' .Aldermen. Pro\ ocls. Magistr.dtc\. Councillors. Deacon Con\cners. b1Ps. Mastcra of Merchant Companies. Modtraturi vf the High Constables. Eciinbursh Guilds K Crafts. Sir Jarnes D. Maru.ick. Edinburgh. IQ(10. H15tc~ry f thc Edlnburgh Cliarnbcr of Commerce and Manufacturcrs. fi-om 1785-1861. S I CCietrrge o Harriwn. L ~ r t rfthe Deans of Guild ufrhe city of Ed~nburgh.1303-1 890. T.G. Stc\c.nwn. Edinburgh. 1890. Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses K Guild Bretheren. 1306-1811. 3 \'1,1<.C B.Boog Watson. Scott~\h Record Society, 1929- 1933 The Guildr) of Edinburgh. James Colston. Edinburgh. 1%7. The 1ncl)rporated Trades of Edinburgh. .lames Colston. Ed~nburgh.1 X9 I . [Chirugeons. tl~mmertnen, Goldsmiths. Baxters. Fleschouris. 41n1-!.'s Chapel. Skinntrs Kr Furriers. Cordwainel-,. Talzouris. \X-obst~r~s. M'aekaris. Bonnet makers, Candielnakers, Barbers.] The Burgess Roll of Elfin. F. McUonnell. 1095

Fife
Burfess Roll of Fil'r. 1'00- IX00. U. Uobson. St. .Andreus. 1904.. (Auchtermuchr!; 1736-1756: C r a ~ l 17i5-1 SOS: Cupar 1753- IS 13: Kirkcaldy 1765.1 803: Sev-burgh 1730- 1732) Burntiland Burgesses. 1737-1 809. Fife F H S j n ~ ~ r n a 1996. ~ 0 1 . 9 l. 110.1

DIII~~C~III~III~. I I - ~ Roll. 17x5-I SI 0. I), t ) ~ b \ ~St i III~I-c\\ BL ~~\ ~ . \. I W h FI l;t Tracl<l-\ S. SIIUP~CCPCI-\S 3 0 - I S 7 0 . I

4 \ 0 1 \ . .111cIrr\\('aliiphell. I ')XU

TI12 0~11111 1433Recol-d Soclc.~! ( 'IIII:~I3ook OI'I)III~~C'~I~~III~C'. 1507. Eci, F I ~ ~ : r h e ~ l i Turric. Scorl~sli P.D I L)Sf, In\ e~-l,rilhine 13~1rei.she.. I S14-l S!'. ~ I I CIPHS lou1-11;11. ' IVOO. \ol.O no. 1

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Kirkcudbriel~t
K ~ r k c u J b r ~ yL3ul-ges\ts. 15-(3-lL)75. L c l ~ ~ ~ b u r) ~ pTio ~ I . ~ I ~ c190-. lil ~ R l . c.
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Perth

(ILIIICI ~ c l b I ' [ \ \ \ l i ~ (lie t;u~IclrieI I ~ C O ~ I ~ ~ I I - L I ~ I C I I ~ 01, r Perlli. I O~O-lG I , I01111T I i o ~ i i , ~l'cr~li.ILJI I I >.

St. .Andre\\s
Tl~c Burye\\ KoII ~ I ' \ I. l ~ l d r e \\. 175 I - 1775 D r)ohiol~.St. Alldri.\\ \
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Slirlin!~
t \ t r ; ~ ~I:.OIII 1111'r2~~0rcl\c1I'~l1i' t\ I~IC'~C~I;II~I 3 ~ 1 1~d' S t ~ l - l ~ 1l 0 2 - IS40 \\ I3 C IIOL Lk [):I\ lI t ?. SI~rIlng.11)1 0
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Thc S11r111igi ~ ~ ~ l d Rook. 1592- IX40. \\ ( r!.

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BURGH RECORDS T h e Burgli Rccord Societ? has p ~ ~ b l i s h e dgreat nnmbcr of a \.olumes on Burgh records- particulnrl! minutes of t0n.n councils and cad! charters rclating to the bui-ghs. There are publis1ic.d \ olumcs for: .Ahcrdccn. [>undcc. Edinburgh. <;lasgo\\,. Lanark. Paisley, Peebles. Ri\cr ('l!dc Burghs W their relationship to Cil~~sgo\v(li~~tliet-glen. lienfre\v. Paisle! Dumbal-ton. 1'ot-t (il;isgo\\. (-irccnock. liotliesay and Ir\,ine). Stirling. In oddi~iont11c.r~is a sel-ie< of \-olumcs of Rc~,or.tl.co f the. ('oi7i~ri7tio17 f t l ~ r o Rql,trl L3lrtgh.c of Sc.otltrtiil 1-l'l.i-1770 co\ cring i\\uc.s affecting all Scottish burghs. occasionally individuals are mentioned. Thcre is a good sunin1ary of all of the publislicd o l ~ u n c sn Sc.ol/i.slr Tcj.1-t.c t111(/ ('trlci~clcii.\b. [)a\ id & \\ cndq B. i ! . Stcvcnson in vol. 23. 4"' series. Scottish History Societ!.. 1987.
Each Royal Burgh \vas cntitlcd to keep their 01\11register of b~u-gli sasincs. S o ~ n c of these records arc thc NAS and otlicrs need to be consulted in the burgli's r-ccol-d off7cc. The NAS has a list o f t h e records lhat survivc for the Scottish burghs a n d the) may contain: court books. craft records. decds. rcgistcr of dccrects. \otc.rs I-011s. Fur

more dct;~iI n Burgh recorils see: 7i.rtc,itr,y o ~loi~~~.Sc~or~i.\I~. 7'1rc~Ofj'ic,irrl(;rtirk> Itrc.c.cto~:c: p~~blislied NAS: Sc.otti.cli Gr~rrrtlogi.ct li! \ol.L.I 110.7. 11.60-62. Siuic 2004. Publislicd r-ecortls f ~ ~ r o t l iScottish B ~ ~ r y l11i~1q. a \ nilahlc and i t is \\,ortli contacting cr i s be local i~rclii\.csto see if they hold nnq transcripts. 7'11~follou,ing is a l ~ s t other of iolumes Icnoi4.n to the i r i ~ t l i ~ ri t is not cxliausti\ c. p~~blishcd
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BC'RII\IAR E C O R D S Tllcold pr11-is11 rcgistr.~.sofhu~-ialssl~ould all bcIiouscdatNe\\ Rcgistcr House. They i a r y \\ idel! in tlie period they co\ er and it slrould be remembered tliat the datcs that appear in tliesc registers could rctkr to date of deatli. date of burial or date tliat paynicnt u as made Stir nsc ofthe mortclotli. Much oftllc inforniation is no\\ a\ailablc on-line. Sol. a fee. at \\,\\,\\ .scotlandspcn~~le.cum Scottisll Ahsociation . Tlic of Family 1 lixtor! Societies has been co-ordinating a burial index PI-c~iect. \vas the Fife ti~.stsociety to complete their area ancl tlie niaterial \\.as 1,111 onto CD. Other Societies go . ;lrc ~iearingcomplction. For-more infc11.11i~ltion to n.u.\\..s;lt h s . o r ~ . u k Supplemental->~ n t i , r ~ n a t ~ oto be f o ~ ~ nic ltlic many \ olumcs ol'Monunlc~it:~l is n n Inscriptions publislic~i are oiel- the years. The majority of tile aiailablc lists for pi~~-cIiaxc to he found on \ \ - \ \ - \ \ - . s c o t s ~ e ~ i e : ~ I o ~ y..,\rticles on Scottisl~ ct~~ii burials will he hunt1 in Tllc Sc.or/i.\/~ (;r~trc~~lo;;i,\.i: on thecost ofburial in tl~eearl>~~iinetecntliccnt~u-y S L \ ' . 110.3.p.77. -\-01. Septcnlhcr- IOC)8: Interment of the 1)cad i . 0 1 .XLV. 110.4. p. 136. Dcccnihcl. 1908: Old Scotti511 Funeral C~~storn.;\ o l . S L V I I . no. I . p.8. .lanuar); 2000.
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RL'SISESS R E C O H D S S o n i c business records are Ilcld hy tllc N,\S in thc (;ifis and s. Register of ;\rehi\ t.5 I ) t . l x ~ ~ (GI)) \ ~ I . ~ c others may be fbund in tllc N a ~ i o ~ r a l ts Scotland ( N R A S ) intlexcs and abstract.; art. held 17y the N.\S. As has been mentioned a b o \ c. rccordx relating to failecl busi~lessc?; may be t l ~ u n d ('cliu-t of Session p:rpers in I ;rnti tlrc all~liabctical ol'bankrupts conipilctl bq (;lasgo\\ Ilni\ crsity A r c h i ~ e s . t is list \\ or-tlr consulting local record repositories as thcy arc keen to obtain thc records of local husincsxes a n d firms. See also C;lasgo\\ I.!ni\-ersit!. Business A r c h i \ e s \\-\\,\I-.archi\es.cla.ac.~~h bacs !,olicy.html

CCALLING CARDS Tlichc asc\,cs> ~ i i ~ ~ c li i c t c c ~ i ~ l i c c t l lidea ntlcl u\uaII! Iiir\ c nn n i~~.~ the caller'> name alid address o n ~liclii.When out ;tncl ol~ourpeople \ \ c ) ~ ~ l t~l t l 011 l friend\ ancl ii' thcq \\,ere out they \\ ould le:n c their c:~rti.I I' IIIC! \la\ c \ur\ I \ ~ c ~ l i c s c l ~rnd cards gi\ c tlic 1lurnc.s of'ancestor'h friends and ucq~~nint;rnccs Ilia! sugg~.;rt l ~ \ \ a \ enues of 1.chc3rch.,211o~licr a r i n n ~ the calling card \\ ;I.; t l ~ c I lomc' c.31.~1 Iiich \ oli '.II \\ \\as an open i l l \ itation to ti-icnds and accl~taintaticeato \ is11tlic \endel. ar rhcir home OII a gi\ en at'tcrnvvn cithcr to marlc a special t.\ cnt 01- simpl\ a, a mean.; ot' ~-c.t~lrnillg liospitalic~ancl hocinli~ing.

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Thi, c\:;~ml>lc i\ot';in 'At Home' card \\:r to ccleb~-acc ii)l.tlicominy ~narri:~gc the. of m) grandl>x"c"its and lio\rctl h) a fir\[ n cousin once remo\ed of r! gra~idtii(~tllcr. It ~ ~ h e f ~ ~ I I >thegJ ~e~ s s L ' ~ ' I - I I o I I ' ~ ; I c ~ ~ I . c ~ ~ . ~ i\ s

C.AR RE(;ISTR.-\TIONS phorogr;rl~llh ol'cal->that she\\ ~rcgihtsationpl;rtc\ nl;r! g i \ c ;I c l ~ 2seto \\,llc~-c ;IIICCS~OI-.; li\ccl ;I\ 1 1 1 ~ t \ \ o Ict1c1.ho t ~ ~ l Ii c c ~ I ~ I I ~ 1 OLIIlit>( ( ) indicate the county or burgh ol'~.eglhrr.atron.Old -\lrromoh~lc. .4szoc1atio1i . \ . Ibool\h colitaili a list ot'thc Icttcs code.;. 111 rhc. rn;r.ior~r! of c.a\c.; ~t'tlicscgi\tl-atiou I c t t ~ r \ Thi.; list i.; taliell fro111 t h ~ 1955 ilicludcd a n 'S' tlic car \\.a\ rcg~\tcrcdIn Scotln~id. Mc11lhc.l-'s.Annual Ha~idbook. .Additional Icttcr comhi~iationh 111 lia\ c I-rcc.11 \\ atltlcd after this date. ( b ) inclicatcb [ha( tllc ~.cgl>lcriny council is 3 HOI-OLI~II 01.('oLII~~!. F301.0l1gli.
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In thiu c ~ ~ u m pthe lerrcr\ "Shl" lc indicate a car l.cg1\tcl'c'(1 i n I)~~rnfi-ichhIiisc. c . ~ I r n nc\\ 1-he \ \i'olhclc>. I l i c 17hotoyrapli \\ah taken at I'c.npoint in Augu\t 1077. .I lie dri\cr t-.lla Hro\\ 11.

Registration District \ all11 '. -\bcrdecn,lnri. Orhne! .A! r$lllri. Pccble\5li1re Pel-lh\liirc t~lkhlrc. Ld~nhi~rgh i (h (;la5y\\ ( b ) ( ; I a ~ g i ~ \b I ( (ilahgix~i h ) (ila>go\\ I hi C;la\ycn\ I h i (il~isi~o\\ h ) ~ \lotlii.r\\cll 8: \'! ~ t l i a n( h i Pcrtlijliist Rc.11l'ri.u jlilsc. Robs & C'ro~iiast! Ro\hurgh$llirc Si.lk~rksli~rc

Registration District

Registration District

hlora! \Illre F ife5li1rc .\ngub Fabt Lothiall Ill\ crlli.>b-\111ri. K11ic~irii11ic5li11e K111r1~\>-\111r1' K~rl,c~~dhr~~l~~ \\ Li~~l~itlli 4I1dlorli1n1i Dunilt.~1 hi Ciln\yo\r ( h i Lnnarh$Iilrc . L.,inCuh \ h ~ r c (irecnocli ( h i St~rl~~~g\li~rc Edlnhusyll ( h i Pal\lc.! ( h i Dundct Ih I (ila\yon 1 h i
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C A R D S - C R E D I T , 1NSUR.QNCE & I.OI'AL,TY Being a relati\.ely modern in\ cntion they arc likely to pro\ ide information f i ~ our descendants. h o n e \ er r carc nccds to be taken 01cr the storage of rcdundant cards \\ Iiich contain important information as it could be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. If in doubt destroy c l o u r redundant card. Perhaps 'chip and pin' \\.ill ~ n a k t hc kccping of redundant cards 3 s;~tcroption. Store cards. car insurance cards. telephone cards. donor cards and Io>alty cards will pro~ride descendants \s.ith some idea of the shops Ive patroni7ed our and the goods and s e n iccs n c purchased. C : \ T A I , O G l ! E S M a n y firms and companicsproduccd catalogucsoftheirproducts. Ascatalogi~es~~.eregenernlly printed on poor quality papcr and dcsigncd to he thrown a\\ ny e\.el-y ycar or so not many Ila1.c sur\i\,cd and thosc that h a \ e s u n ived now command high prices on the \econd hand market. Catalogues proLide a \\,indo\\ Into thc past shojving u s not only the products our ancestors may I1aL.e purchased but also their cost. They also enable us to track the introduction of nen. in\ entions into a domes!ic setting and. in some cases. demonstrate o just ho\v long a i~tcnsil r piece of equipment has been in Lhc.

In these t u o cuc~lnp1c\o f home cnterta~nment taken from the Ariny & Navy Stores catalogue for 1926 the n ~ o s s triking fcaturcs arc the cost of t the equipment. \chic11 a ould p ~them ~ t out of reach of most ofthc population. and the idea of what u,as considcrcd portable.

CATHOLIC RECORDS The Scottish Catholic Archives in Edinburgh are open. by APPOINTMENT only Monday-Friday 9.30-1 .OO and 2.00-4.30. The archi\cs of' the Catholic C'hurch in Scotland are dilided betneen ('oliumba H o i ~ s e Edinburgh in andtlie individual L)ioceses. The Scottish Catholic :lrchi\.es in Edinburgh hold records for se\ era1 Scots Collcgcs abroad starting in the early 17'" c e n t u r : somc D~occsan archi\.es. the carlicst being for Argyll & thc Isles starting in 1493: 30 cstatc collc.ctions mainly covering the north-east of Scotland: about 250 000 items of correspondence commencing about 1627: in the region of 10.000 hooks. periodicals and pamphlets: periodicals and microfilm. To get a fuller picture of tlic holdings \ isit their nchhitc \vu\l .catholic-heritage.net SCLI
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All prc- 1 855 Roman Catholic Parish Registers ha\ c been photacopicd bq the National are Arclli\cs of Scotland and are to be found under RH2 1 - . These ~.cgistcrs ~mindexed. Below are listed a \ r r y f e u lolumes that might be of interest.
C'rrtholic.Dii.~,c./oi:~. Sc~otlirrrtl.1829 - 1975. D . McRobcrls. Cilasgo\\. 19-6. for. C'crtho/ic,Ptci.i\hc.s irr Eiiglirritl. 111r/~\~ r r r t /S(.ol/oirt/
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irii

,4r/(es. b ichael (~nnd!. London !

1993.
The, Ctrtliolic Dir.c,c.roi~F~~~~l~~.\i~i.\tic~cIIKc~gr.c.tc~i~icriil.4Irr1iiriirc~A.K. \\',~.;hbou~.ne Bur-nc.Oali.\

Lrd. London. 1930 [OYth edition. Continuing to lc)564].

TIlc, C7irtholic H~CI.III.L./I.I, o f Sc~otlirriil:u hiogi.irpliic~ir1 li\r. .Inmi.s Darl.;~gh. Cilasgo\\. 1986. Tll~ C'irtholic~C'hiir.c ir iir \fo~lcr.ii S(~orltriit1 1560- 193 7 . I'.F. -\n\on
T l ~ ~ ~ ( ~ ~ e / 1 ~ i ~ 1 1 ~ ~ D i i ~ ~ ~ c ~ t o ~ ~ 1 ~ E c ~X c 1 9 - (~10th cdi~ion ~ t 1 l R e j , ~ I c ~ i ~ 1 ~ t i ). London. c

Burns. (late5 and Washbournc Ltd.

T/Ic, C'ictirolic~ Il'he~'.\ 11710CC Ycziri-Book. 191 I . Edited. Sir F C Bulnaud. London 19 1 1 . [I920
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19tl1 eclition].

Koiirtrri C;~tirulic~.\ C)I/IPI. irr ('aiii~iltc. Higl~landFHS. I')XO. n o . l i ) Koiiiirir C'nrholi~~Pi~ic~srs cY- C'~~i.cer~l.\St. Bi.igiil:\. 1859-1 Y i Y . .4l~i.\liii.~,. iir Li11.y~ FCiSiournal.

1997 no.23
Sc~ottr.vliCiirholic Ptrroit\ ieriil t/ic,li. C / I I / I / I ~ L ~ I I . 1-01-1'05. k \lcl)onni.ll. S t . .Andre\rs.
1')')j.

CEMETERY RECORDS \\.here they exist. the! ~ ~likely to pro\idc lnorc detail r c about a deceased rclatike. if nothing else the location of their burial \\-ithin the cemc~cl-y. Particularly for those \vitIiout headstones cemetel-! records can be extremely uscfi~l confirming details around their dcatli and biu-ial. In 11ic case of a great grandfather the cemetcr!. rccords state that m y great grandmother paid S 5 0 in 1903 for his $1-a\.e to be pcrpctually attend and planted \\ it11 f l o ~ ~ c rLVlien 1 \ isitcd the gra\.e s. o\ cr 90 years later I found the g r a w \\,ell ~naintaincd itli ne\\,ly planted anni~als. \\ The rccords may be held by a11 indi\.iclual cei1iete1-y,or ifsc\,cr;~l cemeteries arc in use in a gi\,en area. then the older registers may be centralized in one of the administrati\ e offices. Some of these registers may be in currelit use and the access restricted. There I limy also be a clialpc to see entries in the cemetcry rccords. If ~ O Larc unsure \\.liere cemetery records are kept in your district encluiries should be ~ n a d c the Local to :luthority offices or nt onc of the cemeteries in current LIX.
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CElVSUS IUDEXES Many Scottish Family Histor!, Societies have been indexing the \-arious censuses iorthcir arcas. The majority of indexes produced are for the I83 1 and 185 1 censLlscs \\.ith less \vork having been done 011the 1861 census. The 188 1 census for the Scotland. \?/ales and England is a \ ailable on C D from the Church ofthe Latter Day Saints. Somc districts of Scotland are fortunate that the returns for earl>. censuses have sur\.ivcd and some ofthcses are no\\, indexed. (See belo\\-).I11 all se\ era1 hundred ilidcx booklets have been prod~iccdthe majorit! of \\liicli are amilable Indexes through the Society at \ \ ~ c v \ \ ~ . s c o t s g e n e a l o ~ ~ ~ . c o ~ i i to the 1 S3 1 . 185 1. 186 I . 1871. 1881. 1891 Rc lC)O1 censuses should ~ r l l be a\.ailable in the ncar t'i~tul-eat \ \ ~ \ \ ~ \ \ ~ . s c o t l a n d s ~ e o uk~ I c ~ g o \ ~ . ~
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.A).rsliirc: 2 3 2 180 1 . 1 X 1 1. I X I . I X 1 (;alstoti: 1x20 Irvinc: I X 1 St. Qui\ ox. Kirl\ci~dhri~ht: 1791 Bnlmaclrlla~i. L ~ ~ i a r k l r1783. 182 1 Lcamnliapo\\ \lidloili~an: 1 X I 1. 182 1 Ilnlkeith \\.it11 I83 1 communion roll ofthec\t;~blishcd ch~~rcli hlornysliirc: 1 S I I [)allas. (~)l.l\ney: 182 I Drrrness. Orphil-. St. :lndrc\\.s. Sand\\.ick. South Ron~rlds~~y Ki Bu~l-;~y. Stron~nesh.
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CERTIFICATES Birth, marl-iagc and death ccrtiticutci are those that spring to mind but thel-e are other ~ ~ s e f icertificates il [hat the rcscarcher may disco\.er: exam ccrtificates. degree ccrtificates. music a\vards. >porting a\vards. ~iaturaliration cci-tificates. insurance certificates. assurance certificates. old \hare certificates. Sundav ,chool ccrtlticates, perfcct school c~ttcndance certlticatcs. ccrt~ticate< good of
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E P D E S likBlilT1 POLICY WlTH C1MPEI(SATIOM 76 SCAVART WL Y R

character when mo\.ing from one parisll to >mother i s s ~ ~ c d tlic local minister. All ot' by re these \\:ill atld to the p i c t ~ ~ ol'an anccstol. and gi\ c somc idca of their interests and abilities.

