NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND, Register House, Edinburgh, EH1 3YY: www.nationalrecordsofscotland.gov.uk
This new body incorporates these recently separate organizations:
National Archives of Scotland (NAS), Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YY.
Other church registers (Free Churches etc); Scottish Government records; national & local court records (including wills, services of heirs etc); collections of private papers; and much else.
Court of the Lord Lyon, New Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YT.
Heraldic records and matters relating to chiefships of clans etc.
General Register Office Scotland (GROS), New Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YT.
Civil Registers of Births, Deaths, & Marriages, 1855 to present day for all Scotland. Old Parish Registers (Church of Scotland), 1855 back to variable dates (16th-18th centuries) all Scotland. Censuses from 1841 to 1901 for the whole of Scotland. Collections of gravestone inscriptions & family histories from all over Scotland.
The above institutions inhabiting linked buildings constitute the “one-stop” family history facility called the Scotlands People Centre. You can visit this to access all the essential genealogical records for £15 a day, or you can access most of them online – at a per item cost – via their website: www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Local Register Offices - enquire at NRS above for contact details.
Civil Registers of Births, Deaths & Marriages, 1855 to present day for their area; access to national index. See “Genealogy in the Gaidhealtachd …” for list of Register Offices in the Highlands.
Local Archives (Regional/County/City etc.) - enquire at NRS above for contact details
Local government & court records, and collections of private papers not deposited in National Archives.
See “Genealogy in the Gaidhealtachd …” for list of archives in the Highlands.
National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EW.
National and local histories; clan and family histories; church & parish histories; maps from all ages; newspapers and magazines from all over Scotland; collections of private papers. www.nls.uk
Local Libraries - enquire through Regional/County/City Councils.
Local histories of places, clans, families, churches & parishes; local newspapers; some private papers; usually copies of OPRs and censuses for their areas. Contact places for local historians & genealogists.
See “Genealogy in the Gaidhealtachd …” for list of libraries in the Highlands.
Scottish Genealogy Society, 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL.
Copies of OPRs & censuses - with many local indices; extensive collection of gravestone inscriptions; copies of most published clan and family histories. www.scotsgenealogy.com
Family History Societies [FHSs], Local History and Heritage Societies: Copies of OPRs, censuses, indices, gravestone inscriptions, clan & family histories, and contacts for those with local knowledge etc.
Contact details for FHSs through Scottish Assoc. of Family History Societies: www.safhs.org.uk
Scottish United Services Museum, The Castle, Edinburgh, EH1 2NG.
Some military records, particularly of Scottish regiments; contacts for regimental archives & historians; but records of individual soldiers, sailors, and airmen, are kept at:
The National Archives (TNA), Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, TW9 4DU, England.
UK and English government records, including British army, navy & airforce, foreign & colonial offices. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. NB. Some military records now available via websites such as “Find My Past”.
HOW TO TRACE YOUR ANCESTORS IN SCOTLAND
Alwyn James, Scottish Roots (Edinburgh, 2002).
Kathleen B. Cory, Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry (Edinburgh, 1996).
Bruce Durie, Scottish Genealogy (Stroud, 2012).
Graeme M. Mackenzie, Genealogy in the Gaidhealtachd (Inverness, 2013).
Tristram Clarke, Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors: Official Guide [to NRS records], 2012.
LISTS OF CLAN AND FAMILY HISTORIES
Margaret Stuart & Sir James Balfour Paul, Scottish Family History (Edinburgh, 1930).
Joan P.S. Ferguson, Scottish Family Histories (Edinburgh, 1986).
Graeme M. Mackenzie, Highland Clan & Family Histories (Inverness, 2015).
BOOKS ABOUT SCOTTISH CLANS AND FAMILIES
Frank Adam, The Clans, Septs & Regiments of the Scottish Highlands (Edinburgh, 1934).
George Way & Romilly Squire, Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia (Glasgow, 1994).
DICTIONARY OF SCOTTISH NAMES
George F. Black, The Surnames of Scotland (New York, 1979).
LOCAL HISTORY
Cecil J. Sinclair, Tracing Scottish Local History [in NRS records], 1996.
HELP WITH HANDWRITING
Alison Rosie, Scottish Handwriting 1500-1700: a self-help pack [availble from NRS]
(similar material available online via the NRS website).
There are a huge number of genealogical websites on the internet (for the fullest listing see https://www.cyndislist.com/), and they are increasing all the time. A distinction needs to be made however between primary sources (copies of actual records provided by official bodies and reputable genealogy groups) and secondary sources (reports and family trees submitted by researchers and enthusiasts).Unfortunately many of the most well-known online genealogy websites contain both sorts of material and can thus be very misleading for unwary researchers. The following are some of the major sites that contain material helful to those researching ancestors from the Highlands of Scotland (with the appropriate warnings). For more see https://www.highlandroots.net/other-useful-links.html.
www.ancestry.com: The largest and most misleading of all genealogy sites. It’s packed with reliable material from official sources all over the world (registers of birth, marriage & death, censuses, wills, military records, local histories, etc.) but instead of using these invaluable resources to do their own research, far too many people go straight to the user-submitted family trees, many of which contain a great deal of rubbish (e.g. children born before their parents, or in a country their parents left many years before). When using these trees (which can contain reliable material) always look at the sources for each event. If it is not an official record, question it; if the source is another tree on Ancestry, be very doubtful and check it; if no source is given, disregard it and look elsewhere.
www.findagrave.com: This is now owned by Ancestry and suffers from the same problems. It’s good where there really is a grave to be found, but far too many entries are submitted by family members or researchers who think their ancestor is buried in a particular graveyard even though there is no contemporary record or gravestone to prove it. If a genuine old gravestone is pictured, then it may be reliable; if the picture is of an obviously new gravestone, then question it; if no gravestone is shown, then doubt it strongly.
www.familysearch.org: A huge site put up by the Mormons (Church of the Latter Day Saints) who have been pioneers in copying and making available genealogical records around the world – because they wish retrospectively to baptise their ancestors. As well as the material they put online, they make copies of original records available on film in Family History Libraries attached to their churches all over the world, which is a great service. However, they too allow the submission of member-generated family trees, and their indexes mix official records of events with undocumented events submitted by their members, so users should take care.
www.findmypast.com: Another large site, particularly useful for copies of some Britsih military