C H I N A Pottery and china with names. daccs and initials gi\'es us a n indication oftlie standing of our ancestor> and dated pieces may \\.ell gi\ e a clue to a significant t:,lnily c \ cnt. I)uring the 1 8!11ccn~ul-y tlicrc \\.as a ogilc LImong the n ell oSS to commission of armorial porcelain horn C'liina. A \.cry comprehensive I i s ~ lliosc com~iiissioning .41~1iio1~iu porcelain was published by the Heraldry Society of Scotland C'/i~iio\o Po~-c.c~lrrii~. d S . Ho\i:ard, b,dinburgh 1 9 9 5 . b-or chose families \+.it11 less money to D a spare there were ocher options in Scotland and dirted pieces could bc commissioned tYom se\,eral pottcric\ including the C i ~ m n o c k Poetcry n-liicli cammcnccd produc.tio11 in 1792 and continued u n ~ i l 1920. Tlicy specialized ill ~iicitto1 arc b~ pl.od~ccci 1 commemorati\ c pieces too.'
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CHRISTRI.4S CARDS Like bil-1hJay cards C'liristmas cards \\-ill gi\ z i~ili>l.lnation as to \\.lie \\.ere tlic friends and relat~ons an ance\kir. The cards \\.ill g i \ < a kcling of for the age in which they \+ere sent. Somc C'hristmas cards d<signcd ro si\ c littlc information may y i \ e somc ~1scfi11 details as \\it11 Christmas cards scnr from the trenches in The Great \li:~r. A Christmas card sent in 191 8 by my first cousin t\\.ice rcmovcd informs m e that he \ \ a s with the 7'l' Di\.ision in Italk. The re\ crsc oftlic card then lists the \.arious battles in \\.Iiich tlic Di\.ision was inz.011cd and 1s signed h! my cousi~iwith his rank - Lieutenant.
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CHL!RC'H RECORDS Apart froni the Old Parish Registers there is a \\.c:lltli of information L be found in church records. Kirk Session Records arc. potentially. a o \.el-! rich source for family history as they ma!. gi1.c details of our ancestor's misden~eanours.ho~netimescontained in a 'book of discipline' \z licrc all the details surrounding thc misde~ne:lnour and all those in\ ol\ed are recorded. The kirk session records or may gi\.cdetails ofan anccstor's election as an elderofthc kirk and the dutics
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he performed. The q ~ ~ a n t iof material that has sur\ i\wi \ arics t'ro~iipilrisli to parish t) and a li:uidlist is a\xilablc for consultation at thc h . A S ~ttider CH? O;: Cti3. There ma). he recot-ds of: fornication. Iegitimisation. PI-oclamationof banns. irrcgul:~r arriages. mortcloth Oi burial records. communion rolls. l>ossiblyschoolmaster.;. poor relief'. and in at least one instance road taws. For tlctails of pari\h I-cgistcrs in the Kirk Session Rc'yi.5tc~i..siii t l ~ Kir.l, Sc,\.\ir~irR~c,oi.tl,s / / I (C'hlii.c./l c o/ , Rccords see Di:lnc Baptie, P(~r.i.slr r?/'.Y(~otl(c~~tl. Aberdccn 100 1 . For more information on CIILII-CII records consult Ti.c/c.iiry 1 i ) l i l . Sc~ollish .~IIC'C'ST/JI:\ Official (iuidc. 3"' edition ?ooj, - the C L O T H E S NAME T.-\C;S occasion:illy old clothes a or linen m! 1iaL.e colnc do\\,n the generations. It is \vorth cliccking tlieni for name tags or embroidcrcd initials 3s the original o\\.ner mu!. bc identified. I ha\? a link to my Roughcad ancestors through a llandkercliicf embroidcrcd \\it11 the lcttcr 'K'. C O R \ I U N I O Y T O K E N S W I i c r c thcscsur\ i ~ they c a may give a cli~c s to parish in u.1iicli youl.anceator li\.ed and confirm the church to \\ Iiich h e y belonged.

Tokens for Cau-dor. In\~erncsaand Lit3cston. My ancestors \\.ere cldcrs of Liberton Kirk. hut I have not yet clisco\ercd the significance of the other t\\o tokens.

C O k l P U T E R D I S K S R3luny family historians no\\ use computers Ihr tlieirrcscarch 1 and store information 0 1 floppy discs or C[>s. Backing up information on to floppy tcr discs and C'Ds is essential as anyone n h o has had their c o ~ ~ i p i ~crash \ \ i l l testify. Ho\\,c\ cr. there are some points \\ ortli considci-ing in connection \vith these forms of \tulagc. Floppy discs. if used oticn. ill e\.entually \\,car out and any information stored on them \\.ill be \cry tliflicult. if not impossible. to retrie\.c. Floppy di\ci 111a4 be corrupted if put any\vhcrc near to a tnagnct. Tlic permanency of CDs has . e t to be demonstrated. There lii~\.e bccn reports of some ('Ds deteriorating and the ~nfor~natio contained on them being lost. Backing np data on to tapc is a surer way of preserving data for ;I longer period. It is u.ortI1 hccping paper copies ot'yo~lt. research as paper is known to sur\ i \ e for centuries. C O P Y R I G H T 1,IBRARIES There are 6 copyright libraries: National Library of Scotland. The Hritisli Library. The National Library of Ci'alcs. The Nationul Library of Ircland. The Hodleian Library. Oxfortl a n d the Fitz William Library. Cambridge. As
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these libraries are supposcci to recci1.c a copy of e\ el.. hook publihllcd thcy are the bcst s. libraries in hich to try and track do\\,n scarce \ ' o l ~ ~ m cTry looking at rlici~.\\,cbsites for online catalogues and there may also be handlists to manuscript collections. National Library of Scotland: \\,w\\ .nls.uk British L i b r ~ ~ r w\\,\\..bl.uli y: Librar) of Wales: \\,i\.\\..II~c.or:.uk National Library of Ireland: \v\\.\\ .nli.ie Bodlcian Library: \\ \\.~~.bodley.ox.ac..uk Fitz Williarn Library: ~ \ . \ \ . . l i b . c a m . a c . ~ ~ k Another useful wcbsitc co\ ering many Scottish lihrar.ics is: \v\v\v.scotIancii~~tcr.~iet 1ibrarics.htm

C R E S T S Sil\,er. seals. notc paper and otherokjcct> may hear n crest. It can bccluitc ~ re\-ealing to disco\ er to \ v l i o ~a ~ i crest belonged as i t 1 1 i i 1indicirtc some interaction \\-it11 a family either as an ccluiil or perhaps as a scr\.;uit \\.lie has rccei\.cd a git't. 1 ha\ c hccn able to identify the \\,riter of a Icttcr \\~licrc. signature has heen I1:u.d to d e c ~ p h cb!. thc ~ rctkrcncc to the crest embossed on the lettcrlicacl. Thc best \\,orb thr slcutli~n, CI-csts i h Friii.hirii.rr :s C'i.cst.\.by James Fairbai1.n. ~ ~ p d a t c d edition rc\.ised h? L a ~ ~ s c n Be~ ~ t t c r s c Seal Engra\,er in O r d i n a y to the Qucen for Scotland. Poole 1986.
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CRIMINALS-The carlicr records arc lield ;it rhc N.4S anti thc best o\ cr\ ie\\. to \\ l i ; ~ t papers of the \.iri-io~~s courts are held is given in consult Ti.irc.iilg ) ~ L I Sc~orri.s/i /. .-Iil~.t~sroi:s Ofticia1 Cii~idc. e d i t i o ~ ~ - the 3"' 2003. A n index to an increasing ~ i i ~ m h01' r c papers i b becoming a\;iilablc. on-line ur ~ . \ v \ + ~ . s c o t l : ~ ~ i d s ~ , e c > ~ ~ l \\ .Iiiclr \makes c g~~ ~.uk searching ~liehcpapers easier. Robert Pitcairn's C'i.iir~inrrlTi.iri/\ ii7 Sc.ot/iri~i/ 1488I624 is worth consulting. It was published in 3 \olirmcs by tlie Bun~lalltyncCluh. Edinburgh. 1833. .4ccounts of many of tlie most f:~nious Scottish trials ha\-c hccn published by William Hodge & C'o.. Edinburgh and London. in the series .\o~irhlc> Sc.orri.c./i Ti.iril.\. and ,Vorohlr. Bi.iti.sh Ti.iir1.c. Thc doyen of the Scottish scrics \\as li'illiani R o ~ ~ g h c ;who u r o t c I X fi~rtherbooks o n Scottish contemporary and ~d historical criminals. Some other u orks arc:
H1trc.k i i t r l i ~ ~ ~ tolo lhri.ilc~.rl. k .i 17-161878. t i c i ~ l i erguson. I01)5. t

Fife Corl~,ic.r Ti.tr/l.~~?or.rc~c,.\. 7 . .I~YIlIlK(,7. I FIIS jonl-nal. Isi)4. io1.7 130.2. 1752-1 8 5 F ~ 1995. ~ 0 1 . 7 170.3. 1995. i.01.X no. I. ( ~ c ~ I l o i ~ ~ c ~ ~ ~ . l r c . c . t i iRt.cor.rk.s 1739-1-40. Dumfrics & Gallo\\a) Fl IS.iousnal nr). 10. 199 I . ~itr~:i. hlenlinn IS made of \ ~ I . I O L I criminals. S .\~io.i.rrti~.c~.\ / ~ I / I . o C'i.ir~li/~irI 7j./t1l\ Sc~otliri~tl. Burton. L-ondon. i 852. ill .1.11. .\;)rtihlc, Durlok~t, Tr.rcr1. A.1 I . hlillar. i l l Pcople's Jo~~rn;il. 1905. .Silrrtr~.c, .llilc o f .\llri.tli,~.. ack ~ I O L I C;1asgo\\. I90 I & 1075. S SC. Srr.c!l~ctll~ ~ I I I ~ . Y ~ I D~~riikiesGallo\vny FHSjo~~r~ial I . l L ) C ) l . hlentions \ arlons H IIICII~. & 110. 2 Ciallo\vay pcople banished fi~rtli Scotland. of

CClSTOhlS & EXCISE Thcsc records are held at W c s ~Register House ~ ~ n d repertory hc;~dingCE. They co\,cr tlic period from 1707-1 819 \vhcii Scotland had its o\vn Board of Customs. Tlic Scot~ish Board of Excise continued until 1830. These records can p r o ~ i ~al u,ealth of dctail about ancestors in the sel-\ice. If you arc lucky c you \vill find datcs of appointn~cnt. pro~notion. dctails of salary. requests for lea\e of absence \\ ith reasons for same. details of reprimands, dctails of prize money and date of retiring from the scr\ ice. The Scottish Genealogq Society has a microfilm of tlic cards that John Fo\\.ler Mitchell compiled aiicnt Scot~ishElcise Offjccrs bct\\c'en 1707 and 1830. Tlicsc cards form an excellent starting point for anyone with ancestors in the Scottish Excise and pro\ idc ~ ~ s c frcfc'rcnccs. information. datcs and sometimes ul details of tlie officer's family.
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Somc titles on tlie subject arc liqted belo\\:

1 cc,/c,c~tc,ii i h l i o ~ i ~ e r pori l, ~ ~ ~ : : ~ I I ~ ~ o ~ i tIl. IrI~pii.ci/c,cI iriiei ciii~igglc,~:~. B l II ~ ~ e I~ ~ . \~ ~~ . ('omp~ledR . Cameron. Mitchell L~brar!. 1983. Ror~/c,r .Yiiirigglc~i~.\. 1i.M~lrray.I:\\\ ich "r~.cli. I Soc. Tr:uis.. Ha\\ ick. I S7.i. ~ I L ~ I I I / I . ; C , \ I / / O ~ I ~ I I '5 ~Si~ici,ygIi~i,q CC C ; ~ J .Sroi.~.. Fra~iccs Lf'11hi1is.Lf'yrc FOI PIC\S. CSI 1003. F(iiiii/~.Hi\loi.i~~~ 111 .Sc.ottis/i ~ c ~ \ / o i i i \ R~,c,oi.i/\. France\ Wilhins. \\'?re kore\t Prehs. 1092. Kiiig ' \ C'rittc,i:\ ( / / I ( / S I I I L ~ ~ ~ / C I . \ I700-1855 E. Kccblc Chatterton. 10 12.
I ' c ~ t c ~ i ~ l r ~11riigglo.\ 111c' liict c.c,iitiri:u.. c~~i~i o/
Sc.otlai,ti'\

l'.Buch;in. Edinhur.gIi. 1834.

F[iii. Ti.citlc,i.\.Ci.?.. Li~rle Scor[isIi Field C'XXIV no.91 9. 1978. in

(ja\,in D. Smirli. E d i n b ~ ~ l . ~ l ~ Contains a good bibliograph!. 200.3. Silliigg1o.c. Duncan Frascr. hlontrose. I ')'X S~~i~igg/c,i-\ h .Soll~.cil.. oil t ~ Scurll.sh Cjencalogisr. sol..2 I. 1984.
Sc,ottithSi~l~cggl(,r-\.

. Y ~ ~ i ~ / g g / i i ~ g Solin ;\. Thornson. Dumtiies 1989. (~'011.5~. S~liriggliiig tlic. .G)/II.[II.r i i t i c ~ i ~ o i i ~(i ; c~ / i c ~ ~ ~ u ~ . iii ~ t l i l I o ~ \c.tihotri.d.J.M. R'ood. Dumt'r~cs. ILjOS.

F. U'llkins. W rc Forcst Prcss. ! F. b~lliins. ?re Forat I1reh\. I W5. LL .Yi~ici,vg/iii~ .S'toi:l. Strcit/ic~l~.tic~. of F. LVilkins. LVyl'c Fol-cst l'res.;. I907. Siiictgglirig .Stoi:l.of tile' l i l , o E;ri.rli\ ( F I J I . IcY. T ~ /). F. \\'ilki114.\I.'h~.cI.orcsl Prcss. 1993. /~ J
. S ~ i i r i ~ g / i i iSroi:i.of p'

tlce, 1\11. o/
!Iic

lleiii.

.Si~~ii,y,q/iir~ of Stoi?.

\ b i . t / i c ~ i . i i S/ioi.c\.

S[JIII(V, .S~~~~cgg/c,i.c.. Ir~irlg. Gordon L1umti.it.s. Ic)71.

S o l ~ ~ e ~ ~ ~ . \ n i r iotrtl thc, c~o.vto~~i\ ot Doilifr.ic~\. , y ~ y I c ~ ~ ~ ~ p(1i.t Mr..A..l. Pre~-o\l.n Trans. Dumfrics i (iallou;i! %at.Hisr. Antiq. Soc.. 3rd. ser. \01.51, 1975. Str.citlrc~h ' r .Siiiiig::/iiip .Ytoi:i..Fr:unccs LL-ilkins. Wyre Fol-esr PI-ess. 1092. tic,
Keferences

See also ('Iiiilc,cc,.Ai~irroi.rtil Poi.c~cItri11. Da\ id Iloward. London 1071. This \olumc is uell 11l~1srrarc.d. Sec Tlit, C'lii~riro[.X l'ottc~i.~~. Gerard Quail. A~I-shirr ;\rchaeolog~c:iI bk N a ~ ~ ~Hi\(orq ral Society \qrsIi~rchlonograph no.12. Septelnbel- IO').?.

DD A T E S W I i c n doing any historical research in Scotl~ind bcfol-c 1600 and in England and her dominions before 1752 great care ha.; to bc taken \\ it11 dates. Bet\\ ccn tlic 13'' and 14"' centuries the Catholic church in Europe gradunll! clinngcd the beginning a f thc Civil and Legal from December 35 to the Feast oftlie .-Innunciation o f t h c R l e ~ s c d s L'irgii~ (Lady Day) on Ma]-cli 25. This is \\.liy. in published \ ~ o r k ancl transcripts. !~ L I may see dates like 24 January 1584 5. We \\auld considel- tlie date to he 24 Jan~lar! 1585. hut at the time of writing people considered the date to bc 31 .lannar! 1-84.
I n Scotland the change to 1" January as the start of the nen. ~ e a l . c o ~ n m e n c e d 1600. in but England and licr Dn~nininns including America did not change to I " .lanuar! L I I ~ I I ~ 1751.

The Julian Calendar \\ hich liatl bcen lvidely adopted throughout Europe \\a\ \I~glitl! inaccurate so that the equinox of 1582 fell on 1 I ~blal-chinstead of tlic cnrrccl ~.i;ltc 21 March. Pope Circgory introduced t\\o cli:lnges to correct the Julian (';llencl,rr: 1. ot'tliecnd-ce~ltur!. ?cars on14 the fourth should bealcap year. i.e. I(,OO. 2OOll.24l!l 1 3. in 1582. 5 October 5liould bc called 15 October omitting 10 da! s . This Ciregorian C'slendm. was gradually adopted across E ~ ~ r o p c~ I ~ ~ I ~ ~ \C\ II!!: C ~ I France. Italy. Portugal and Spain in 1583. The lastto cliangc\\as (irccci. In I LJ2? ( 11.2.): Britain and her Dominions changed in 1752 by tlie omission of I I da! s. 3 \i.jltc~iil~i.: being reckoned as 14 September.
I I

lfdates are follo\\ed by 'NS'tliis ~neansNe\v Style orciregorian C'ale11d:lr:'0s' I I I ~ . . ~ I I Old Stylc or Julian Calendar. T o further conti15c thc maltel- atier 1(,00 Sci~tlnncl. I I ~ L ! England had a different New Year's Dn?. hut both L I S the~ ' 0 5 ' dati' ;lnd \ L 1 ~ l ~ > ~ . . ~ usually follo\ved this calcndar. Howe\>cr. British arniics and diplomat\ <In r l : ~ continent tended to use the 'NS' date. but on? cannot always be sure \\ liicli it! lc \\.I. being used. Other calendars may bc encountcrcd \vhcn doing rescarch and tlie hcst source h r tlis>s A published a n n ~ ~ a l l ? . . work also conlains a perpeti~al This is Il%itr/lic/.',v b l ~ n l ~ l i c k . calendar that helped tlie author pin do\\.n the likcl!. !car of a isit to Dundet b the ! actress Helen Bnl-l-?\s ho\vasloappearat theThealre Roqal ti-om Monda).29 'Octo1,cs. Tlie ad\ ertising photograph did not carry a year. Reference to a perpetual calc1lda1gave possible years: 1877, 1883. 1894. 1900. 1906. Based on the costume. ht! Is of' carte dt. \ isite. and details of the play found on the internet. the year must ha\ e hi'i'n 1877.

To investigate this and other calendars further visit: Calendopaedia htts: "ww\\-.reocities.com 'Ca~xCanaveral, 767 1 Lab Historical Ecclesias~ical Calendar 15-ww.~olvsvllabic.co~n~Gre~Con\~.html General Calendar\ http: astro.nms~~ eduv-lhubcr leaph~st.html

DEATH -- Much has l>ccn written on Scottish Death Certificates post 1855 and any good 'Tracing y o ~ Ancestors' book \vill give much detail. Suftjcc it to say that ~r Scottish death ccrtiticatcs rccord the parents of the deceased and those certificatcs for 1855 rccord the issue. li\.ing or deceased. of the defunct. Prior to 1855 the Old Parish Registers \\,auld need to be consultcd. The inforlnation in these varies and the datc given ]nay be the date of: death. interment or pa.mciit for the use of the mortcloth so being great care has to be cxcrcised \\;hen attributing a date of death. Work is currcntl~, undertaken on the National Burial Index - transcribing and/or indexing the Old Parish Death Registers. CDs and booklets arc. being pl.oduced. Another i~scful source is the volumes of monumental inscriptions poblishcd by the \rai-iousScottish Family History Socictics. The best place to look for an up-to-date list of n.hat is for sale is the Society's shopping facility at \vww.scotsgenealogv.cori~ For obituaries i t may be worth

con\~~lting (;/rr\goi~,//c'i.ii/t/ / I I ~ / c 'Ic)O(i dntc: tlie I~idc\to tlic . Y ~ i r / i i.lolii.iici/ t C \. i~ <\ . 0/)\1,13 IS.;(?- I S50: 11icIc\ o l ' t l ~ c/)/ii~~ii.ic,\ 1'1, 4(/i~>i./i\c~i..015. 1820- I 070: .Y~ii./ii/y CC G ~ I / / ii~~.\'/triii/cii.t/cC. ~II It/~~c~i./i\c~i~ancl i t \ lp~cdccc\x~i.\. 1'77- 1O:O. S \ ol\.. I)ci~nli.ic\ 1980- 1989: (;ri//o~~~rii. . It/i,c,i./i\c,i.R I f i_r/oi~.ii 1.1.ocaI1i.c,\\. 1 \ ( ) I \ . . I ) L I I I I I I ~ ~ C ' \ lOS2cci 1987. I'hc S c o t m a n Nc\\,\p:rpc~-I S 17- 1 L, 10 lii;r! al\o he c o ~ i \ ~ ~ l t 011-li~icIII_ 3 ~ 4 1 ie.\col\m;rn.co~ii. \ Scarclic\ ilia! I?c rii;~dc c~l'cli:il-gc a\ccrtain i t :ill anc.c\tol !kcc to I S menlioncd. hul ~hel-c\ a c.liargc il'tlic :u-r~clc \ 10 he do\\illoaelcd i i Tlie R e g ~ ~ t 01' r L)cccl\ ([<I)) :\I tlic h;itio~i;iI. \ r c l i ~ \ c \OI' \COII;III(I e I\ ; I c of i~ifor~~i;~tic)ii F c ~ ~ i i ~ l ! for tlic liihtor~:~~i. r c g ~ \ t c r l ~ ~ i c c\ c~lI ~. I ~ C I 111 ~l'lic o I I 1554 hut took Inan? qcai-s hct'orc 11 hcc:~mctirml! c\t~rhli\Iicd Tlicrc arc 1111-cc I - I L . \ \C of Deeds: 1554- 1 Oi7: 1 (i(? I - I X 1 I 2nd I I.( 12 lo ( l a ~ cTlicl-c :II-cw l n c 1p1.11ited n d a c to . ~ , [he Kcgisterot'[lccd\ti~om100 1 - 1 ( ~ 0 6T1icrca1-c . inclc\c\aI \.AS t ; i ~ -1007-1 -07.1 -0i1707. 17 14. 17 I?. 1750-52. I ;hi allel 17-0 o n \ \ ardh. For o t h c ~?car\ 11 \ \ oulcl l ~ c 10 ~ mlnlitc hool\\ and \\o~-i\ !o~ir\\a! tlirouyli ~ h c ~ n ~ieees\;~ry order L I ~ l i c
II-CLI~LI~C tro\

DEEDS

The Rcgi\lcr oI'Dced\ ma! cwntain mal-r~:rgccontract,. in\ ciitor~c\oi'dcthnct\. II-LI\I di\po\itionh and \cttlemciit\. linanc~al ll.:tn\;ictlon\. huildins cc)nll.act\. contl.nct\ li)r tlie i ~ ~ p pofygooel\ somellmch \ L 1111~ n ~ i c l i ( \ c c Scotli\h ( ~ c n ~ > l l o g\loI..:(J I I O . I l clela~l \l \larch 1902. I - C'l'11/11/:l. \li/l/ili.l.( !ll/Oi~lil Oliii.(ll I \ 1. ciCcd\ 01'tll~101-~co111111l\\lol1. ( k ' dcccls ot'as\~imption.d~\cIi:irgc\ ctc. Tlierc arc ~1l5o l l l i l ; ~ :111ci \ cr!. L I \ ~ ~ ' L dcccli to l?e fo~i~ici tlic Slicritt'C'o~~rt ii ~I~ ill Keeo~-(i\ SC'). Burgh f)eetl\ ( 13) a~lciC'oliirn~\\ar! C i)lirt I)cecl\. For ;I I'~ille~. pict~irc dccci\ oil c o ~ l s ~ iTi.clc~rily};)lii.\ .\'c.o//i.\/i ! I / ( c,\/oi.\.- the Oi'licial (iu~clc. ., cclilioll 2003. lt 3
(

DIALECT \\'hen rehcarchillg ole1 document\ ph~.;i\c\and d~alccr\\ol-d\ nla! hc tIi;rt ~i~i(Ici~~toocl. liiost t r ~ i ~ l i o ~ ~ i ~t o 1 .tkoilc tlic T~lic ~ ; ~ ~~ \ c~ico~i~itcrcci ;II-C 1101 C;I,II!, Scot~islil:l~ig~~:lgcI - e/ : i ) i c ~ / i ( ~ / l 01i111czO/~/c,i. ( o / / ~ \ /7i)iiy/ic,. I2 \ol>.. \ ; I I . I O L I Y ~I rr ~~~ .Y I crhit! flrc\h (O(;ll). 10.:7-2002: ,S( o / / i \ / ~c r / ~ o i ~ c / / i ) i ( . / ~ o I0 t ~ ~ \ i~ ecii~c>rs. Lkforcl L;~ii\ \(>Is..\ a r i o ~ i cciilo~.s. \ Eciinhuryli 1933- 1976. l'hc Ialtcrclict~oiin~~! deal\ \\ ith \ \ ord\ in \ \ \ . I /i.oii/ comrnon usage fi-onl 1700. For l a t ~ n L O I - ~ i ic,~.i\c,t/ l ~ ' t / i c , ~~. ~~iI/I I I Iloi.cl-i-i\~ Bi.i/isll clrltl I~.i\.li o ~ l i ~ . cK.h. l.;rth;riii. OL'P. I O ( > i 1s \ cr? L I ~ C I ' L I I . '1'lii.rc arc xc\ era\ S '\. smallel-dictio~i~~ric\f~rirl!~rcaclil~~a\ Ingood hook\hc)p\. !~l-c\i~ml,lc: ailahlc ('//~iiii/~c~i.'\ .A \ I cli iiI?~irgIiI 0 I I 1.cp1.1t 1 070: ( 'oii( i\c, .\'( ( I / \ li .5'c,o/.\. Dic,/ioi701.1.. lck:~~icier~ ' ; I I - I - :1.~ ~ \ . \/lair1 Rohinson cd~lor.,\berdccn CP 1085: .\'(.o/\ 771cx\tr/ii.~i\. I\c;ib:irl Dic./ioi~(ri:~.. Vacleod. edilor. 4herdei.n (!I1. Ie)OO. DIARIES \liere I':uii~l! J ~ a r i c ha\ c \ L I I - \ ~vccl t':rrii11!, Ii~\tor~:ui i \ the \Iio~rld q o ~ c :I.; r c they ot'tcn fill-nlxh ~ n ~ i cciclail and in\iylit Into liuiiil! 11fct h a ~ \ o ~ ~ ILI\ d c hccn lo\[ li \ l ancestor had no1 1x11 lo I ) ; I ~ , ~ I .Ll!, grc:il :runt \\ r ~ t i n g I L, IS pen . in fore\ el. if.;\ tllo~~glitf~il ahout her youngcxt brot1ic1-\ ~ h h;itl ioi~iccl I<o!.rl Flq lng C'ol-p\ fill-ni\licx detail\ o [he that ~i 1101 nor111al1bc ; i ~ a ~ l a bro~rue a~lcl.rno1.c rrn(,or.larirl>. LS her-^, 111 F~-allcc oulcl I . great uncle Soh~l ~ n st;it~oneei\ L Ilich ;rllo\\cd me to c l ~ \ c o \ cmol-c infi)rlnat~oii I ~ J ~ L I I i s ~L

his squadron in 7'11~ Ilirr Jan. S

111

r/ic~.~lii.. \+'.A. Raleigh. 0 \.ols. OUI'. 1022.

Iohn \\.as supposed to ha\ c gone to France today but the \\catlier\\.as so rough lie is staying at D o ~ c r . across and he couldn't hccp cliginc n a s going baclly on tlicio~~lncq L I ~ i t the others. a n d all the timc expected to lia\.c to make a I'orccd ~ h luck than I;lnding in the sea. He did get across honel'er. more by goc~d anything. lie sa>.s.IIc I S apparently stationed at Aire.

.Ian. I6 We lie;~rdfro111John today of his nrri\.al in France. Poor cliilcl! His

Jan. 26 John says he has got a next engine 3 r d is settling d0n.n nicely. Fch. X Jack lias bcen l i a ~ i n g'ri~tliera bad timc' again. He got lost and At \\,anclerc.dabout i n tlic air for 3 lio~u-s. last lie manngcd to land. but in ;I ciitcli. I-lc \\'as tlirc~\vninto tlie ditch (filll of uater) a n d his observer sprained his leg. If your ancestor was more prominent thcn i t may bc \\ortli consulting: Bi~iiislrDici~,ic~. 1442-IW2. LVilliain Mattlica s. C'a~nhridge Uni\ crsity Press. 1950: Bih/iog~.cc/~ly. o/ Diti~-ic,.vPi.iiitc~tli~r Eirgli.~ll S3S-1Yc)S.C'.S. IIandley. 3'" edition. X\ols. in 2. 7 0 0 2 .E\ e n if your anccstor dici riot lea1.c a diary I-eadingthe diary of another may gi1.c insight into c l : ~ i l ? lifc at a gixen time.
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DIPLO1IATS for those \\,it11 ancestors in the diplomatic corps Lhc fcIllouing\\ c~rks may be o f ' ~ ~ s.-I :1I~niilli.ct c c?/'B~.iti.,li L)i/)loi7rc1tic~ Rc~/)i.c'\r,r7/cctii.c,.c. 1509-1688. ( ; , \ I Bell: Bri/i.\h Di,i11o11icitic Rcp~.~.rc~ilri~li~,i,r, 1689-17x9, J.F. C'li:~ncc;Digli~or~ '\ Ilii.c~c,to~;~.. l J i Y ~ ~P ~ / cI~ , / . , s 193': ~ i I / ~ 01 B1.1riv11 i / ) l o ~ ~ ~ ( i D D i / ) / o i ~ ~ uCio ~p .CC C'o/~\~iI(ii. t c/ ~ 1782-1900. HMSO. 1985.

DIRECTORIES T h e value of'dil.cctorics is \\:idely recognizeci by fami I ) historians. The Scottish Genealogy Socicty lias a s~liall ollection ot'directorics. s c l ~ i ~ c c co\.cring the whole of Scotland others covering the main ton'ns and cities. The Society is keen n to expancl its holdings and is always on tlie look out for \ olu~ncs ot in OLII-collection Most directories contain general intormation about ;I burgh. its c~fticcrs courts and Ian local dignitaries. follo\ved by sections arranged alpliabcticall! hy surname. \tl.etlt nalnc, and professic-)~i. Directories for the I~jrgcr hurglis o f e n lia\.c sections a ton.ards the end covering outlying to\vns and \illagcs. Some Scc)ttisli directories arc iinlx. a\.ailable on fiche or C'D and thcrc is a selection a\ailable tlirc~uglitlie Society's on-line sales at \\\\\\~.scots~cnealo~~.co~n.
One refel-elice work co\-ering Scottish directories is Ciarctli Sliaw and Alison Tipper Hr.iti.\/i Dii.c'c.toi.ic~.\. 1"edition. Leiccstcr U.P.. 10x9. This \\ark lists all knoa~li Scottish L dircc~ories IPto I950 as WCII :IS k.riglisli and \i'clsli directories from 1850- 1950. For each country there is a list of dircctories co\.ering more than olie county follo\\cd by those directo~.ics ewering a single count!. or burgh \\.ithill that county. At the cncl that ot'thc lvork is a list of commerce. industr!, and trades directorits. A degree ofcaution

has to be exercised \vhcn sing this \\ ork as thc author tried to access a directory n4iich was listed in thc holdings oft\vo Scottish and three English 1-ibraries only to discowr that only ont. of the English libraries held a copy. I t is worth checking with a library to see if they have thc directory before making a Journey.

Another \j,ork \\.hich a summary of Scottish Directories is Sc,otti.vlr T/.cltle.s. Prc~f&.c.cioris, T'ittrl R e c o ~ ~~irroi i s Directorie.~, R. Ton-ancc. I998 2"" edition. available through the D. Society's on-line sales at \v~~w.scotsgenealotlv.com. One of the best directories for tracing properties and peoplc outivith the main Scutlish burghs is Dirccto~l. .L'ol~lcr~rc~~r Gerlt1enrc~rr.s Senrs, n,hich. after thrce editions. to crnrl ' bccame Tllc Co~117tl' Directoi:~. c?f',Scotl(l~lrJ. There are 13 \.olumes in the series: 1843. 1852. 1857. 1862. 1868. 1S72. 1875, 1878, 1882. 1886. 1894. 1902. 1912. and ha1.e two main s e c t i o n s a n alphabetical list of properties and an alphabetical list ofpeople. usually n\i.ners or tcnants of land. lfyou are trying to trace businesses in thc small towns, hamlets and\:illages ofscotland then Pigot's Director? qf'Scotlrr~~rl. 1820. 1825, 1837 are vcry useful. These wert. superccded by Slatt~r Rq~.tll '.c .V(rtio/r~~I C'or7~r~ier~~inl director:^. ( 1 1 ~Topogr~i/)I!\.q f ' 1 Scotlnnd published in: 1852. 1860. I S67. 1873. 1878. 1882. 1886. 1889, 1893. 1896. 1900. 1903. 1905. 1907. I91 1. 1915. English and Welsh dircctories it is \\.orth \-kitingLeicester Forthosenishing to c o n s ~ ~ l t University's site ~~~~.w.historicaldirectories.org. an increasing number of \vhere dircctories are becoming available on-line.
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DISCHARGE PAPERS \Vhcre these ha\.t. been issued and preserved inuch personal detail may bc gleaned by the researcher. Depending on which organization or military service issued the papers information ]nay be found about: name. date of birth, cha~.acter.physical appearance. jobs undertaken. promotions. pays rises. taxcs. disputes. disciplinary action. postings abroad and gcncral comments. Similar information may be found at the PRO, Ke\v for those that wcre in the services. There arc sci-cral books that u.iII help guide you through their holdings: Tr~icirrgYc~~~r~.\.b~~c~lAric~e.s Bruno Pappalardo. PRO Guide 24. Richmond. 2003; .4ir For-c,cxRec.or.il.r,fhr Ftrlrlih. Rec>o~.t/.s First M)b~.lcl c?f'tlir Hi.rtor,iarr.s. PRO Ciuide 2 1 , Richmond, 200 1 ; .41.111j.Sc11.13i~~e Ct'ur. William Spenccr. PRO Guide 19. Richmond. 200 1 ;.lir.rr7~~Rec.or.cIIs, Furliil~. fi)r.tiica Fli.ctorinrr. Simon Fom-lcr and \I'illiain Spencer. PRO Guide 2. Richmond, 1998; and it is well worth iisiting their website to discovcr \vhat is amilable.

Forthose \vith relati\,cs in the merchant navy there are many \ aluable records available for research for which therc is: PRO Guide 20. Kc.c,o~.d\t?f'L.ler.chilritShippir~g& Seilrl7rii. K, Smith. C.T. & M.J. Watts. Richmond, ~ 1 9 9 8 . This discharge Certificate August 1919 giites not only thc namc, number. rank. regiment &: unit. length of time serxcd, but also the previous occupation and qualifications obtaincd during time in the army.

DIVORCE RECORDS Dl\ orce. although extremely rare. has been poss~ble111 Scotland since 1560 For all cases prlor to 1830 the Commissary Court of E d ~ n b u ~ p l (CC 8) needs to be consulted ln 1909 the Scott~shRecord Soclet) publ~slicdTile.
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PI Decl-rc~tc16i~Y-IS00 C o r ~ z n l r ~1( COLII of Edrrih~lrgli Co11~1\torr111oc cJ( P C SC I I I ( ~ ~/i t

u hich co\ ers. amongst other cases, cases of dl\ orce dnd the \ o l ~ u n c ontalns an ~ n d e of persons The p'ipers. ~fthey exlst, u ~ l need to be ordered up dt the NAS There is l an ~ n d e v processes and decreets co\ erlng the p e r ~ o d of 1800-1835 (CC 8 6 176) A t t e ~ 1830 the Court of Sess~on Records ha\e to be consulted From 1782 'i pl lnted ~ n d e v of cases u a s publ~bhedannually and tliese need to be consulted From 1855 to 1984 if couples separated the words Dirol-cvRCE (Register of Corrected Entries) was written against the marriage entry. Since May 1981 a central register of divorces granted in Scotland lias been kept by the Registrar General. For more detailed ..I~i~~c.stonv Oftjcial Guide. 3"' edition - the information consult: Tr.acirig I'oilr-Sc~ottisli S~.otti.sli .41ic'iatr?..Kathlccn B. Cory. 3"' edition. Edinburgh 2004. 2003: Tr,acirig Y'o~lr revised and updated by Leslie Hodgson.

DOG TAGS- Where these have sur\.i\,ed they may pro\ idc uscfi~l military infor~natioii concerning a relative. If the relative was killed it will help in extracting infoniiation from the CDs which purport to list all soldiers killed in both World Wars.

EE L D E R S T l i i s \\:IS a n office introdi~cc~i rcfi)rrners into tlicircongregations befbrc by but 1500. Initially tliis lay ollice \ \ a s to he I>y annual clcctic111 attcr tlic introduction of it gradually becamc ;I litb-ot'ticc and qi~asi-ministerial. the .Ccc.orri/Rook ol'L)i\c~i/)/iiic~ The clcction of Elders anti tllc dutic5 the\, perfbrmcd ma) he rccorJcd in Kirk Session s liecords ( C H 2 ) . If'a Book of Discil>li~ict111S L I ~i \\ cs in the Kirk Session Records 01the information is incorpo~.n~c~l tlic Kirk Session Kccot-ds 3 hetterglimpsc ma! he into ol' had of the iiiisdemcano~~r\ parisliioncrs and tlic p~ln~slimcnt handed do\\-n I>> the consulting the I 1e1.11ot.s millister and clcler\. Ifan ancestor\\ as a n eltlcr it may be \\~ortIi Recorcls ( H R )as elders \\ ere often dra\\n t7i.orn rllc I:l~rd-o\\niligor tenanting clnssc..

E L E C T O R S Priol-to 1832 on11 a tin) minorit) ofScots \\ere eligible to \ otc. \.oterz fell into tu o ~ ~ O L I I J S . \\ ho clccted tlie bury11 rcpresentati~ anti those \\ ho c.lc.ctcci tllosc es o the county rc.prc\cntati\cs. Lists of tliosc eligible L \ate In the hi~rgllsIII;I! be t;)~~llci in councll niinutc books or burgh papers ( B ) . Lists of tliosc cligiblc. to elect cci~~nr! rcpresc.ntati\ es may be found in the Sl~erift'Courtpapers (SC'). cliccl; for t'l.eelinliic.l.\ o -~ records. The 1832 Reform Act extendcci \ oting rights L E 10 ~ ~ o L I ~ c I ~ o I c I i~l lI to\\ 11,. E l 0 holders and E j O leaseholders in shires. The 1868 Reform Act estcndc~l \ otc (hc. to 311 rate pa),ers and lodgers pa)-ing f 10 or more rent for unfi~rnisliedrooms In LO\\ n, , ~ n d ES n\\ ners a ~ l d 13 occupiers in shires. The 18x5 Act cxtcndrd (lie h o n ~ c . h o l ~ i c ~ lo f and lotiger frn~icliiseto rhc shil-cs. In I9 I X (lie Rcprcscritation of (lie Pcopli. .\ct S,I\ L (lie \ otc Loall men 2 1 ando\,crand all \\omen 3 0 a n d o \ er. All \\omen o \ c.r2 I ~ . c c cc ~ l ~\ 2 ;. cI s (lie \ o(c In 1028. Thc I X lieform Acr occnsionctl more comp~.c.licns~\ ~ s t o f \ i1tc.r. to be dra\\n up. i ~ n dpublished rolls exis( for I:di~iburgIi8: (ilasgo\\. The \.~t~on,il Archi\ cs of Scotland possess some roll.; and (hcsc are listed in Ti.irc,illg 1 o i i i .L I J ~ I ~ \ / ~ .41ic.c~\tol.\: llc, Offic,iolG'iritic~ T p~tbli\hcdh>.N.\S. I ( is \cortIi consulting loc~il I I > ~ J I . I ~ . \ I and a r c l i i ~ e centres (o disco\cr \\hat Elccturi~lInaterial they hold. Women's Suffrirge is best co\ cred b! .4(;~tir/C'trlr.\c,: Tllc~ Ilhilic~~iS~i/l~.iigc,O I I I I C ' I ~ I '\ \I i r r r .S~~o/lctlri/. Lcncman. Abcrdccn L.P.. 109 I . and tliis\\ork conrains 3 b ~ o g ~ - a p l i ~ c : ~ Leilli list oI'Scottisli Suffragettes.
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ERIRl,E.\IS A N D B..IDCES Enihlems and badges nia) bc ;I i ~ > c l ii~ ld ~ c a t ~ o n to n a\ a clan or militar!, affilialio of an ilnccstor. Occasionall> tlic o~.igitial hatige, ~ L I I . \ I \ c. i\hich makes idcnti1)ing 111clneasier. MosL badgcs arc known 0111) ti-on1pliorogral>li~. a a It is \\ell \\or(li lool<ing at old photographs \\.it11 cli~ite strong lens us much m ! bc. re\,ealed (hat is not \,isil>lcto tlie naked eye. To hclp identify \&'\&'I badgcs l ~ l ~ ~ i i i i / ~ . i i i Btrt/ge\ ~ ~ / S\vinner(on. Bus!. 700 I . i.olti. Il)iv't/ Iliii~lSolt/ic~i~fi.o~li t i i i r l I - ' h o t o g i ~ ~ ~ lain ~ . s . is \el-> ~ l s c f i ~Tlic, \lc,rkil k'c~tri.hool,.cci. 200.;. .lames blackay K: .lolin \\.. \ l ussc.1I. l. Token Puhlislii~ig. I)e\on. contains niany pic~ures ofnicdals and accompan\ 111s mctlal to ribbons. E \ e n tlioirgll Inost olti photographs arc black & \\.hitc it ma! be ~>o\zll>lc iden~ifi the nieclal ribbon 13. i(s contigi~ra(ionanci the apprcixim;~te date ot' (hc. photograph \\ hich \ \ i l l climinatc ccl.t:rin campaign medals.

Tllih 15 21 ~3llot~~gl-:l~lll great 1111cIc 01, Ill!, ticnr! . 111shat b;~clgc tliat ot'7lic ('osps I,\ o l I 1 0 1 l 1 1 i i 1 c c 1I . 1 5 co~iti~.~iicci 13) tlic c I ~ ~ t ~ ~ci e i i ~ t ~ ~ r c1115 scrgc:11it.5 l r \ 01' \II.II~~S. f-lie mccl:rl ribbon I \ riiose ol'a ah i~ 1~1.o1~lc1iislio~~lci ti)r \ e n lee\ in the he L3oc.1\\'XI. tlic stripe \cqLlencc [tlar.l<. hut light. dal-li. ligli~. ciarli] does ~ i o~iiatclihe t t (Juccn'h South .Ati.ic;l medal. but this 1113~ ;I tricli ol'tllc e;~~iicl-;~. be

EXIIGI<AN'TS Scotland dihl~lacccl ni;rn> of' i t \ citi/cn\ \\-lio li)~lnti liti. ill a Inan! ~ x ~ l -01' [he cmllirc. To help the ts dchccndants ofthese cmigr;llit II.;ICC tlicir ; l l i c c ~ t man)- \ o l ~ ~ ~ n e . ; r~ ol'cm~granth c ha\ I)o~lnlil \\'li!tc. one ot' been p~~blislied. the Socict! .,\ t i ) ~ ~ n d i l l g ~ n c r nand~ ~ s b c \'ice1 I)ic./io~l~ri.r I'sci~dcntha3 11~1hl1s1ic.d 01 ~Yi~o/lis/~ k~i~~i:yi~i~i~/.s 1 0 ,Ar~~(,/.i(,ir. 2 101,. t3altimol.c. 10-3 LC I [)SO:. l)ic~~icji~tri.i.ot 1 E~~rigi.iri~rc 10C'(/~~irc/cr I)c,lol.i.C ' o ~ ~ l e t / ~ ' / . i ~ r \()I,.. .l-oro~lto.IL)SO. 1005. 2002. I);I\ I C I I)oll\o~lII;IS l)~.(~tit~cccic ~ c c , , 0 1 ' I c, 111 \ olunics 0 1 1 '1111y.ation to 11ic L-'~iited State\ of .+.rncrica (nlostl! pr~hlislictlb! thc C as from (;c~icalogicaI Puhl~>liing o.. I3~1lti11lol-c).\\ell o b man!, hooklet\ o n c~iiigrant\ clit't21.ent reas oI'Scotl:~~itl. hcbt \~1111111;11.!\I10~1ltibe in tllc ~ . a t a l o g ~ ofccop! riglit a Tlic ~ b libl.;r~.lcs a n d the o n - l i ~ i cc;~taloguc ol' [lie Scottish ( ; c n c ; i l a y ~ Socict! at \\ \\ \\ .scotsgcncalog! .cG. ENT.-\II,I<I) E:ST.ITES f l l c Sco~tisli o ~ - th;rt i, ot'tcli ~lscd1;)r cntailcci estate3 I \ n d T.-\II,%II<S.l'liis \\:I\ a pl.occ\ \\ licrchy a n o\\ ncr ot'land could tlccidc \\ Ilo \\ or~lci ~nhcl-ilI i l l l ~ I li11-generations to colnc 2nd \\;IS I.:~cilit;ltetl 1 ) ~ ;11i Act of tlic Sco~tihli 111 c ~ l t ;i ot' r ~ : ~ r l i ; ~ ~ ~ il6S5. \\ liere ;III ; I I I ~ C \ I O Icriti~ilcciiii5 chtatc I I cii11pro\.~cIc \\c~iltli iliti~l.nlat~on i~hout c ~ t c ~ l d ct:1111rI!,r~ a \cries ofsuhsricntc 1lci1-s o~lltl Iis~cd 111.; ci \\ be allcl ~iia!;nicntion cli~ldsc~i r n c ~ i ~ i o ~111 orlies rc.cords. \\it11 tlic~ri s u e . illcyitiriiatc not ic~l ii5~1e. cc)t1\111s otlicr rclat~\,. 'fhcrc I \ all i n d c ~o tlic K c g i [ r ' ~of TaiI/~cs1088anel r' t IS33 at tlic XAS. ;rnd I I I ~ II - c m;rn~l\cript a inlie\ to T a i l / ~ c \ ering tllc period I6SXco\ I '!.;S \\ li~cli a! he 01-tlcscdL I ( ~1 1'.3 1 1-7 ) m 1

EPISCOP \ I . KEC'OKDS Solnc 1pisccyali:rn [iccordx are held at tlic NAS r~ndcl01' ~ i C'll~~l.cii Kcgistcrs C'11.12 t{o\\,:\c~.. he! do Iiolcl ~ i i i ~ ~ ~ - o t i ltlic i El~iscol~;ili;~~l a~-~-:~ngcti I?! [)ioccsc. .4 dct:~ilcclli.;t of I-ccol-dsnot cicl30.;1tcciat thc WAS Ins! he l i ) ~ ~ n d in the s u n e) 5 of the N;ltlonnl ficgist<>r- .4rcli1\c i ti)^- Scc~tl;rntl. of

ESTATE PAPERS Estate papcrs can gi\,e us mi~cliinsight into the lit;. of our s. ancestors as they may contain taclci. rent 1-011s.details of minor d i s p ~ ~ t ebills fbr senices. letters etc. It is necessal? to identify the o\\ ncr of the land on \\ liicli !our ancestor l i \ ed and n,orked before searching for estate papcrs. The NAS has a large series of cstatc papcrs that are to be found in thcir Gifts and Deposits section ( G D ) . i Some of these collections. ~ . i t l local interest. ha\ c been transmitted to local archi\ r s centres. These collections arc gradually being put into a for111 that lnakes thclm a\ ailabli. to search on-line. The NAS is also the place to go to consult the inde\es to the s u n cys ofthe National Register of Archi1.e~ Scotland. The papers sur\ e! i.d arc for all still in thc possession of the 0\~1icrsM.IIO may allo\v access to the originals. b u ~ approaches must be lnade through the N.4S. Local archi\ c centre.; arc a l w \\ortli contacting as they ofien hold estate papcrs relevant to their districts.
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EXAAI CERTIFICATES - Exam certificates gi\e us an insight into the academic abilities of our ancestors and also the subjects that \\.ere considered ilnportant. \lucli haa changed o\,er the years from my grandfather's engra\ ed and had-\\ rlttcn c\:rm certificates of 1892 measuring 20' :'" s 14" ( 5 1 cln x 35cm) to toda! ' h cnliipL1ti.r printouts. Both are I-aluable to tlie genealogist. Perhaps the oldcrccrtificate 511i.s mare 2 ~nformation: 1.579 candidates presented thcmsel\,es: 236 obtained 1ionoul.z. 2 . S h i obtained ad\ anced stage. and 18.477 obtained elementary stafc. Dctaiiz 31.c SI\ In Ln the three categories of the numbers obtaining 1" class. 3"" class 01- fail. EXCHEQUER ROLLS E.vc.hcc/~rc~. Rolls for Scotlrrrid ha1.e been published fro177 1264- 1600 and is one of the great series of doc~umentsthat sheds light on the early history of Scotland. They do contain references to indi\,iduals but they tend to be tlie rich and powerfill. The Exchequer records ( E )at the NAS contain details o f the \.arious taxes raised in bygone years: Hearth Tax. Poll Tax and post Union taxes. Some of these u,ill be noted separately later.
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FFamily Histories For \\orlts p ~ l b l ~ s h c d bethre I9Xh there are two kc!! p ~ ~ b l i s h e F[t11li11. Hi.\./ol;\.. hslargaret Stuart. \\o~.I;s for the Scottisli famil! historian: ,Sc~o~tis/~ I;itiuill. /fi\tot:~.. .I.P.S. Fcrguson. Ldinhurgh 1930 (and subscclucnt reprints): Sc,o//isl~ Edinburgh 1')XO. Tlic first \\ ork lists pi~blislied filrnily liistvrics up to 1930; the second \\ark contain!, a list of pi~blislicdhml histories based a11tlic returns from Scottish i i libraries and ha\ ~ l l ad\ antagcof identifying in \\,hicli Scottish libraries the \\rorks may e ~~c be Ihund. I t is also \\orth scarcliing tllc o n l ~ ciitalogi~ec)f the National Library of family histories Scotland for thmil) liisruries \\ \\ \\ .nl\.uk Tlicrc arc. l?cr113[7!,. 11101.e roda! than e\ cr before due to the rc\olution in computing and the hcing prod~~ccci :I\ ailability ot'I>lmily history computing packages that make the compiling of family Ilistorics much si~nplcr.\Vith the ad\ ent of the internet many '11niIy histories have on-line. One ~lsct'~11 hecn p ~ ~ b l i \ h e d !,earell cnginc ihr tracking doum tamill Iiis(ory is \\ \\ \\ . \ i \ isimo.co111 This is an organized scarcli and all the hits are g r o ~ ~ p c d into ~iilt'ci.cntcategol-ics at the lcti hand side of tllc screen. If a name search is being lrr~l~il~.lli.cto~:i.. this catcgol-y and only select u~ldcrtakcn oftlic catcgorics is ~lsually one the famil> lii!,tork links \\.ill appear on screen. I t is also \\ell uortli isiting the \\~cbsitcs of the \ al-io~15 Scottisli Family Histor! Societies as they ma! g ~e \a n indic;~tion the of famil! li~stor~c!, the society Ilolds. publislled or not. TI-! \\ \ \ , \ \ .sntlis.ol-c.uk for a that l i b t of Scottis11 Societies.
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Famil! History Societies The longcs1 csrobli!,licd of tlre Scottisli Family History Societies is The Scottisli (iencalog! Sncict> ~ . h i c h mas established in 1953. For t'n~.tlicr information \ sit L\ 14 14 . s c o ~ \ g c n e a / o ~ . c Scottish Family 1 listory Societies u~n come together and ~ n c c tt\iice a year :IS the Scottish Association of Family History Socic~ics. r SAFHS. to discuss matters ot'conccrn to all Scottisli Societies. SAFHS o has a 17ublisliinyprogrnlnmc and organises a conference and fair e\ cry ycrlr. For f~irtlier intimna~ion and a list of member and affiliated socictics \ isit v,~\v\c.satl~s.ore.uk
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F a \ e s Tcclinoloyy has mo\ ed on and family information r e c e i ~ c d f ~ i x likely to by is be more I>crmancnt today. b ~ early faxes should he re\ isited to makc sure that the ~ t image is not dcterio~.ating.Optical C'llaractcr Kecognition ( O C ' R ) is worth a try. Photocc)l>ying call cnhance the original if tlie darkness lightness hutton is used carcti~ll). Falling tllat there is little alternati\ e to typing rhc t i n spin to preser\,e tlie ~nformation. Film
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For those \+,lie arc luck! cnougli to ha\ c mo\ ie film or negatives consideration

neeti\ to he gi\,cn to their storage. Dr). cool conciitic)ns arc best. The film ~lcctls bc to stored in acid free material a n d In containers en\elopcs that \\.ill not dctcrioratc tliemsel\.es anti cause damage to tile film. As tcchnolog!) a d \ ances i t ma! \\,ell be \\.ortl~ considcrlng transferring old film onto t>\TD. Not onl! \ \ i l l this help prescr\.e the tilm Iia\.c a copy. Thcre i \ but it \\.ill make i t possible to let other members of the ti~~iiil! i~seful information 011 the Scottish Film Archi\ c \\.ebsitc at \\~\\~\\~.scottis1iscrcc1~,co . ;lnd sonic note5 cln storage at \\.\\.\\..fil~n!>rcsc~-\ ation.org preser\ tion on scorarrc.htiiil

Financial records T l i c s c c a n gi\'e a fascinating insight into tlie l i \ esofouranccstors. but all too often financial pal>ers(10 not SLIT\ i\,e. Occasionally bank books anti personal cash leclgcrs arc passed fi-om onc generation to another anti. \\-it11 luck. I,i~sincsspapcrs ma!, get clepositcd in a local arclii\,c. T r a c k ~ n g &\in financial papcrs can be time consuming nnti often yiclcl little or nothing. The nlosL oh\ious place to start is the archi\ e centre in the district \\.liere the business tlclurishctl. If the arclii\.c holds 11o papcrs the> m:l) be able to suggest ot1ic1cc'ntres to contact. Perse\.crance is oficll the best apprcuch ah the author has found husi~less ~.ecords conccrnlng liis y~-t':lt grandt:,~tllcr in The National Mantime Museum and T!.nc& \i~l.'eararclii\~cs. 1;lttercentrc putting the \\ho had disco\-crcd an archi\ e of p;~pc~.s a in him in touch \\.ith a local rescr~rcher building tliat had just been sold to bc redc\ eloped.
Sornetiiiies more sur\,i\.es for businesses tliat fnil .see Bnnkr~~ptcy the Scottish ill Gencalogi>t. \ 01. LI. 110.3.September 3003. More intol-mation is becoming n \ nilablc on-line through tlie NAS \\\v\~..nas.rro\-.~~k tlic on-line catalog~tc Cio tcl \i,l~el-e \earcli a on a name may tliro\\ LIP a listing tiw xcl~~estration. This \vould the11 h a \ e to be Square. L:.dinb~lrgIi. The Scottish follo\\ed 1111: ~ t\Vest Register Hoi~sc.C'hi~rlott~ Bus~ness Arclii\.cs \\\\,\~.arcl~i\cs.gla.ac.~~k~bacs default.html may hold records concerning a cornpan) \\ it11 \\,Iiich a n ancestor was in\ ol\ cd.

Fishing licenses Fish pro\ ideti a ~ a l u a b l c ssllrcc of protein for our forehears but grrldually tlie access tcl inland tislii~igb c c a ~ n cinore r c g ~ ~ l a t eas the \.slue ot'thi3 d
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I-esourcc\ \ a s rcaliscd h! lantio\\ n u s . '1':icks :rnci licences \\ ere issued :inti tliese ma! gi\c ~oliic indication oftlic stancli~~g income ot'o~lranccstorsas \\ell :I> \\ here tlie! anti li\cd or liked to ~ a k e holiday\. In I 850 (;cnc~-alC'arfrtte ol' 13o\\ c r l i o ~ ~ s c . f3er\\.icl\sliirc. \\ atitccl to l'i.;li in the ri\ cr .A\\ c in . \ r g ~ l l s l i ~ rhut \\as ati\ ised that the . 2 \ i c e. ld \+asto be let h! ticket :inti lie s l i o ~ ~ ;11>1>1! to a MI. \I.! lie. [(-it) l I? 7 3 56 - Hrcacialhane 1' 2luninien~sno.30.) April I XSO].IIieautllor'x erancifiitlicl.. \\-lio l i \ cti in Edinhul.gh. c~~jo!.cti fishing hut on a niore modest scale as I i i h Pc~i.ilii.s.vio~l ('cci.el to the (i~.cc~ila\\Fihliing Club ol' I908 \\lo\\ \ .

Hoi\e\el.. tl,c catclles to ha\ e L>ee~i cll~itc good.

Forfeited Estates These \\ ere estate5 of.lacohites tllitt took part ill tlie 171 5 R I745 rchcllions. tlic!' \\ e1.c ~iiostly\olti to the \r.orI; Uuildings C'ompan!. hut some \\ ere until the! \\ere re\torcd In annexed to 11ic cro\\ n anti administered I>! commi\\ionc~-\ 17x4. .l'lie reco~.d\of tlie forkited estate\ are to he li,und in the National 4rclii\ es ol' Scotl:ind (17,700-788).There arc rental.; ofall the estate> ti^ 1737- 1776 in 17.707. A list of tenants of tarn15 on sollie of tliese estates in 1755 lia\,c hccn ~,~~hli.;liedS/cc/i\/ic.\ in o/ //ic, -Iciiic.vc~eiE\~/c~/c~s. puhlicatio~i. SRO .4notlicr ~ ~ s c fSRO publication is Rc,/)o~-/.\ i~l oil //ic' . I~rrrc.\-c,tl l:'.\./rr/c,v / '55-1 769.

the Fornication This practice e ~ e r c i s e d mintis of our li,rehcars to a considcrahle on h! and ~n; tiegrec. I t \ \ a s fro\\,~ieti and reg~11att.d' tlie c l i ~ ~ r c l i many poor ~ ~ ~ i f o r t ~ li~ici~ to appear before the minister.; and clcicrs of tlie kirk and cotiFess sometimes in great bethre tlie conyregatio~i detail. Iftlic! slio\\ ed remorse then the! \\ O L I I ~ bt. ad~iiotiislied ti^ a number ofSunday> het\)rc being allo\\ cci to get on \\ it11 their lifc. Int\>rmntioni> to he fo~~iici the Kirk Scssioti Paper.; ( ( ' H z ) at tlie Natiolial Arclii\c\. T'lierc is In c~trrcntl! :I project lo sciui all tlic Kirk Scssio~iI<ccc>rdsto makc tlic~iimorc rc:~dily a \ ailahle lo tlie li~lliil!historian. This subject \\ as rcscarclicti hy Nt~oliii Milchisoti and I.cali 1-cncman and res~~ltccl the publication of .Sevr~ce/i/l. in trirtl Soc.ice/ ('oiiti.o/ o / / i // O / 0 . 0 c 1 I . Tlic a~~tliol-s tiepositeti ;III their rcsearcli cards c o i f r i n g information estractcci from Kirk Session Record> h)r man! parishes ol' Scotland \z ith tlic Scottisl~ (iencaloyy Socict!, \\ hcrc theq ma! be c o n s ~ ~ l t c d .
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after in Free C'hurch P o ~ ~ n d e d tllc Ili.\i.o/)/io~~ 1833 \\ it11 tlie majorit! entering tlie (iiitc,tlF?~t,c~ C'/1ie/.c~/i 1000. tlie minorit! c o n t i n ~ ~ i n g tllc Ili,c, Fe.c~,v. n 1020 mall! ill as I agreeci to unite \\ it11 tlie ('l~urcli Scotl~lnd. tllc Free ('Ii~~rcl of so IJtiitcci Free Cli~~rclie\ 2 that t recorcls ma! be Ibunti in both C'H? 2 ('I 13. For tliosc cli~~rclic\ ciid not ~ ~ n iill e1919 tllc sc:trclicr s l i o ~ ~ consult ('HI.? as man! ol'tlicir recorcis \\ ere deposited in 1970. ld Bclo\z- arc some published \\,arks that the rehearchel- may tind L I W ~ ~ I I .

.4/1/7n/.s of'thc~ Free C / I ~ I I -((?. ~~ S L . O ~1843-1 000. William E~ving. /' /C~/I(/ Edinburgh 19 14. Tire or.i~qir7.v of'the C:r7itcr/Fvce Chlrrc,h of'Scotltr~rtl. A.M. Stewart. The. Free C/rurc,hqf'Sc.nt1~111iI 1843-1 010. A . M . Ste~vart. Fasti of'thc C ' i l i t ~ tFree. C'lr~lr.cl7c?f'Scotlc1r7d, YOO- 1929. John A. Lamb. Edinburgh, l i 1956.

Freeholders These wcrc men who owned land or other heritable property ahovc a certain value and, prior to 1832. ~ ~ ctheconly people alloa,ed to vote in the counties. r Rolls of those eligible to vote arc likely to be found in the Sheriff Court Papers (SC') under Other. Sher.;/j'Cnrrr.t Busirrc.c.~ ,Llisc.cllrrrrrol~.v or Recaor.cl.s. Further details about thcm will be found in the Register of Sasines as they would h a \ e to prove that they owned land of sufficient value to be entered on the roll ot'Freeholders. Another sourcc for Freeholders between 1606-1 706 is the Parlia~ncntary Papers (P117.15 1-34)u.hcrc commissio~ls signed by freeholders nominating their I-eprescntative are to be found. The names of a few Freeholders soliciting for votes may also be found in newspapers. Try and find the datc at \vhich parliament was dissolved anci search tor\vard ti-om that date. The Etlir7hrii-gh 0hser.vt.r Tuesday 26 April 183 1 :-

Friendly Societies - These were self-help Froups set up by tradcbmen outw.itli the Scottish burghs for their mutual TO ' P l l i t benefit. The records that survi] e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I I 1t.q) 01: . ~ ~i K iIS: T ~ ! ~ ~ I 01' ' ~ ~ ~ c ~ , ) R ;i11t1<[;cr)l~1:~~~-l'r~ tend to be concerned with rules of ~ ~ ~ ' ~ ' ' . ~ " ~ s I the various socictics and ollly a Y tllL evetlt of' 4 1);8wIit:ian of' P:~riiament, f e u lists ot- ~ i i e ~ i i b e rsurvive. s is oorj 1 :,I,,,,, L1g:,,ll l,,-c..~sl~rW I ~ W I ~ t c , l t , ~ , r I ~ J 8s ,IL ('a~8,1id>~!c~t l ~ e~ I I S ! ~ I I ~ I I tI l- ~ ~ ~ 'l ~o~l l I I ,~ t'or ~~~ allxi(jt~s Papers that have heen lodged at ,vl ,,,. !,,,, ,:,, , , I ~ ~ ,.~ , , ~l l ~ ~ r rl ~l t,Lti 1~1 i 8 . :, ,.. l ? >q IltLt~~, ~ + ! ~ ,-l the NAS \\,ill be fc)und in (FS) ~ , l ~ , ~ l , ~ ; ~ v ~ ~ , , r i ~~ ~,>~I I: I ~ ~i ~t,~Ie<I I~tl,v111,i~l~lt ~l l??~t1VSL ~c byt ~l l ~ ~ l i r I t I ? i<.l,,,,,lLa il;y,*l,;, :,11,l ,. . ~ 1.0 handlist andpapcrsforoneortwo 2 r l r ; l ~ r y ,I I::lvc uil,lr:lvooreil, I , , ~ ~ 1 l l<le~rrcu, m c ~ i t~ h c ~ .~ 7'1 societies will be found in tlieCiit'ts c . ~,.,~ i l i i ! ia, r r i * scr.12 I,lcn.;~.clto r.~-r;t~ic ' me, i iwhcll~ ~YOU ~ t . ,h ,,li,r ~~,:prc..cllr;l~,vo in ~ , t ~ ; t ~ oe n r ~ w c . t ~ W I,I ~ ' .~ I : I ~ I ~ W O ~ C ~ W S , ~ n .J 1 sl1fi1" ve~uttirr~ C S I ) ~ C L ~ I I I Y & D ~ (c;D),~ papers lnay ~t t , rlilicit, tlr,. r i ~ ~ ~ , . ~ .flint, s i g t ; r l 111ark of vo!lr f a v o l ~ r , ~ ~ ~ ~f : , [ ~ ~ ~ ~ " Ilif~,. II also be in local archives, Friendly * J I I P ~ I ~ I F tL ' ~ , 3 t ~ ~ ~ tpriik t111cl grttt~~ic:~t~\,~~ Y I * ~ l ~ n l l R I L I,ZII I ) ~~,~)~,rtt~ll:t,? 111y 1)~rsallal t:lhco f p : ~ ?l l < i reSocieties may also have provided 7.1,,:,.~ayc,Ll,;,,I,L, . I Y ~ til+ ~ OcI',.!,~ tL, I, ~r~,tl:ti11~ tt, I IF.~T~.Y.\IIS, recreational facilities for their yaltr vcqy fiaitllf,ll : l ~ i i i o I ~ l i n ' , tScrv:lllf. (>II,~J,:~'~L~<LLLC; ss:)N+ E members. The author has found ,4pr l L b : j , . i inforniation on the 'L,ochmaben Affectionate Society' in the Court of Session records. (CS?-36 R / 1934) Papers are there due to a financial irregularity in the Society's dealings. Many of tlic Society nle11lbc.r.s arcmentioned as well as nllcs ofthe Society and its financial beneficiaries. A summary appeared in the D~lr?ifi.iesl. G ~ r l l o ~ t ~ ~ . d FFJS .\izusletto. no. 12. N o ~ e i n b c r199 I . It is worth c o n s ~ ~ l t i nIan MacDougall's Lc~holrrRclc,or-(1.7irr Sc~otltirril.Scottish Labour g History Society. 1978. for further tletails.

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Funeral notices In the 19"' & earl) 20'" century I [ \\as the custom for the middlc classes to get black edged cards prlnted not~fi, friends and famlly that a r e l a t ~ had Ing e~
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deceased. On some of these cards it also states the time and place ofthe fi~neral. Earlier examples of funcral notices may be found in collections of family papers at local and national record officcs. One such example is to be found in the National Archive of Scotland RH 151120,134 - John Gordon of Kirkconnell papers.
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To the Laird o/'Gor*i~ec:~,. Sir. Tllc~, ficvocer r~/:rolic~pre.ce~ice. e1p011 T11t'~iIq. liei ~ being the t1r3entj. seven in.s.trrnthe tlie tell ofthe c1oc.k- to uc.co~)ipa/i~. (.orp.sqf'Rohert Mc~Clel/ailc?f'Barmagrrchull our /;ether to flee h~u.i~c/ll ~ l c ~ tlle old kirk of' Kirkondses is carice.stl\. dc,sired aled (it y e~pected h1 Sir Yolcr hllnlhle s.c,r~vt/?t,s E/)lw((ineMc~CIrllu/i Robert ,\fi~Clrl/u~i

Newspapers and magazines have been used to announce the death of proplc and it is M-orthwhile consulting then1 to sec if an announcerncnt was made about an ancestor's death and. better still. an obituary was written. A few newspapers have been indexed which makes searching much casier. A recent development is the launch of Scotsman Archive website. Rescarchers arc able to scarch the index free and get a list of hits for the period 18 17 to 1984. Visit archive.Scotsman.com A fee has then to be paid to down load the appropriate image. A 24 hour pass is f 7.95. a year pass is f 159.95. Those in striking distance of a library that holds a copy of the Scotsman on microfilm may find it more economical to view the fi11ii.Below is an example of a death notice from T l ~ e Eclii~hio.,yhOh,sel.i.rr Tuesday 26 April 183 1.
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A t I eith, on the l3tt1 illatant, TIIC)M+IS NBWDIGCINC;, wine.mcrE-q, cl.1 ,!It. A t C:on8tautinop!c, or, :Id March last, Captain T s o u ~ s DUNCAX, OF thc 1)ladrm of Abcrdec~,,aged 32.

DeatrJa.

The Scottish Genealogy Society also has a copy ofthe Biogruph~. Datuhrrst~on 3 CDS, to date. and this contains material extracted from the Gelits Mugazie?e.

GGenealogy charts and reports Many different types are now. widely available due to the proliferation of family history software packages and free CDs that come as part of some genealogical publications. Desk top publishing packages have also made it easy for the family historian to create his own charts and submit their family history to their societies or publish information on the web. See Family Histories carlier.
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General Assernhl~ -The governing hodv of the Church of Scotland w h ~ c h ori~inated

at the Reformation to represent the three estates of the realm and is supposed to 1ia\.c met for the first time in Decc~iiber 1560. I t now meets annually in May. RcpresentatiL es were sent froiii the \arious presbyteries and the names of nominated people may be found in the Kirk Session and PI-esbytcry records. The records of tlic Church o t Scotland (icncral Assemblj~ held at the NAS ( [ H I ) and ~.eferenccs parishes are arc to to be found in CH 1 '2.

Gifts & Deposits This is a large collection of family papers. estate papers. business papers and organisation recorcls housed at the National Archi\.cs of Scotland and are gifted or on loan. A collcction may range from a single document to Inan\. rliousands. GDI is used to list small collections of papers and docu~nents. Larger collecrions are gi\.cn their own ciD n u n ~ b c r.A liandlist is prepared for each collection and s11oi1ldbe . f o i ~ n d the iriticv room. Some collections with a spccitic local connection may have in centre. An increasing number of the handlists are been tr:lnsmitred to a local arc,l~i\:e now a\railable for searching i~sing v \ v \ \ ~ . n a s . ~ o \ .-. NAS catalogue (Public). Papers \ ~~k \\.ritten by or about ancestors may be found in collections that apparentl! h n \ c no ed connection \\.it11 the ancestor. Theauthor has recently ~ ~ s this scarchahlc lisr ofpapcrs and disco\.ered t \ \ o accounts for the huilding and reno\;ation of conchcs by one his ancestors in the early 19"' ccntury. They gi1.c a detailed idea ot'tlic trades in\ ol\ ed. rhc building \ ~ t i i c hgrca~l!. enhance.; the history of this rypc of \\ark and cost of cc-~nch individual. Glass Objects cngraved with namcs and dates can bc usefill for the Family historian as the dates arc often connected M irh a special c\ cnt like birth. marriage or a special anniversary.
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Goldsmiths & Silve~.smiths (;old and sil\,c~work has long be regulated and this greatly helps the family historian's research. There are an increasing numbcrofbooks a\,ailable on the sub-jcctthat list the hallmarks. makers names and period ofthc acti~.ity. Some works that concentrate on a specific locality m;ty also include nii~ch biographical detail. The earliest assay marks in Scotland arc to be found on Edinburgh sil\rer and date from 1 556. although the first deacon. Adani Leis, held office in 1525-6. SiI\:cr can usually be q l ~ i t e accurately dated \\ hich a1lon.s the family historian to 'onnect family picccs with specific e\-ents in ancesror's l i x s such as birth. marriage or an anniversary.
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A pair ofteaspoons by Robert Kcay. Pcrth. [See Scottish Ciencalogist l o l . LI. no.3. September 70041

General Dii.c~ctoi:i, c?f'b',-iti.\.h.M~rrr~~firc,tl~i.c~i..s ( J I I . ~ ~ / Si11,oi.. ~ I ~ c ~ t i . [oI ~ I~ lI .~ ~ t ~ . o/ . / / c I : I . .( 9 X Dir.t~c,to/?. oJ'Golt1& SSil~.ei..s~r~itlr.c. .Iclt,c,llei:s airtl .4IIi~t/ T/.LIL/LJ.S, IX3cY-1914, 2 1~)l.c.. J. Culmc. Woodbridge. 1987. Ffiglzltirrrl Gnlti & Sil~~er~.vrr~it/r.s. Moss & A.D. Roe. (Edinburgh.l999). Has a G.P. scction on contemporary silversmiths. (See also ~ ~ n dthe various localities belon . ) cr Tlie Irrtl~r.str-ie.s Sc~o~Ito~cl. c?f Tl7eir.r.i.sr,pi.o::r.~~r.\i~~rtipr~e.scr~tc~o~rtlitioi~.. ~ J ~ I I I Dt11.ic1 I B 1869. reprinted Da\id & Charles, with new introduction by John Butt & Ian L. Donnachie. has a section on Manufacture of Plate & Jeuellcry. Jtr~,k.sori Sil~ser. Gold Mcir.X.v. Ed. Ian Pickford. 19XO. First pub. 1905. '.c & Oltl Sc~)ttisIr C'or~zrrrrrr~iori PItite. T. Burns, Eciinburgh 1 892. Sc~otti.slr Golti R .Sil~.er. ~~.or-k. Finlay. London. 1956. Ian .Ycottich Pr*~l.jr~~.i(llI , ~ ~ . S I ' I Frcdcrick Graham. in Landowning in Scot.. no. 194. 1983. Ili)/l~~rr l ~ c ~ n s ~ ~ ~ i t h-. 184.5.PhilippaGIan\ ille S: Jennifer Faulds Cioldsborough, 1685 ~ , Sil Thalnes & Hudson. London, 1990. Aberdeen Tlre Golcl.sr~zitlz.c o/'.-lhc~.ciei.r~~ /450-lA'50. I.E. James. Abcrdeen I98 I . H(~rrzrner,n~en 'Oltl .-1ht~r.tleer1 qf 1699- 1879. Aberdccn & NE Scotland FHS Journal. 1991. no. 38 Banff Go1tl.snri1h.s& Si/ver:sr~ritlr.c c?/'tl~r Ro!.trl B ~ i r x h of'Btrr1fl.' 1600 - INJO. J.R.Salter. 1980. [Scottish Provincial Silversmiths - occasional papers.]
Durnfries
I ) i r r r l f ; . i u r C i l i ~ o ~ . ~ i 7 7 i- t K~irknatrii-k U nr-rhip nl~nlfi-ir\ 1 QKA l ~ i.

Edinburgh The Itlco~porutiorl c?f'Golci.~ismith.s ofthe Cit~.(~fErlirlb~c~;yh. Maxwell. Universit): Stuart of Edinburgh journal. 33 no. I . 1987. The Lol,uhle Cr~!/t. lhN'-l987. Catalogue ofan exhibition. George Dalgleish & Stuart Maxu.el1, Edinburgh 1987. Forres Go1risrnith.s & Silvensn7iths Provincial Silversmiths].

01' Fo~.re.s,l(j00

1860, J.R. Salter. 1980. [Scottish

Fortrose Goi~istniths& SSill~o:srnithsin Forti-osr, 17'30 Provincial Silversmiths].

1790, J.R.Salter. 1980. [Scottish

Inverness Inverness Sil\~el:smith.r,M.O.McDougall. [nverness, 1979. Highlutld Gold & Sil~~er..srniths. Moss k A.D. Roe. (Edinburgh.1999). G.P. Nairn Highlund Gold & Silveumith.~. G.P. Moss & A.D. Roe. (Edinburgh.1999). Paisley Ir1~.orporation qf Hrr~llmer.rncvl in Pcrislc~~ u11d its Sil~.er.smitlls.J.R.Salter. 1980, [Scottish Pruvincial Sil\-ersmiths]. Perth A History

of Pert12 Silver, J. Mundy, Perth. 1980.

Tain Tuin Sill,c~~a~nitll.v, - 1850, J.R.Salter. 1980. [Scottish Provincial Silversmiths.] 1650 Higfdund Gold CG Sill>er,smiths. .P. Moss & A.D. Roe. (Edinburgh. 1999). G Wick Highland Gold & Silver:srrlit/7.s.G.P. Moss & A.D. Roe. (Edinburgh.1999). Government Officials For thosewitti ancestors in high government posts information may be gleaned from the following works. Office Holders: Foreign Office 1782- 1870. J.M. Collinge, London 1979. Office Holders: Navy Board 1660- 1832. J.M. Collinge, London 1978. Office Holders: Admiralty Officials. 1660- 1870. J.C. Sainty, London 1975. Office Holders: Board of Trade 1660- 1870. J.C. Sainty, London 1974. Office Holders: Colonial Office 1794- 1870. J.C. Sainty, London 1976. Office Holders: Home Office 1782- 1870. J.C. Sainty, London 1975. Office Holders: Secretaries of State 1660- 1782. J.C. Sainty, London 1973. Office Holders: Treasury Officials 1660- 1870. J.C. Sainty. London 1972. Sources in British Political History. Chris Cook. London: v.2. 1975. Private papers of selected public servants.

Great Seal Register Part ofthis great series of documents has been published and indexed from I3 14 to 1668 in the eleven volumes of Rt~gi.rter the Creut Setil o f ' of Scotlcrntl. It is u-idely a\ailablc in Scottish libraries. For charters after this date. typed indexes for the period 1668- 19 19 need to be consultcd at the National Arclii\es of Scotland and then tlie original documents need to be ordered up and consulted in their search room.
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Guild of One Name Studies- Also k n o ~ v n GOONS. Researchers may register their as family research interests with the Guild as long as they can show that thcir research falls into one of three categories. These categories indicate the extent of the research i~ndertnken far. A directory of names being researched is published resularly. For so more infor~nationgo to ww~v.one-names.org
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Obtain a genealogy software package PAF at Family Search is free (see below, and you can transfer the data to a commercial product later) but there are others that are more robust no suggestions here you decide..then enter what you have.

Fill in the blanks and expand what you may have by further discussion with your various family members as required, asking specific pointed questions and getting as clear and detailed information as may be possible. Try to get detailed very specific answers; but this can be a sair fecht or struggle.

While doing all of the above also attempt to get copies or originals of family photographs, bibles, diaries, news clippings, certificates (birth, marriage, death), announcements, letters, old passports, military ID papers, etc.

I have found that a digital camera saves a bunch of time it does not have to be a top of the line model but you can photograph papers and photos quite well for later use use the close up mode without flash and lots of light sunlight is best Get an good size extra chip. And when you do shoot something take a few from differing angles.

Remember that a digital camera is effectively a high-speed digital scanner; and a digital scanner is a slowspeed camera!

(Another toy Ive found useful is a flash-drive or memory stick that you can plug into your USB port and it becomes a portable hard drive for taking your files, or GETTING other files from a remote computer easily. A 64Meg stick costs less than $25 and its like having over 50 re-useable floppies in your pocket. The drivers are right on the chip so it will work on any PC anywhere ie the library, the LDS Family centers, etc)

Put all new information (and source) into your note file and/or software, with the source details in a manner that will make sense both to you and others, ten years or a century later.

Review it, and correct it, this is your base and it should be rock solid to build on.

Now at the top of the tree is your first wall the search begins there and goes back in time one step at a time in a logical focused manner. Dont shotgun it or you will be chasing a multitude of false leads and red herrings much of the (wasted) time.

Your main goal initially is to get across the pond and establish, positively with precision and confirmation, the names of the person(s) who are your ancestors in Scotland, and hopefully knowing the name a specific area or city in which they lived.

BASIC SCOTTISH RECORD INFORMATION

SCOTLAND CIVIL REGISTRATION (1855-now) In1855 it became compulsory to register every birth, marriage or death in Scotland with the local registrar. Prior to 1855 such information may have been recorded in the relative parish church records (but not a certainty).

Information on birth registers:

1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

The child's name, date, time and place of birth. If illegitimate it may state so, but not always. Surname may be the mothers or father's depending on legitimacy. The father's name, plus occupation, unless illegitimate. The mother's married and maiden name will be logged. If the record does not specify a maiden
http://genforum.genealogy.com/scotland/messages/46757.html (2 of 38)18/08/2005 12:34:06

name' (or MS) then the couple may not have been married. 6) Excepting1856-1860, all births should have the parent's marriage date and place, unless they were not married. 7) The informant's name and relationship to the child. If the child is illegitimate, and the time period is 1855 until about 1890 you may find a mention of it in the relevant parish Kirk Sessions, and possibly learn the father's name. Should the word Paternity' be rubber stamped on the certificate - there has been a paternity suit brought against the father by the mother. This may be followed up (off line) from the reference number to find the father's name and address.

Information on marriage registers: 1) The date, place, and denomination of the marriage. 2) The names of the bride and groom, and their ages, occupations, marital status, and usual residence addresses. 3) Their parent's names, with mother's maiden name, whether the parents are alive or dead, and the occupations of the fathers. 4) The minister and witnesses names. Ages may at times be incorrect especially when there was a significant difference in age between the couple, it is a second marriage, or under aged.

Information on death registers: 1) The deceased's name and the name of the spouse. The 1856-60 certificates do not give the name(s) of spouse(s). 2) The date, time and place of death, plus age. 3) The parent's names if known, with mother's maiden name, whether parents alive or dead, and occupation of the father. 4) The cause of death and the name of doctor, if certified. 5) The 1855-60 registers may indicate place of burial, and name of witness to the interment. 6) The informant's name, relationship to deceased and maybe their address.

Be cautious of the accuracy of age, and parents names dependent on who the informant was, and how knowledgeable they might have been. OLD PARISH RECORDS Before Civil Registration in 1855, the recording of baptisms, proclamations and some burials was undertaken by each parish church, the established church being The Church of Scotland. A parish entry does not contain the wealth of information that a civil registration contains, it MAY give you evidence of previous marriages, (e.g. widowed), father's occupation, father's military regiment and rank, wife's father's name as in some Edinburgh parishes, witnesses names (who may be related), village and farm names to enable you to look up a census, evidence of illegitimacy (e.g. born in uncleaness), and in the case of some Dundee records; who the child was named after. There was no set way of recording the information, so the quantity and quality of information is variable. BIRTHS - BAPTISMS The level of details varies widely from parish to parish, and over time. Usually little more information than what appears on the on line indexes will be found. Yet sometimes the occupation of the father and place of residence may be listed. PROCLAMATION OF BANNS - MARRIAGES This church process involved a pre-nuptial document which registered the names of a couple intending to marry, and were called 'The Banns'. Their names were read out three times, or Proclaimed, usually on successive Sundays to the parish congregation. If anyone knew of a reason why they could not marry, now was the time to come forward. Not every

proclamation ended in marriage. Not all proclamations guarantee that a marriage actually happened. Again
amount of details vary, but rare bonus information may include the grooms occupation, the name of the grooms cautioner, the name of the father of the bride, and perhaps witness names and occupations of all. BURIALS Burial is not a sacrament in the Presbyterian Church and the subsequent lack of records shows this. Most pre1855 burial records contain little useful information and are rare. Some parishes did, in certain time periods, record such. However, you might still be able to establish a death before 1855 as it may be inferred by the rental fee of a mort cloth in the records. CENSUS RECORDS 1841-1891 Although the Census was taken in Scotland beginning in 1810, only the 1841 forward are of any use for genealogy purposes. The census is an enumeration of all the people in Scotland living in homes, hotels and institutions and ships in port on the nights of: 1841, 7 June 1851, 31 March 1861, 8 April 1871, 3 April 1881, 4 April 1891, 6 April 1901, March 31 These are the only census dates available to view at present because of the hundred year law.1911 will come out 2010. 1871 through 1901 are on line. 1841 to 1861 are promised for summer 2005 at present, although there are fragments available here and there. If you can not find your ancestor on a census where you thought they should be search further they may have been away visiting someone that evening, or working away from home and would be listed as a visitor or boarder elsewhere. Although the Censuses superficially resemble one another, keep in mind that the detailed required contents varied from one Census to another. There are earlier Censuses, starting 1801; but these did not include names, so are of little use for genealogical purposes. The listed Censuses were held at different times of the year for each one, ranging from Mid-March to late June, so in those Censuses where a persons age is given to the year rounded down, it can seem to be one year younger or older than the Census 10 year simple progression suggests. Generally in the British Censuses, it is the persons actually present on the Census Night, NOT those who normally lived in the premises. Hence a sick person would appear in the Census return for a hospital say, not in the normal family home; but occasionally due to mis-understanding, the person can be listed in both places. The Given Name may be what you expect; but it may be different in the Census as the Head knew the person only by another name, such as a middle name or a nick-name or an alias. DISSENTING and OTHER CHURCH RECORDS (THESE ARE NOT ON LINE!) The SRs and the OPRs are not the definitive list of every christening, birth, proclamation or marriage that took place in Scotland. The pre 1855 events are predominantly from the Church of Scotland. They do not include the records of Catholic, Free Church, and Episcopalian, or other breakaway groups, and religions.

Should you be Protestant, or Catholic, dont presuppose that your ancestors were also. An interdenominational marriage may have changed the family's religion. Plus jobs were easier to find in some places when you were of a certain religion, or there was no church of their denomination locally. You may be looking in the wrong records.

In 1843 over 400+ of 1220+ (i.e. 1/3) of the ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form The Free Church of Scotland. At this point you may 'lose' your family in the records. Children may appear in the 1851 census for which you can find no birth records, although earlier children are recorded. This family may have gone with a dissenting minister and become members of The Free Church of Scotland. I call this the Intermediate Black Hole and it is to me, and many others, the cause of a brick wall.

There is no index of names for non Church of Scotland births and marriages, but there are parish records for dissenting churches which are held in the National Archives, Edinburgh. These are indexed by parish, so to find an ancestor in them you must know, at least roughly, the parish they were in.

KIRK SESSIONS (THESE ARE NOT ON LINE!)

CHURCH DISCIPLINE As you were entering the marriage date of a couple and the subsequent birthdates of their children into you records you may have come across evidence of pre marital pregnancy. You may even have an illegitimate birth lurking in your ancestry. Don't feel embarassed about it, because genealogically speaking, this is a good thing! It may lead to an entry in the Kirk Session Minutes as the couple are disciplined by the church for their sin. The information contained in that entry may give more details than you ever wanted to know about your ancestor..but also vital paternity information, as well as personal testimony. There aren't many places in the records where you get to hear your ancestors speak.

COMMUNICANTS ROLL

Between 1834 -1836 each Church of Scotland parish was required by the General Assembly to list their communicants. Some are headed 'Roll of Communicants', some as 'Heads of Families', either way you get a list of male names in the parish.

IRREGULAR MARRIAGES When a marriage date cannot be found for a couple, although subsequent children are in the parish records it could be due to an 'irregular marriage'. A couple could declare themselves married in front of witnesses without using a minister. There would be no paperwork to prove the marriage existed. When it came time for the baptism of a child, the couple usually wanted back into the 'fold' of the church and confessed their 'irregular marriage' There was usually a fine involved.

They may also have married in another denomination, such as one of the Burgher churches, but for some reason came back to the Church of Scotland. Again they would confess their irregular marriage and get straight with the church. Proving the legitimacy of a child seems to have been an impetus, although impending emigration would also spur the couple on as that would be the only way to get a good testimonial certificate to take with them to their new parish

PEW RENTAL There was a rent paid on the seat or pew you took in church. The best seats went to the Laird etc, and there are some 'Pew Plans' of just who sat in which pew.

ELECTION OF ELDERS ETC Also recorded in the minutes are the election of Kirk Officers and Elders.

OTHER INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE MINUTES Each parish had a different minister, session clerk, and session members. This means there is a lot of variety in the amount and types of information contained in the minutes. Some are filled with the Sabbath sermon preached by the minister, some by the poor list, and some were only concerned with the discipline of the parishioner right down to the smallest transgression. One may find the record of a private baptism of an illegitimate child before the session or lists of burials plots within the graveyard.

COURT RECORDS (Some are on line)

During your ancestors' life , they may have recorded deeds, been subject to litigation, sued for divorce, tried to prove paternity, gone into partnership, got into debt, or even got into trouble with the law. All these types of records are held within the court records. For a fuller explanation of the records available I would suggest you obtain a copy of 'Tracing your Scottish Ancestors, A Guide to Ancestry Research in The Scottish Record Office by Cecil Sinclair.

WILLS & TESTAMENTS (Some are on line)

The minimum information needed to search for a will is the date and place of death of your ancestor. When it is a common name, (eg John McDonald in Glasgow) the name of the spouse and occupation will help identify the correct will.

TENANCY & ESTATE RECORDS (THESE ARE NOT ON LINE!)

Names of tenants may be found within the Estate Papers of landowners, many of which have been deposited in the National Archives (ref :GD - Gifts and Deposits). The name of a farm, village or parish is essential to establish which landowner records to search. Valuation Rolls for each county will also give good tenant information in many cases.

A wonderful source of tenants names, along with some biographical details at times, are the Annexed Estate Papers. Jacobite landowners, on the defeat of their cause, either lost their estates to the Crown, or had them managed by the Barons of the Exchequer. Either way, there was a full accounting of the estate to establish it's value. Farms, tenants, rents paid, and reparation received are listed. The Scottish Exchequer (Ref: E) contains papers of estates forfeited after the 1689, 1715 and 1745 risings.

SASINES (LAND RECORDS) (THESE ARE NOT ON LINE!)

A sasine is the legal record of the transfer of land ownership, either when inherited, gifted or sold. Land used as security for a loan will also be recorded in the county Register of Sasines. Most people in pre WWII Scotland were tenants and did not own their house or land, so these records are best searched only if you have knowledge of land or house ownership from previous research. However if you do have reason to think that an ancestor may have owned their land or house then these records can contain a wealth of information. For instance if a family owned a piece of land for generations, each sasine refers back to the previous transfer, neatly linking each generation with names and relationships. This can be very helpful in areas with sparse birth and marriage records.

These records should be searched with reference to specific events such as the death of the land/house owning ancestor, initially.

THE BLACK HOLES Ive now described the basic records that you may use in your quest.

Many people encounter problems in the period of time from the formation of the Free Church until civil registration began (1843 1855). Use of census and death records can usually help jump this era. (Or (unfortunately) a trip to the National Archives by someone)

MOST people have problems when approaching the late 1700s and beyond when records begin to dry up

fast and create The Brick Wall. This is the woe of many, - we all hit it and its solid.

TIPS

Tip learn how to copy and paste all types of data from a website into Word and Excel (or similar

programs). Also learn how to copy photographs, maps or picture files onto your local hard disk. (Select the arearight mouse click..etc) Tip- organize your web browser favourites and make a library of sites with titles you understand and recognize (not just what it was saved as). Set them up in a folder tree structure by location/type. You will collect many as you go forward. Tip if you dont already have and use an ad blocker and a spy-ware package, get some and use them as necessary. I use Pop-up Stopper (free), Ad-Aware 6(free), and SpyBot Search and Destroy (free). If youve never used one of the spy ware packages before brace yourself youll be amazed at the garbage that exists on your hard disk, and a lot of it slowing your system speed. Go here for the free software mentioned above (and lots more all have been voted by worldwide users as the best free stuff around): http://pricelessware.org/thelist/net.htm You will find that your computer system will run much better if - every week you go into your browsers tools menu and manually delete all cookies, all saved web pages, and clear your history. This can be made easier if you put Shortcuts to the various programs of that ilk into an easily-identified (eg Maintenance) folder on the Desk Top.

Mak siccer (Make sure) that you keep your anti-virus software up-to-date or you may feel sicker. PDF995 The free version of this program is another gem I recommend highly. It allows you to create a pdf file from any print job imaginable. This is great for capturing large amounts information to an electronic file or to allow sharing of documents over the net and in emails. The resulting file is compact and fully compatible with Adobe Reader.
http://www.pdf995.com/

MWSNAP Version 3 By Mirek GET THIS PROGRAM! You can selectively capture ANYTHING that you see on your monitor and save it as a graphics file or paste the clipping into other files or emails FANTASTIC TOOL and works flawlessly! - Even when the right mouse button has been deactivated at a website. Put this one on a hot key! Its free.
http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html Tip record everything, set up a spreadsheet, and put your notes there. Also copy and paste little bits and pieces of info you see out on the net into this file. You can use multiple sheets within the workbook to organize the data. Sometimes it is also useful to make note of the web address where the info came from this again is easily done by pasting the address from your browser within the note(s). Review these notes every once in a while a new search idea, amazing revelation, or fresh approach may come to mind. Use Word, or the like, to paste info and internet addresses into as you search as a temporary notebook to store info while searching (use paste special unformatted text) this will save backtracking and you can copy the information to your note file if worthwhile or just blow it away if not needed. Tip people sometimes marry more than once, plus sometimes a mothers name in a death record may be a step mothers name, plus every once in a while children may be born before a marriage with the maiden name of the mother and adopt the eventual husbands name later.

Tip Illegitimate children sometimes lie on their marriage records; or have been given misleading stories as to their origins. Additionally the happy couple may not know the facts, whether legitimate or illegitimate. Do you know your parents full names? One person and his relatives did have doubts about his given names, were they Arthur William or William Arthur? Neither! - Actually Arthur Willie;
but only discovered after his death. Tip Not everyone with your Surname is related to you.

Tip Very few of us are related to nobility or famous people; but the family lore may have a grain of truth, leading to greater discoveries.

Tip Most family trees will have black sheep and skeletons in the closet.

Tip Age information on Census or death records should be considered only as close the information may have been provided by someone who was not related, and had limited knowledge, or was a flat out guess. Birthplace information on Census lists should not be taken as fact at all times for the same reasons.

Tip - Use what info you have to help find a person or confirm their identity: What was your ancestors trade, profession, skill? Family or locality trades? Census, marriage and death records often indicate the profession, marital status, etc. Pay attention to these details, it could give you an alternate way of searching; but keep in mind that todays interpretation may not be the meaning of that era, eg Gangster (Bookmaker) in the 1881 British Census; or have different meanings in different countries.
Tip search on your surname once a week at Google, Surname Navigator and Yahoo, new data is loaded daily. Every week youll possibly see a new avenue.

Tip Data transcribers make typos too.

Tip Pay attention to the brothers and sisters of your ancestors, their data & information could help a lot in your quest

Tip Middle names can sometimes point to a grandparents given or surnames. Tip Read responses to other peoples queries you may learn useful methods, etc. Tip Use at least a two (+- 2) year buffer when using the 1881 Census of Scotland to calculate birth dates in my experience they appear several years light. 1891 and 1901 are closer. This also applies generally to any on-line database searches. Then go to 5.
Tip If you plan to make this your on-going pastime or intend on doing a lot of research you will find it much cheaper in the long run, and a big time saver, to purchase the 1881 UK Census covering Scotland, England, Wales, Channel Islands etv but NOT Ireland; and perhaps the 1881 Canadian Census. Owning the census opens the way to much more powerful multi-parameter searches

Tip A gap larger than 3 or 4 years between children can indicate a childbirth death; and/or possibly the mothers death followed by re-marriage to a lady with the same First Name, on occasions to add to the confusions.

Where a child died young, the same name/s may be used for a later child, leading to possible confusions of the birth year of the eventual survivor.

Tip A huge list of children, or a list that spans several decades, attributed to one father may indicate multiple wives; or it could be that a son/relative/stranger with the identical name/s is having family simultaneously.
Tip BACK UP YOUR DATA REGULARLY its a real shame to scrogg months of work. Get another hard disk in your PC; or simply copy everything over; supplemented by occasionally sending all your data, images etc to other interested relatives occasionally by CD or DVD.

TIP - Understand this- Variant Spellings: There is a long established belief that, in the 18th Century, Scottish education was far superior to that in England. This was, to a degree, the result of John Knoxs teachings and of the Presbyterian movement generally, which led to their being "a school in every parish". By the mid 19th Century, this advantage had disappeared, partly due to migration to the larger towns where there were inadequate educational facilities, and partly due to there being no compulsion for parents to send their children to school. Because of this, many Scots at this time were illiterate as evidenced by the use of X marks, instead of signatures, on the statutory birth, marriage and death certificates. This led, inevitably, to both forenames and surnames being spelt in different ways by either the Kirk Session Clerk (usually the parish schoolmaster) pre 1855, or the local Registrar subsequently. Understandably, the incidence of spelling variants was particularly high in Gaelic-speaking areas. The problem of spelling variants was of course compounded when families immigrated, particularly to America where the officials at Ellis Island, for example, would simply write the name, and home town phonetically or as a name they had previous experience with. The range of pronunciations for the same name or words within Scotland is extremely large. This is compounded in that some of the later records and most names on maps, hence in degree Censuses, were recorded by English surveyors, totally unaccustomed to Scottish practices. For example Gleneagles Hotel and Golf Course has nothing to do with eagles. It was an English surveyor understanding of the Gaelic for Glen (valley) of the Church Lockheed = Loch-head To give some idea of how miss-leading some of the Gaelic words and spelling can appear to be, when compared with their pronunciations-Slainte Mhath - Slaandji vaa - to your health
Or things like: The z of Drumelzier is pronounced as a y, Hawick is pronounced Hoik by many, and so forth.. Another thing that compounded spelling mistakes, or flat out errors, was that sometimes the parish records (prior to 1855) were re-written into the formal from the memory and/or notes of the parish clerk and/or minister. Some records became scrambled.

Introduction to the Derivation of Scottish Surnames

http://www.clanmacrae.org/documents/names.htm

Tip - Memorize this Scottish naming patterns: People of all countries tend to use forenames which run in the family. In Scotland families not only use such names but they tend to follow naming patterns - the most common of which is:-1st son - named after his paternal grandfather 2nd son - named after his maternal grandfather 3rd son named after his father 1st daughter - named after her maternal grandmother 2nd daughter - named after her paternal grandmother 3rd daughter - named after her mother TIP Variant spellings and phonetics can occur in place names and addresses too.
TIP a few times Ive saved time while working on a remote computer at a library or such by emailing data to myself at home from that location saves time, a bunch of hard copy files, and the print/copy fees there. (I am Scottish after all)

Tip - regarding Average Numbers: Time between generations about 25 years. Average age of a male at marriage was about 25, - for most women about 21. Good numbers to use when approximating things. Also if they say they were 19 it may be less. Females could marry as young as 12, males from 14. Some mothers in their Fifties had children, whilst there is almost no limit to the fathers age.
Tip get a small spiral wound note book to log all the various passwords and logons you will be accumulating and keep it at your work area saves lots of time. Here are some paper work examples to give you a rough idea how to set up your files. Do it right from the start, the

number of notes you'll be making will amaze you. However, I still promote use of the computer rather than hand written documents for most data. http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/download.html http://www.pbs.org/kbyu/ancestors/charts/

"Even in the cottage, where the earthen floor, The straw-made bed, the wooden candlestick, Display their sober equipage - even there The Muses will haunt, where Pomp discusses to tread And breathe the song, deny'd to Palaces." James Ruickbie 1757-1829 THINK - Use available databases against each other, and within themselves, to slowly narrow down the field of play as far as date ranges, location, church, birth place, occupation, parents names, childrens names, known associates (witnesses) etc. Use your knowledge, available Census info and Family Search (IGI) data to lock on to a target. An example of this while using IGI data being- lets say your looking for a John Smith, perhaps the son of George, and that you believe was born about 1857, in Peebles somewhere, and you also know the names of one or more siblings. Searching on him alone may be an exercise in frustration with many hits. An alternate approach that sometimes works is to do your search on him within a 4 or 10 year window paste this data into a document, - now do the same thing on each of the sibling(s) with the same or bigger window and again paste the data into a document. Now study all the saved document data and look for matches in time, and parish and investigate the details of those that cross match as far as parents, or a father George go this simple sifting out the non related persons can yield large rewards. If you are lucky enough to have some info on siblings born prior to a census, and all children would be young enough to still be at home at the census date - search for a family of that surname that has those given names present. If one of the persons is known to have an unusual First or Given Name, try searching for that alone. Also try variants of the Last Name that are not covered by Soundex or similar, e.g. a Tant family was found miss-transcribed as Lant. If you know the trade of the father from the 1881 census period and own the 1881 Census make use of the advanced search feature - on surname / trade/ location etc.. The 1881 Census is an awesome tool if it coincides with your date ranges. In addition to names, trades, location you can also search on addresses that you may have picked up off birth, marriage or death certificates, - or from other census dates. And if you find your family or a member check the neighbours around them for a few buildings or so you may see a familiar name from witness names on registrations. Furthermore Ive found good info searching on the witnesses and finding kin, kin-to-be, or kin-that-was living there. Always look at the detailed household reports and note the occupations, birth locations, marital status, and relationship to the head. Be particularly wary where the Head is a baby or child! This can happen in some families when the parents are elsewhere, leaving the baby in the safe-keeping of servants. Check addresses on death registrations they may be a hospital, or other institution. If a census has been done just prior to the death you may find them residing there, and maybe get more useful information (such as birthplace) to use somewhere else.
Should a persons occupation be a trade or profession some localities have apprenticeship lists which can be useful. Also note that tradesmen seemed to be close friends with others in the same trade - and that searching for others in the same trade and location can find you a needle in the haystack. And -when you do ask someone for help tell ALL FACTS and FAMILY LORE you know. Others frequently read this differently and have other experiences which may help shed light.

Primary Site
Strictly, none of the following are Primary Sources, which would be the very original, hand-written, time-wearied

document; but they are the sources most readily available to us; and with careful use, can lead back to the true primary sources.

the LDS Church's Family Search Site - FREE

http://www.familysearch.org/ http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp If you can get back with your own sources to 1875 ( re: Scotland) or earlier, then this site should be your main search tool to start with then go from there, investigate all areas in this website, and try everything; the scope of information is mind boggling. Read the help files, FACs, and suggestions on how to use the site.

IGI information on this site is a combination of actual records, and uploads from LDS members, and others. The detailed records displayed when clicking on a record from a search will indicate the record type in the lower portion of the screen.

Any records on Familysearch which are in the Censuses and the US Social Security Death Index can be relied upon as being very likely to be accurate, ie to show what you would find on the original hand-written source.

Within the various International Genealogical records, check for the following: Messages: Extracted birth or christening record for the locality listed in the record. The source records are usually arranged chronologically by the birth or christening date. These records will generally have a similar level of accuracy as the Censuses etc above. BUT be very careful of information that has been uploaded by a LDS member or others, it sometimes may be inaccurate, misleading and someones wishful thinking, indeed, the origin of the infamous red herring analogy. -which abounds in some LDS data:
http://www.fallacyfiles.org/redherrf.html While there a lot of actual Scottish records here, they are not complete. The Old Parish Records (1553 to 1854, mainly the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and its antecedents) are somewhat close to what the Scotlands People site has, but the Statutory Records (1855 forward) are lacking. ALL records from Scottish official sources stop at 1875 and in some cases as early as 1865. Searches after this time will only retrieve LDS member uploads. The UK government stopped the transfer of this information when they realized they could make money selling it.

The Census section headed Census - 1881 British Census does NOT include the Scottish section or (all-) Ireland section of that Census, although it does include those persons from those and other countries residing in England and Wales on that night. So the person you seek may not appear in the Scottish section because he was down in England, so appearing in the English section. Conversely an English person may be missing from the English section because he was up in Scotland.
One example is Evan Tant working as a Butler in England, whilst his family are listed in the Scottish section as Lant and are all described as being Farmers wife, Farmers daughter and Farmers son. You must remember there are no real death records here from the OPR period. Any death record here is a LDS Member upload, and is generally implied from the rental of the mortcloth, not an actual record of the death in the modern sense. The original LDS transcriptions omitted all Death Records of any variety, as these were not compatible with the LDS reasons for establishing the IGI. (See the LDS Web Site)

While using this site, dont use the first screen (All resources) that comes up in the Search for Ancestors go primarily to the IGI search where you can do much more advanced searching.
Plus always check out your surname with reports from the 80s census areas in the UK, USA and once you do find your

ancestor(s) - always look at the household screen, not just the single person records, sometimes people live away from their original parents. Make note of marital status, and occupation for each member, including servants, boarders etc these are frequently relatives.

Note that the UK census published here does not include Scotland and Ireland. Oh and by the way the LDS Family Search site has FREE downloadable family tree software called PAF which is used by quite a few out there. Its handy for viewing the information in GEDCOM files that you can download after your searches. Further look at their info on their local Family Search Centers -they are in most major cities, look for the Church of Latter Day Saints, are free to use, and they will give you access to microfiche files not available on the internet as yet. CALL AHEAD you may have to book time and that applies to most major archives as well. Plus most usually have a small library at each where you will be able to learn much more about searching. The volunteer attendants can also lend useful advice. Films and other information they do not have on site, can be ordered for a very minimal fee which covers only their costs. Note that all usually have the UK 1881 Census CDs available which do include Scotland on two disks Highlands and Lowlands. BUT these are not the conventional Highlands and Lowlands of everyday life. Roughly any place north of the Forth and Clyde estuaries are classified as Highlands, the rest Lowlands. Glasgow is actually split by the Clyde; but northern Glasgow is included on the Lowlands disk. If you encounter the first version of the disks, Sutherland at the north of Scotland was included in Sunderland down in England. They didnae ken whit thr daein. A handy 12 search tricks: Trick one: make it a standard practice to download IGI files that were or could be used again. This can be done through the sites facility to download GEDCOM files, or you can simply highlight the data on the screen using your right mouse button, copy it, and then paste in into say a Word document (preferred way) or spreadsheet. The GEDCOMS, if downloaded, can be viewed with the LDS PAF software or one of the free viewers mentioned in the listings above, plus if they are your tree you can import the info into many different family tree software files and save some typing. Trick two: Do a backwards search by typing in the parents names on the right and selecting births/ christenings on the left. This will, if the information is there, show all children born to those parents names. Also try the fathers name alone, the mothers name alone, or the full name of the father and only the first name of the mother (or vice versa) this sometimes counteracts spelling mistakes in the IGI data base. You can get time selective with this.. but first read trick three. Trick three: avoiding error messages when you do a time selective search- without knowing a given name. You really don't need the first name to search for all who-evers born in a certain time period at the Family Search IGI search facility. Go to the search area for IGI info only, and use a "*" (asterisk) for the first name, and then add your surname, event, etc. It is not well documented at the site, but it will accept this (*) as a wildcard for both the given and surnames in the primary input boxes at the upper left and carry out the search. This little trick avoids getting the error message usually reported if your try a detailed search without a first name and reduces the usual overwhelming report of hundreds+ of names, (or worse - a system error), by allowing selective searches in time. This works best for given names in conjunction with a backwards search to find a child. NOTE: Using a wild card for surnames MUST be done on a short time frame most of the time or you will hang the system up, or get impossible to get by error messages i.e. trim the time, and focus. This does not work for parent or spouses names just leave the field empty. Trick four -Note that if the system times out on search, reporting an error message immediately do the same search again, it may pop up. (The LDS and some other systems temporarily save Search results to cater for this.) Trick five: this one really minimizes missing data that is there, but is spelt strangely, or may reveal other alternates. This trick involves seeing ALL marriages or births in a particular area within many years of time. The IGS data was typed into the system in batches, by parish (or locality) in chunks of time which may range from 10 years to 100 years. These batches may reach sizes of 5,000 entries or more. These batch numbers are displayed in the bottom left area of the IGI detail screen when viewing a single record also shown is the date range of the batch. The area or parish involved will be that shown attributed to the record in the persons details above. Again you go to the search area for IGI info only. Using a name you know is in your target area and time -do a search. (or use a

common Scottish name such as Smith, Baker, Brown, Scott, Reid, Johnson, etc and do a time selective search with such in the your target county until your get acceptable results). Once the system has done the search and is displaying the list of names pick a record whose detail shows that is a record taken from the actual parish records (do not pick one that was submitted by a LDS member, or from non-official source this will be a batch of mixed records from here and there in time and place). ..Okay so now you have a single record being displayed that has the place, the time period, and is taken from a real parish or government document. so you double click on the batch number and the system will drop back to the IGI search screen with the batch number and Region already typed in for you. If you tell the system to do a search only on the batch number all authentic records for that area and time period will be available. Unfortunately you may have to step down a number of screens as the list is in sorta alphabetic order. This can take a while 200 entries per screen, - ie.-going to entry 4680 takes a while. But keep your eyes open as you page down each screen so you may hit the next button sometimes the entries may be mixed up a bit, with a section of Rs in with the Hs or the like. This trick is involved but sometimes can bust through a wall. Also take note that sometimes right at the back end of a batch there may be a short list of given name only entries that just might be who youre looking for. Also keep an eye out as you step down for surname only entries. One continuation of this is that by going up or down in the number a few end digits you will get the batch numbers for other similar events and time periods in the same locale. This takes a bit of experimenting, but youll see what I mean. Tip - christenings and births start with a C and marriages start with an M the trailing digits for the times periods for each event are sometimes the same. OR alternatively you can find a whack of the batch numbers here:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm

(I described the long way first in case this site goes off line) a GOOD site. You may find it saves time to copy and paste some of the lists into a local file for later quick reference. Trick six make use of the time selective searches & do them smartly this avoids getting thousands of hits, missing hits, and speeds you up. Using birth dates calculated from reported ages on Census info should always be at minimum +-2 year search. Births of children can be minus 2 years to plus 30years from the actual marriage dates. Most people in Scotland married when they were between the ages of 18 and 35 start with this, but some are different. Trick seven (use this at IGI and everywhere else) be very creative in surname spellings. Try imagining the worst, spidery, feint, hand-writing you have ever seen, some records are a lot worse. While we all know that names were quite frequently spelt phonetically in the past, it still remains that the handwriting of some Parish or government clerks was really bad, and some documents are in bad shape to boot. This all leads to names being truncated or, characters misinterpreted, and the like by the transcribers. At least 5% of my tree was drawn from records that were miss spelt or just plain way out there. Trick eight Note that when searching for a marriage that the upper name on the upper left of the input screen is the primary variable, and does not have to be the male. If you are having difficulty finding the marriage of two individuals by typing in both names - try searching on each alone maybe youll find what you are after. Or try the use of the wild card * in the primary variable given name box, with the surname. Or try this with a full primary and with just the surname of the secondary person, or just the secondary given name. Try the various mixes of bride and groom with all these combinations these sometimes gets past spelling errors, or incorrect information you have acquired elsewhere. Be creative - the system will give you an error message if youve tried something it doesnt like. Note older records may not list the wifes name or just her given name.
Trick nine use your knowledge of nicknames to aid and speed your searches. The LDS site has most global nicknames programmed into its search engine but is weak on a few Scottish equals, one that stands out is the fact that it does not equate Jane, Janet, and Jessie. Trick ten It is wise to focus your search when you believe the person(s) should be listed in a particular county to reduce the number of hits. BUT, if you dont find them - Use the widening search circle to expand and possibly find the file. You might have searched on British Isles Scotland Peebles and got nothing so widen out to British Isles Scotland, and then to all of the UK, and finally go to the All Resources Screen at the entry to LDS searches and give it a go without naming a country.

Trick-Tip eleven I have throughout this opus warned about the immediate belief in, and use of LDS uploads with the possibility of them being misleading. But sometimes the information they contain may be useful and point you in the correct direction. BUT - Use them with caution and be wary of this avenue and confirm all such data

elsewhere before adopting it and going down the path of chasing the wrong people back in time wasting weeks, months or years of effort. People have, sadly, done just this.
Trick twelve If your surname is a common one that always produces hundreds of hits and you are sure of the parish use all of the above tricks combined with Batch Numbers to narrow down your search as much as possible and thereby reduce the sifting.

The Real Deal - where its not free: But its as complete as youll find on line anywhere! Scotlands People the pay government site
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

But the Index to the Contents and the help/info are FREE!
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.php?area=content/about_this_site/whats_in_database

Eventually you will go here to get data to get past a wall or speed up the process. The IGI and other records are quite good but are not complete. I advise doing lots in other places and save the tough work to solve here. Its not really all that expensive but one should be selective as 30 credits cost 6 I would suggest that when you do use this site you do your searches first, and maximize the records shown by expanding dates to fill a complete page(s) of report(s). Ie one entry on a one page report is just the same charge as 22 records on a one page report. Also set up an Excel workbook with a sheet for births, a sheet for marriages, a sheet for deaths, a sheet for each census, and a sheet for all the others to be copied into (this last sheet takes a bit of time to set up and get all the column headings correct to accept data from the other three). Every time you do a search, bring up the printer friendly view of each page, highlight the hard data in it using your mouse, and then copy and paste it into the applicable sheet this will become your family data base all set to go in proper columns - which now is storable, editable, expandable, and sort-able, etc. (will save hours of typing). Make sure that on every sheet you add a column to include the year only of the event these you will be typing in it makes sorting and math calculations simpler sometimes the data pasted in looks like a number but its really a label with null value. I would further suggest in deaths sheet to add a column and have Excel calculate the birth date by subtracting the reported age from the date of death to approximate a birth date ( do same with census data). The time saving power of this data base should not be underestimated - when combined with smart sorts it can save HOURS. (- A quick example the report that you get on a census inquiry is name sorted the data base you set up will allow a place sort thereby putting all the families together, one after another, and if you do a two stage sort by age descending usually the mother & father will be right at the top of the list). The combination page if multiple level sorted sort of puts all the information regarding a given name in one location saving you flipping back & forth through paperwork ( Ive had a few of my people show on the report with their birth, marriage, census info, then death in a nice, neat line by line section.)
It should be noted that once you properly register, and get your password that after your first payment - all your previous paid for images, and previous searches are available to you at any time thereafter whether or not your paid for time has expired, or even if you have no credits left what you paid for is there for you forever (unless they change things).

Plus note that if your time has expired and you still have sufficient page credits left - you can use these credits to view images from previous searches. The only real restriction is that when your paid for time has expired, you can no longer do NEW advanced searches in the member area. But the free search is still available to all for free.
A quick note about searches keep track of what youve done before to avoid paying to view the same search twice.

Another thing you must realize is that on this site the search will be carried out exactly on how you spelled the names, no sound-a-likes here (like at IGI) and dont bother with their canned soundex type search it is not that good and may return many useless hits so come armed worth the variant spellings you wish to investigate.
Note: Name searches allow wildcards (*?), this is described at the site. THIS IS A POWERFUL TOOL INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBLITIES. The ? is a wildcard for single characters, while the * is a wildcard for ANY number of characters. These may be placed anywhere in the name. It does not cost a dime to experiment with the use of this as the search costs nothing unless you view the results so give it a whirl until you get the idea and what is produced. They can be used together as well if separated by at least one character. Examples: Ann? would retrieve Ann, Anne, Anny

Ann* - would retrieve Ann, Anne, Anny, Annette, Annett, Annie Sm?th would retrieve Smith, Smyth.

De*nis would retrieve Denis, Dennis.. M*cDon?ld would retrieve McDonald, MacDonald, McDonuld, MacDonuld. Jan* would retrieve Jane, Jannet, Janet, Janette, Jannete.. Jes* would retrive Jessie, Jessica, Jessy, Jess Wil* would retrieve William, Will, Willie, Willy, Wilhelmina But note the system will not take wildcards alone, and that you must have at least 2 real characters. Yet still it saves a mammoth amount of time and $. Also get to know how the various searches work. The OPR searches give you all data male & female. The SR searches are gender specific on marriages; you will have to do both. Also sometimes it is much quicker to do the searches using the all options on SR & OPR, then pick from there. And dont forget that you can really refine your searches when you are confident of date ranges and locales to avoid paying for reports from all of Scotland, and across many years.
Eventually you will view records in TIFF format, save them on your local hard drive and rename them to what they are by person-event-date etc whatever makes sense to you. When you look at these records, transfer information to your data-base that is not shown on the search reports. ie. The persons occupation, age, mother, father, actual date, witnesses and their relationship if noted, etc.. This could pay off down the road.

Always read the full image you just paid for, sometimes the other 2 or 3 records on the page may contain useful information. (on one of my marriage images I found that the sister of the person I looked for was also listed there they had a double ceremony that day, - several times a death register has had information on someone else I was interested in.the communities were small and the vital statistic events were few). Watch for notes in the margin areas of the record indicating various legal proceedings.

Always pay attention to the witnesses on a register, you may find relatives you did not know existed ( a son, a daughter, a niece.), plus after a while you will find that some family names seem to pop up over and over, and they may be a tip to who others might be.

Heres what available at this site:

Births & Christenings: OPRs 1553-1854 index only Births: SRs 1855-1904 - with images Minor Records (Births) 1553-1904 index only Deaths & Burials: OPRs 1553-1854 -nothing Deaths: SRs 1855-1954 Yes with images Minor Records (Deaths) 1855-1954 index only Marriages & Proclamations of Banns: OPRs 1553-1854 index only Marriages: SRs 1855-1929 with images Minor Records (Marriages) 1855-1929 index only RCE 1855-1954 - nothing Census 1841 - nothing Census 1851 - nothing Census 1861 - nothing Census 1871 - with images Census 1881 - index onlyYes No (but information transcribed) Census 1891 with images Census 1901 with images

Searching is possible by surname, qualified by the following factors: Forename Sex

Date/Year range Age/Age range (deaths and censuses only) Parish/District County and other names depending on the entry (including spouse, father, mother and mother's maiden name) Event Some Save $ Tips for Scotlands People:
With the searches being so spelling specific at this site you may receive hundreds of hits on a particular search especially with common popular surnames. Use what you now to reduce the hits down to a manageable level before just doing stab-in the dark downloads of either the listings or the records. Make use of the date parameters, the gender parameters, the location parameters to center on the info that is applicable to your specific need within reasonable tolerances. This next technique works well on SR records, since you dont see the spouses name: Use what you know about a marriage to pinpoint the correct marriage by running a wise search (as mentioned above) on the female - then a corresponding wise search on the male. It will cost maybe a credit a piece. Pull up the print version of each and print them or paste them into a spreadsheet. By manual comparison on the two lists, or by sorted database techniques on the record number you may be able to find one male record that matches or sorts out beside one female record BINGO. This same technique also works VERY well for finding a FEMALE death record by searching on the maiden name, and then the married name(s) to produce at least two lists to cross reference. Think about it a one page list costs 1 credit. An image costs 5 credits. Take a chance and do the extra 1 page credit, and avoid hopefully avoid the lets try this one a multitude of times at 5 credits a pop. Odds are when you do this youll download a bunch at 5 credits each before stumbling onto the one you really want. I use this technique in the circumstances mentioned it does save both time & lots of $. Also pay attention when viewing a downloaded Census image. Its not documented at the site, but is a family runs from one sheet to another the viewer will allow you to go back a page and view both, sometimes it will allow this when it does not go not back too so ya get the neighbours for free. This fact can also be used to narrow your hits by focusing on a person in the family whose birth date you know, and/or one who has an unusual first name.

GOT A LOUSY REGISTER THAT IS HARD TO READ?

Heres a free 3 step image enhancement process that Ive been messing with. It makes faded registers, or other washed out scanned text, just a bit easier to read. Although not magic or pretty, it sometimes is just enough to help decipher faded writing or scanned pencil logs. Back up any file before you do this to it under another name to retain an original untouched for comparison.

It uses these 3 free software packages, available on line: B/Works

http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/bworks.htm

Kodak Easyshare free software:

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=130&pq-locale=en_US

Free Digital Camera Enhancer

http://www.mediachance.com/digicam/enhancer.htm The process is simple after you have the software.

1 Bring the tiff image into B/Works and using the Heavy Contrast option process the file and save it under another file name. It is now a jpeg of much larger size and is a true black and white image with little grey scale. 2 Load the Kodak software and bring in the black and white jpeg image by adding it. Then pick fun effects and then colouring book. This is basically an edge drawing algorithm which will trace lightly the edges of the characters thereby darkening and making them a bit bolder. Then accept this image and then save it under yet a new file name. The image will have grown larger again by some noise picked up in the tracing process around dots and scratches etc. 3 Now finally bring this black and white, edge-traced image into the DC-Enhancer with the controls set as follows:Auto balance at 50%, Colour at 50%, Midtones at 50%, Enh. Details at FULL BLAST, Denoiser at about 75%, and also select the Mid-Details. Then save the result as a new name. The file size will drop just a bit due to noise removal. Final file is about 15 times larger than the original as far as disk space goes.

Thats it compare the final to the original I believe you will see a bit of a difference and might just help.
Ive messed with the Kodak cartoon setting as well, but it makes a bit more noise than the colouring book. But works similar might have some applications. Further on a few files it may be necessary to experiment with the various settings of the final DC-Enhance step to produce better results. A helpful note: wanna type a to show pounds? Just press and hold down the Alt key while typing 156 on the numeric keyboard while the Num-Lock is on. This works with most of the popular fonts. Surname Navigator THIS SITE IS GREAT.. a BIG favourite of mine http://www.rat.de/kuijsten/navigator/

When using this site dont limit yourself to only using the default search. The flags buttons displayed at the top are other country specific search set ups that have more specific parameters and use other search engines. The small numbers in brackets indicate the number of alternate search setups for that specific country. This site also has a link to a general search site called Search Navigator which is a meta-search engine here:
http://www.rat.de/kuijsten/navigator/123search/index.html

About 5% of the population left Wills/Testaments; you may get lucky and find one here. It is a pay site. But the Free Index can be quite useful, frequently mentioning relatives, locations etc. It covers Labourers to Lairds, so your ancestors dont have to be rich or well-connected to appear here. www.scottishdocuments.com Be wary, this site defaults to Exact Spelling, where-as most others require Exact Spelling to be selected.

Scotland FreeCen grows larger each week This project aims to provide a "free-to-view" online searchable database of the 19th century Scottish census returns. It is part of the larger UK Free Census Project (aka FreeCEN). http://www.users.waitrose.com/~census/

Nicknames used a lot in Scotland check your targets alternates

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genealogylinks/surnm/nn/nn_male.html#male_a Scottish Genealogical Society Look around in every menu. http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/ Here you can also purchase monumental inscriptions (MIs)of gravestones for parishes from all over Scotland. Plus wills, and much more. Again - look around. http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/acatalog/shop.html

TRYING TO FIND LIVING KIN? Search for living relatives in the electoral polls
http://www.192.com/search/people.cfm

Search for living relatives in one of the phone lists

http://www.aol.co.uk/favourites/search/phonedirectory.html

Broader information on all other areas

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/

General Receiver of Scotland

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk

Spend a good deal of time here, LOOK AT EVERYTHING and learn:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/index.html

There are many downloadable pdf files regarding information, how to search, parish lists, how they will search for you, etc.. The list is long. A few hours may save you weeks of searching since youll have more knowledge of whats available and whats not. Some downloads are worth printing and throwing into a ring binder for quick reference later. This is great stuff, factual and free. Scotsfind good list of surnames for alternates, plus guilds, wills, apprenticeships and more:
http://www.scotsfind.org/

Surname Thesaurus for getting a list of variant spellings very handy. This fantastic freebie not only points out alternate spellings but rates them on the number of times they appear in actual vital statistics. This helped me find information I would have never found - as the spellings were so far out there that I would never have tried them and resulted in clearing up two mysteries and totally smashing an intermediate brick wall.
http://www.imagepartners.co.uk/thesaurus/

worth a look:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~onvsr/index.htm

Ontario Birth Registrations not a complete list but may be useful:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~births/index.htm

Ontario Marriages:
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~maryc/thisisit.htm

Ontario Deaths:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~onvsr/deaths.htm

the Ontario Cemetery grave finding site

http://www.islandnet.com/ocfa/

the Canadian Cemetery finding site:

http://www.interment.net/can/on/

Interment does many other locations too. Canadian Archives site:

http://www.archivescanada.ca/english/index.html

Government of Canada records The real deal for Canadian Records a MUST know!:
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/0201_e.html Included here are the following items of note (but look around!): 1871 Census http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020108_e.html

This database contains the names of the heads of households in the Province of Ontario as they were recorded in April 1871 in the official enumeration of the population of Canada. The census returns record personal information such as name, age, country or province of birth, occupation, ethnic origin and religious denomination. Listed are: -Heads of households (not all family will be shown) -strays" (people with a different surname living in the household) -People who died during the previous twelve months Use of $ as a wildcard is possible, for example: Sm$th for Smith/Smyth, etc. Cool 1874 map of Ontario:
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02010804_e.html

1901 Census
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020122_e.html The 1901 Census offers digitized images of the original census returns, which record age, nationality, religion, profession, income, education; etc for every single resident of Canada on 31 March 1901.You can search by geographic location only. As this is not a nominally-indexed database, it is not searchable by family name. This is a painstaking process. But

sometimes well worth the effort. Spend some time learning about it at the site before you venture forth. It is very important to know as close as possible the location of your target there are approx. 30,000 pages. There is an online area pdf file which lists the major areas to help focus your search.

Soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918)

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020106_e.html

Over 600,000 Canadians enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) during the First World War (1914-1918). To date, over 800,000 images of Attestation papers have been scanned and are available on-line. Soldiers of the South African War (1899 - 1902)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020156_e.html The South African War, 1899-1902 marked the first occasion for which Canada dispatched troops to an overseas war. A total of 7,368 Canadians and 12 Nursing Sisters served in South Africa. This research tool brings together three groups of records pertaining to the South African War: the service files, medal registers and land grant applications. All are available as digital images, including hand written letters.

Home Children (1869-1930)

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020110_e.html Between 1869 and the early 1930s, over 100,000 children were sent to Canada from Great Britain during the child emigration movement. Members of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa are locating and indexing the names of these Home Children found in passenger lists in the custody of the National Archives of Canada.

Immigration Records (1925-1935)

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020118_e.html The National Archives of Canada holds immigration records from 1865 to 1935. The names of immigrants arriving from overseas are recorded in passenger lists. Those arriving from or via the United States are recorded in border entry lists. The passenger lists for the 1925 to 1935 records are in this database. Also included are border entries for individuals whose surname starts with the letter C.

1940 National Registration

http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/10/100706_e.html This one is sorta hidden. It costs money to get the image but it may prove useful against those brickwalls. The 1940 National Registration resulted from the compulsory registration of all adults in Canada from 1940

to 1946. This information was originally obtained under the authority of the National Resources Mobilization Act and the War Measures Act to permit the mobilization of all the human and material resources of the nation for the purpose of the defence and security of Canada. The records are in the custody of Statistics Canada. The registration included all persons who were 16 years of age or older, except for members of the armed forces and religious orders, or those confined to an institution. If a person died between 1940 and 1946, their questionnaire was destroyed. The questionnaires include the following details: name; address; age; date of birth; marital status; number of dependents; place and country of birth of individual and his or her parents; nationality; year of entry into Canada (if an immigrant); racial origin; languages; education; general health; occupation, employment status, farming or mechanical skills; and previous military service.

There was a different form for males and females regarding questions about occupation, work history and military service. The records are arranged by electoral district; however, a soundex-format index exists.

War Diaries of the First World War

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020152_e.html

This database contains the digitized War Diaries of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) units. From the start of the First World War, CEF units were required to maintain a daily account of their Actions in the Field. This log was called a War Diary. The War Diaries are not personal diaries; rather they are a historical record of a units administration, operations and activities during the First World War Photographs -National Film Board of Canada: War Records- Manufacturing Series
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02011504_e.html

If your ancestor worked in Canada at a factory involved in the War effort you may find a picture here. Quarriers & Home Children Links: Some info and links for those whose ancestors were home children. The first two organizations will be more than happy to help you, all you need to do is ask them in writing..
http://www.quarriers.org.uk/ http://www.quarrierscanadianfamily.com/home.html http://www.tartans.com/articles/children5a.html

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/db/hawke.htm This database is an index to the four volumes of assisted immigration registers created by the Toronto Emigrant Office between 1865 and 1883 (series RG 11-3). The registers are a chronological listing of those new immigrants who were assisted by the government to travel to many different destinations across southern Ontario. Over 29,000 entries have been transcribed from the registers. Early Canadiana Online is a digital library containing over 1,753,000 pages in more than 11,350 volumes.

Pay site. http://www.canadiana.org/eco/index.html Scottish Ministers database extensive: http://www.dwalker.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Map.htm Maybe your Scottish ancestor was an accused witch (just for fun)? look here: -An amusement now but deadly serious way back. http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/witches/

Whats it worth now? This calculator will convert UK currency from days past to 2002.
http://www.eh.net/hmit/ukcompare/

Old Occupations in Scotland a listing and descriptions

http://www.scotroots.com/occupations.htm This is actually a revised site drawing info from ScotlandsPeople. Its worth a visit to try the free searches, and read the helpful information. http://www.ancestralscotland.com/

Looking for old, rare or used books? Heres the biggest dealer in the world. I have used this myself saves big $, and the service is flawless. Rather than spend full pop, get a good used book you want and have enough left over for 2 more
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/

Free BMD, UK (Scotland is coming later):

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/

Manitoba:
http://web2.gov.mb.ca/cca/vital/Query.php

British Columbia:
http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/textual/governmt/vstats/v_events.htm#indexes

New Brunswick a really good site. The government databases check everywhere:
http://www.archives.gnb.ca/Default.aspx http://www.bathurstgen.com/

Patsys site if your stuck at a dead end in Gloucester and area she has most all available for purchase- in fact her grave databases are those currently used by the New Brunswick government! A maritime gem!
University of New Brunswick Library Fredricton, Saint John. Databases and more. Not a lot - but interesting. http://www.unb.ca/libraries/

Quebec: - this is a pay site but searching is free to test the waters and then use the info elsewhere plus it lists some links.
http://simmons.b2b2c.ca/

Surname finder, not great, but who knows:

http://www.surnamefinder.com/

The "Debt of Honour Register" is the Commission's database listing the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars and the 23,000 cemeteries, memorials and other locations world-wide where they are commemorated. The register can also be searched for details of the 67,000 Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action in the Second World War.
http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx

you'll find lots of links and info at Cyndi's site

http://www.cyndislist.com/

ALTERNATE SEARCH ENGINES Sometimes they report something that youve never found on GOOGLE. Surfwax for general info searching (meta engine)
http://www.surfwax.com/

Zworks another meta search engine for general searches

http://www.zworks.com/

Searchalot multi search Engine

http://www.searchalot.com/

Teoma multi search engine

http://www.teoma.com/

DogPile multi search engine does images too.

http://www.dogpile.com/

The Toronto Public Library use this search engine to find genealogy links in Canada, and more, it is good and occasionally great. http://vrl.torontopubliclibrary.ca/vrl.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=vrl_page_home Electric Scotland a massive site - lots of info on Scotland -look around- Use the local search engine. Has some on line books, plus links to many other sites. It constantly grows http://www.electricscotland.com/

The three GAZETTES in England, Scotland, and Ireland they list military promotions, medals, and awards, plus nobility lists and title bestowments from the King/Queen. You might find a relative here:
http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ Newspaper Archive this was a site where a free search may find a clue, but now its a pay site - use the advanced search engine. May not be worth the $. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/DesktopDefault.aspx

Paper of Record, newspapers fair, but growing daily:

http://www.paperofrecord.com/Default.asp

The Olden Times - more newspapers:

http://theoldentimes.com/ Every issue of The Scotsman from 1817-1920. All digitized and searchable free, but images you pay for but you can do unlimited searches once you buy some time - not a lot of money. I found many items for my family. GOOD! I recommend this site. http://www.archive.scotsman.com/

Scottish Names Research site

http://www.users.on.net/~proformat/sctnames.html

GEDCOM & software (viewers and privatizers):

http://users.pandora.be/ivo.gilisen/4gedcom.htm http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~helper/freeware.htm http://rmhh.co.uk/genapps.html

PASSENGER LISTS & SHIPS The Ellis Island New York database for immigrants to US and maybe Canada. This site has the best alternate name search around and it is worth the visit to learn other possible phonetic combinations (IGI is good also, Scotlands Peoples soundex is not real good) When you search here - search on spouse, maiden names and childrens names as well. You will have to register here to see a full record but its free and harmless. If you have MWSNAP you can capture the cool certificates it displays re: your ancestor.

http://www.ellisisland.org/

Ingeneas free database and a pay section too. FreeCanadian immigration records - on 15,000 immigrants 1801-1849 sometimes worth a look. Also check out the pay side for a lead on a date you get a glimpse of the basic info without paying. Recommended - even if you do pay, not expensive, and can save you many hours re: 1901 Census of Canada searches.
http://www.ingeneas.com/free/index.html http://www.ingeneas.com/ingeneas/index.html

DUMFRIES FREE STUFF The 1851 Census of Dumfries County and morefree. If your ancestors hailed from this county you will find this priceless!
http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/HistoricalIndexes/default.aspx

SHETLAND ROOTS
http://www.shetlandroots.org/

Isle of Man
http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/famhist/genealgy/church.htm

Good site for the conversion of Roman Numerals to Arabic numerals handy.
http://www.weplan.com/romannumeral.htm

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild English Ports Departures passenger lists

http://immigrantships.net/departures/england.html

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild Liverpool, England Departures passenger lists

http://immigrantships.net/departures/lpool.html

KinShips - prints of passenger ships

http://www.kinshipsprints.com/index.htm

Palmer List of Merchant Vessels

http://www.geocities.com/mppraetorius/

The Ships List website was first established in August 1999, to help those seeking the details of their ancestors' ships; passenger records; contemporary immigration reports; newspaper records; ship wreck information; ship pictures, etc. http://www.theshipslist.com/
The Clearances re Scottish Emigrants http://www.theclearances.org/ PASSENGER LISTS; SHIPS; SHIP MUSEUMS http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ecgaunt/pass.html PASSENGER LISTS ON THE INTERNET http://members.aol.com/rprost/passenger.html UK merchant navy database: http://www.mna.org.uk/ Harold Ralston's Ship Passenger Lists http://my.execpc.com/~haroldr/shiplist.htm More passenger lists on the Web-home.att.net/~wee-monster/onlinelists.html

This is where you may find some personal info from other peoples' family trees, this site grows daily. This may go commercial soon from the looks of things. Rootsweb is bigger, but this site has more current uploads. Try a few searches you never know
http://www.gencircles.com/

Misc. Emigration info:

http://www.scan.org.uk/familyhistory/myancestor/emigrant.htm

Parishes: Get to know your way around Scotland a bit- using maps- then the following lists will make sense. Parish Locations- go to this site and download the free softwarehttp://www.parloc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ParLoc.htm

It can also help you work out the STRAIGHT-line distance between two places Parish Listing and ref. Numbers website
http://www.ktb.net/~dwills/scotref/13310-parishlist.htm

Info from the past Log in as a non-academic user Read and learn about various areas from the late 1700s and mid 1800s While there are very few persons named, this will give you an appreciation of the living conditions at those times, and a bit of insight into many other things. This knowledge can help. All based on the First and Second Statistical Accounts for Scotland, 1790s and 1840s, compiled by the parish minister usually - An eclectic collection of contents.
http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/

Images: This alternate form of searching really can work and lead to new information. Pictures and photograph searches can lead to new sites, or even pictures of your relatives. Plus it is usually the quickest way to find a picture of the ship they emigrated on, and perhaps detailed information on it, and its sailing schedules and ports of call. Try doing a name search for IMAGES on Yahoo, Google or DogPile, and just recently MSN offers such.
Local Colour and other info:

The Royal Commission of Ancient & Historical Monuments CANMORE DATABASE You have to register its free but for if your looking for old monuments or registered historic sites, farms, etc. a really good place to start there are actually three separate databases here - sites, maps and usage data. UNBELIEVABLY HUGE And some records come complete with photographs on-line Not widely used or talked about but definitely of use.
http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/search.html

The Gazetteer for Scotland:

http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/gaztitle.html

Dark Isle, gravestones and pics:

http://www.darkisle.com/picts.html

Undiscovered Scotland:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/index.html

Interested in Dundee try here The Tay Valley History Society

http://www.tayvalleyfhs.org.uk/resources/howff.shtml

UK Villages:
http://www.ukvillages.co.uk/ukvillages/ukvillageshome.htm

RampantScotland 12,000 LINKS REALLY Check out the calendar pics- Great for wall paper on your desktop monitor
http://www.rampantscotland.com/ http://www.rampantscotland.com/genealogy.htm Photopolis at the Dundee library 2400+ old hi-res photos from all of Scotland A DEFINITE LOOK especially if youre looking for a ships picture. http://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/photodb/index.html

SCRAN a pay site, but the thumbnails of all 300,000 images are free to view
http://www.scran.ac.uk/

Ancient Faces Maybe youll find a photo here or would like to share yours free, just have to register: Make your family immortal through photos.
http://www.ancientfaces.com/

Etrrick Graphics Ian Millars collection of great old pictures from all over the Borders and more.
http://www.ettrickgraphics.com/ Glasgow's Mitchell Library is one of the largest public reference libraries in Europe. It also houses the City Archives. As part of an ongoing project to make its resources more accessible, a selection of photographs of the city has been digitized. http://www.mitchelllibrary.org/cgi-bin/vm/main.plx

Live web cams from all over Scotland (and the world):
http://www.camvista.com/scotland/index.php3 The Long, Long Trail How to research a UK WWI soldier http://www.1914-1918.net/index.htm MAPS: Modern maps-www.streetmap.co.uk www.multimap.com http://uk.multimap.com/index/UK28.htm

19th century mapswww.old-maps.co.uk

A place may be listed on one or other of those sites; or all; or none. Streetmap is the easier to use; but try multimap or old-map below if the place does not show up on streetmap. When a place has been located on any of those, use the information to home in on the preferred map. For very small places, isolated houses, farms etc, the name does not appear in the index; but might appear on the map. Conversely, some farms etc appear in the streetmap index; but not on its map! How to take a pinpointed current location back to older maps: Try the index on streetmap first, if it fails, try multimap, then old-maps. Should you locate a place on streetmap, down at the bottom, you will find the National Grid Co-ordinate. Copy and paste them into old-maps, changing the "E" to a comma ","; and drop the trailing N. Select "Coordinates" and Search etc. When the small map appears, select "Enlarged View" in the bottom bar. You can right-click and save the maps for later use; or use a graphics screen capture program. Much Older and other various maps-look around there are lots more than these 3 indexes:
http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/index.html http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/towns.html http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/early/os_scotland_2nd_ed_list.html Note that the National Library also is a very good source of information on other things besides maps. Take time to get to

know this site - the information available is definitely amusing and may be of value in your quest. Photographs, many books, old posters, and more are all on line and free.

GenMaps maps from all over good!

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Egenmaps/index.html

UkVillages: - hard to get village maps

http://www.ukvillages.co.uk/ukvillages/ukvillageshome.htm

Charting the Nation: - all the UK

http://www.chartingthenation.lib.ed.ac.uk/

Glass Library:- maps from all over the UK and more links
http://www.glass-uk.org/pub-library/index_maps.html#Map_resources

PastMap UK maps
http://www.pastmap.org.uk/ World Maps http://uk.multimap.com/index/

Earth Search This is a unique site - to get a global perspective on any location.
http://www.earthsearch.net/intSearch.php

Ontario homesteads:
http://homesteadmaps.com/

Canadian County Digital Atlas:

http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/default.htm

Tip: If you find yourself confused regarding locations and relative distances between areas of Scotland simply go to any good book store and buy a current road map of Scotland. It will help to study it and learn the lay of the land - a valuable tool. A map at the end of this opus shows the counties of Scotland, also try surrounding counties when you think the search should be in only one specific area people do move around a bit, and it only takes a few miles to be in a new county records area. County names also change Linlithgowshire = West Lothian. Also cross-check in streetmap etc there are many places called Hillend for example. County boundaries have been changed over the years; and for some purposes, some locations are grouped into another county. Two extreme cases are Berwick upon Tweed at present in Northumberland England; but have swapped fourteen times into Berwickshire Scotland. The other is Monmouthshire which has shuttled between England and Wales over the centuries, its records have to be checked in both countries.
BOARDS and QUERIES: GENFORUM: You will have to register here, you will get some advertising but good answers too. This address is Scotlands general board: http://genforum.genealogy.com/scotland/

ANCESTRY: No registration is necessary here unless you wish to see all the other neat stuff for free. The advantage this site has is that it will allow attachments of text and graphic files

This address is Scotlands general board:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=an&p=localities.britisles.scotland

For Canada:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/board/an/localities.northam.canada

(Note: that both Ancestry and Genforum have boards for all countries, and regions, plus surnames, occupations, military.etc. I have found that there is much more activity and a higher chance of getting an answer on the general boards for a country rather than on the county or parish levels) Remember to use the Search facilities provided on those forums. All countries:
http://www.cousinconnect.com/ http://www.rootsweb.com/

This site is most of the same data as Ancestry, but I would suggest using Ancestry for posts.

But the family trees here are free to search and view - unlike exactly the same ones as at Ancestry - beats me why?
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/

This is a new chat/query board that is growing daily. It has many boards.
http://www.rootschat.com/ When putting up a query try to be as specific and accurate as possible, with sufficient data to help those interested in helping. Always review your message to make sure there are no typos in the dates. And always flag info as uncertain, when it is to save the reader searching for something or someone that may not exist. Think -putting up a message that says: Im looking for a John Scot born?, somewhere in Scotland, most times will reap few responses..

i.e: Whats better: 1) Looking for John Scot born in Scotland sometime, was in Canada about 1857 Or 2) Looking for John Scot, born approx. 1830 +-2, Presbyterian, in Edinburgh, a blacksmith, parents = John & Mary, wife = Jane, children = John, Mary, Jane and William. Known associates = James Downie and Alexander Scott. Younger brother to James and George. He was in Scotland in 1851. Documented in Canada 1857. Preferred Chivas Regal straight up (sorry couldnt resist).
Use number 2 as a model of an ideal query and supply what information you can to save everyone time, frustration and $. Also note that both Genealogy dot com, and Ancestry dot com have surname boards worth looking at you may find your surname..and save a lot of hunting.

Useful information may also be gleaned from the world tree entries at Genforum and Rootsweb.
I strongly advise that you use a pop-up stopper at Ancestry, Rootsweb and Genforum they are quite aggressive, and really are annoying, though harmless.

E-mail Address Do NOT include your e-mail address in the main text of the message, this is making it available for spamming, spoofing and the dreaded bots, etc. Genealogy sites such as Genforum have a special field for your e-mail address, which is then available in graphics format, which is much more difficult to capture for spamming etc. On a Genforum posting, click on the name at Posted by: to get that persons address, if available.
If you find a post of interest at a board, it is possible to see all posts submitted by that person. Clicking on there name will bring up their entire history, and enable you to read all they have put up, and the usual threads to answers given or the previous message. This can lead to finding a helpful hint or better.

Miscellaneous Links:

A few more sites of note - for searching just about everywhere: Some good, some so-so you decide.

Family Research site an amazing number of links are shown here WORTHWHILE.
http://lineages.co.uk/

Canada GENWEB:
http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ecanwgw/archives/index.html AVITUS obitIndexes: http://apps.genealogie.gc.ca/avitus/010107_e.php?adf=TRUE&adq[0][col]=Suj-en&adq[0][q]=OBITUARIES Canadian Virtual War Memorial (VAC): http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/general/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem Hamilton Ontario Genealogy Society Good info on the GREATER area of Hamilton, Dundas, Ancaster and all surrounding towns. http://www.hwcn.org/link/HBOGS/

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: - covers many things, something different.
http://server1.minisisinc.com/minisa.dll/144/BMA?LOGONFORM

Global Genealogy -in ONTARIO fair, for Canadian Info links, plus how-tos
http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/ This shop currently exists at Campbellville about a half mile south of the 401 on Campbellville Road (same cutoff as Mohawk Raceway). They have a huge inventory of maps, census, databases, software, and books etc re genealogy re: Canada, all of the UK, USA, and more.

STONES of Scotland:
http://www.stonepages.com/ancient_scotland/navigati.htm

Field Names of Scotland:

http://www.fife.50megs.com/scottish-placenames-field-names.htm

Castles of Scotland:
http://www.castles.org/Chatelaine/list.htm

Parry Sound (Ontario) and area Genealogy Society:

http://dansmith049.tripod.com/

National Archives of the UK LOTS here particularly the WW medals database

http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

The BBC site do look at this a bit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/whereilive/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/

Dating Old Photographs http://www.classyimage.com/dating.htm http://www.familychronicle.com/dating.htm Surname Thesaurus helpful to see a lot of possible variations try it. http://www.imagepartners.co.uk/thesaurus/ Everything you ever wondered about dates: http://freereg.rootsweb.com/howto/readnumbers.htm Help in reading that horrible writing on scanned records:

http://www1.freebmd.org.uk/handwriting.html http://amberskyline.com/treasuremaps/oldhand.html http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/ Various Acts of Parliament of interest to the Genealogist http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/%7Eframland/acts/actind.htm How much is that worth in todays money? http://eh.net/hmit/ Free Genealogy Courses on line from Brigham Young University http://ce.byu.edu/is/site/special_offers/freecourses.cfm Adam and Eve chart an amusement http://rmhh.co.uk/adameve.html The National Roll of The Great War, 1914-18: Manchester. Over 450 digital pages listing and describing almost 100,000 from the war. http://www.spinningtheweb.org.uk/bookbrowse.php?&page=1&book=940.467%20N1&size=445x600 The Great War Digital Photographs of many soldiers, indexed in Excel. http://www.multiline.com.au/%7Ejeand/greatwar/index.html Maple Leaf Legacy re soldiers, veterans etc. http://www.mapleleaflegacy.ca/ ONTARIO GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY - Ontario Cemetery Ancestor Search: http://ogs.andornot.com/CemeteryIndex.htm Helm's Genealogy Toolbox generally for USA stuff, but http://www.genealogytoolbox.com/ The Canadian Genealogy Centre home page http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/ Canadian Genealogical Resources lots of links here: http://www.king.igs.net/%7Ebdmlhm/cangenealogy2.html Census of the Northwest Provinces 1906: http://www.collectionscanada.ca/02/020153_e.html Manitoba Vital Statistics: http://web2.gov.mb.ca/cca/vital/Query.php Genealogy Sources in Canada: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/6401/canada.html Canadian Resources on Cindis List: http://search.freefind.com/find.html?id=2077098&pageid=r&mode=all&query=canada Canadian Geographical Names: http://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/index_e.php Canadian Naturalization Records 1915-1932: http://www.genealogie.gc.ca/06/0603_e.html THE Atlas of Canada: http://atlas.gc.ca/site/index.html Government Sites all across Canada:

Young Immigrants to Canada: http://www.ist.uwaterloo.ca/%7Emarj/genealogy/homeadd.html Grannys Garden #1 Miscellaneous Ontario: http://www.100megsfree3.com/granny1/index.html Grannys Garden #2 Census Ontario: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~granny2/index.html Grannys Garden #3Deaths Ontario: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gramma3/index.html Oxford County 1857-1858: http://www.ocl.net/genealogy/oxford_dir/ Great Lakes Historical Society: http://www.inlandseas.org/WebPages/Links.html

Toronto Star Pages of the Past: If your relatives were in Toronto this one may help. It is a pay site but right now 1945 is free. They have actually digitized (PDF) all the papers from 1894 to 2001.
http://thestar.pagesofthepast.ca/

Olive Tree Genealogy:

http://olivetreegenealogy.com/can/ont/census.shtml

Ontario Census Project:

http://www.census-sense.com/ogw/online.asp

British Columbia Gen Web:

http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ecanbc/

French-Canadian resources:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ecgaunt/france.html

Quebec Family History Society

http://www.cam.org/~qfhs/

The Hebridean Scots of the Province of Quebec

http://www.geocities.com/~hebridscots/genealog.htm

A database of vital records of French and foreign immigrants who settled in Quebec from the beginnings of the colony to 1865. Sorry all in French.
http://www.fichierorigine.com/

A few Quebec links from The Toronto Library

http://vrl.torontopubliclibrary.ca/?startingCatNo=9823&topParentName=Genealogy%3AQuebec++Genealogy&_nfpb=true&click=catDisp Various Alberta Archives and Databases: http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ecanab/archives.html Alberta Government and Archives nothing on line: http://www3.gov.ab.ca/gs/information/vs/genealogy.cfm http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/preserving/paa_2002/accessing_the_holdings/ Alberta Genealogical Society http://abgensoc.ca/

THE BRITISH COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY http://www.bcgs.ca/ NEWFOUNDLAND'S GRAND BANKS GENEALOGY SITE http://ngb.chebucto.org/index.html Newfoundland Government sites: 1892 to present: http://www.gov.nf.ca/gs/gs/vs/about.stm

prior to 1892
http://www.gov.nf.ca/panl/ http://www.gov.nf.ca/panl/distance.html Manitoba Vital Statistics is now offering Internet "Genealogy Searches for Unrestricted Records...." The records available include: Births more than 100 years ago

Marriages more than 80 years ago

Deaths more than 70 years ago Records are free to search online. Copies of the documents can be ordered.

http://web2.gov.mb.ca/cca/vital/Query.php

Manitoba Genealogical Society

http://www.mts.net/~mgsi/

Western Manitoba - Manitoba Genealogy Project

http://www.westmanitoba.com/

Saskatchewan also nothing on line:

http://www.health.gov.sk.ca/ps_vital_statistics.html

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society

http://www.saskgenealogy.com/

The Nova Scotia Genealogy Network Association

http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/

Nova Scotia GenWeb Project

http://www.rootsweb.com/~canns/

The "Island Register" This is a on-line source for P.E.I. Genealogy, with over 781 P.E.I. lineages, and 4500+ documents online.
http://www.islandregister.com/

Our Roots A coast-to-coast record of Canadian local histories on line.

http://www.ourroots.ca/

Canada People-Finder:
http://people.superpages.ca/people.jsp

Canadian Census Info various: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Farm/7843/census.html 1901 Victoria BC Census: http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Ecanbc/1901vic_cen/1901vic.htm The Counties of Great Britain: http://www.abcounties.co.uk/counties/map.htm McDonald web links worth a look http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/paul.mcdonald/links/index.htm Archived CD Books: http://www.archivecdbooks.org/ Hall Site: -many links here and more I wish I had found this one much earlier.. http://rmhh.co.uk/index.html Archaic Medical Terms: http://www.paul_smith.doctors.org.uk/ArchaicMedicalTerms.htm Old Medical Terms: http://www.genealogy-quest.com/glossaries/diseases1.html A whack of links: http://www.gendocs.demon.co.uk/scotland.html Access Genealogy mostly USA stuff http://www.accessgenealogy.com/ an extensive list of genealogy resources on the Internet from Rootsweb: http://www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/internet.html/ Genealogy Today - Resources and how-to information: http://www.genealogytoday.com/ Geneanet - search databases with more than 70 million entries ($ pay site): http://www.geneanet.org/

Libraries throughout Great Britain There is an extensive Public Library system in the UK, the main ones in each town having extensive local resources, quite often significant family history sources. This web site will give you the addresses etc of most of themhttp://www.familia.org.uk/

Clan Societies Because of the clan system, there has been interest in Scottish genealogy for almost two centuries, leading to a huge background of information, without equivalents in other countries. Use a Search engine to locate such a society; but keep in mind that it is clan history that they are concerned with, not family history. Books and Monthly Magazines There are about 6 regular magazines in the UK, covering family history, plus several more covering general British History. Unfortunately, they tend to do it from an English perspective, so although very good general guidance, it can lead to misunderstandings. One example is that English and Welsh Birth Certificates normally do NOT include the Time of Birth except for multiple births. Scottish Birth Certificates normally DO include the Time of Birth for any child, single or multiple. Typically the authors do not make this distinction. This frequently leads to New Register House in Edinburgh receiving demands for the other (generally non-existent) births.

Some of the regular computing magazines include major articles on genealogy and associated programs; and also occasionally have special issues devoted to the subject, mainly from a computing perspective.
All of those magazines and many can be found in the larger branches of major newsagents (news-stand shops), the leading one being W H Smith; and book stores such as Ottakars and Waterstones.

Other Publications The many local family history societies produce books, pamphlets, CDs etc covering their areas or interests; and usually have a web-site.
Books We Own where (to the horror of genealogy book publishers) generous researchers all over put their libraries at your fingertips. A wonderful service - but don't abuse it; if you need more than a lone lookup or two, buy the book. www.rootsweb.com/~bwo

Genealogy Helplist - connects you with far-flung researchers willing to look up your ancestors in their local libraries, archives and courthouses www.helplist.org

Heirlooms Lost- Find your waylaid family heirlooms with this site that helps connect orphaned stuff with the families that once owned it. The database contains more than 1,600 items and covers 4,400-plus surnames. www.heirloomslost.com MyTrees.com Kindred Connections a pay site but has a free search
http://www.kindredkonnections.com/

Past Connect - unites people with the lost pieces of their past, such as letters, diplomas, marriage certificates, photographs, birth certificates, receipts, postcards and funeral cards. www.pastconnect.com
Scottish Archive Network- Thank Scottish gamblers for this site, which used Heritage Lottery Funds to digitize the catalogs of 50 Scottish archives. Visitors can access more than 350,000 Scottish wills and testaments from 1500 to 1875, now a companion site at www.scottishdocuments.com. View some examples of wills, and check out the handwriting guide. Register to receive e-mail updates about the site. www.scan.org.uk

Ancestor Super Search- searching of 1.46 million English birth and census events from 1755 to 1891. The Cousin Contact feature will automatically e-mail you when another researcher conducts a similar search www.ancestorsupersearch.com

Worldwide Directory of Cities and Towns- lets you browse an online gazetteer down to the tiniest villages and then click to locate them on the map. www.calle.com/world

Dead Fred- The original online orphaned-photo site has grown to more than 20,000 old pictures. Your ancestors might be waiting for you here. www.deadfred.com

The Long, Long Trail: advice on searching for WW1 soldiers:

http://www.1914-1918.net/index.htm

Center for Life Stories Preservation- Daunted by oral history interviewing or putting your family's story on

paper? Start with the guides, tips and resources here. www.storypreservation.com/home.html

Family-Reunion.com- plan that big family get-together for tips, links and everything you need for a harmonious reunion. www.family-reunion.com Scraplink.com - Scrapbooking's answer to Cyndi's List, this site will get you started in the world of heritage albums. www.scraplink.com Babelfish - Translate your foreign genealogy finds into English or get help composing pleas for help in other languages with this cool tool. Babelfish goes back and forth among English and eight other languages, and will even translate a Web pagejust type in the URL. www.babelfish.altavista.com
Bartleby.com- Known for tirelessly digitizing old booksthink of it as a trip into your ancestors' library Bartleby.com has grown to include contemporary reference works such as the Columbia Encyclopedia, the Columbia Gazetteer, the World Factbook and the Encyclopedia of World History. www.bartleby.com Free Translation Offering a different mix of languages than Babelfish, this site translates up to 10,000 characters among English and seven other languages; BUT not Scots to English or vice-versa! www.freetranslation.com Lexicool.com- When you need more than the freebie translation tools can handle, or need to look up an obscure old word in English, turn to this compendium of links to 2,000 dictionaries and translation tools. www.lexicool.com Repositories of Primary Sources - A listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources for the research scholar. http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

Palmer list of Sailing Vessels

http://www.geocities.com/mppraetorius/

Methodist Archives UK surnames database

http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/data1/dg/methodist/bio/bioind.html

Compter Org - More and more links

http://www.compter.org/links.htm

List of those at, killed or wounded at Battle of Trafalgar 1805

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Trafalgar/

Shetland database
http://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/

Shetland Roots
http://www.shetlandroots.org/ AYRSHIRE STUFF: Ayrshire How To Guide http://www.rootsweb.com/~sctayr/howto.html

Ayrshire GenWebPage
http://www.rootsweb.com/~sctayr/index.html

Ayrshire Page
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~ayrshire/ Ayrshire-Roots & Chat Room, Penpal Page, Herald Intimations Database, WWI Casualty Database, Poor Relief & Surname Indexes http://www.ayrshire-roots.com/

Search the Ayrshire Mailing List Archives

http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=AYRSHIRE-L

Read the Ayrshire List Archives

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/AYRSHIRE

AyshirerootsPlus
http://fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/

Maritime History Archive NEWFOUNDLAND

http://www.mun.ca/mha/index.php

Dictionary of Scottish words

http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/index.html

National Archives court cases, divorces, trials, etc. interesting free- THIS IS A MUST VISIT
http://www.dswebhosting.info/nas/ National Archives main read what they have you must visit here in person. There is a good section on what records are available where.. http://www.nas.gov.uk/

SGS monumental inscriptions buy books of same:

http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/acatalog/Monumental_inscriptions.html

The Brick Wall: You will hit at least one of these where you cant find anything, anywhere to take you further no birth, marriage, census or death data on a person.( You think.) It happens to everyone. (Usually in the period about mid/late 1700s where everything gets vague real quick and the available on line data, or hardcopy data, is minimal.) Rather than flail about the net wasting your time take the opportunity to get all your filing done, organize/correct your information, and get all the input done to your tree software that youve been putting off. In other words relax, regroup and think. Then look at all the confirmed information you have concerning the problem and look for what is fact, what is missing, and what you have tried so far. Devise a NEW plan. Most people get frustrated when methods or sources that yielded quick success in the past fail. You now will have to develop a new fresh approach using alternate methods and sources. Firstly put up a well written, short, but detailed query specifying exactly what you seek on several different sites. Repeat this as necessary every few weeks with a NEW re-written one, at a different board(s). Next investigate all persons thoroughly surrounding the individual all siblings and known associates. You have to attack the problem from the side now. Analyze all you know the naming patterns may indicate a fathers name, a possible birth date, a possible place then start fresh and go again. After all - the person did exist.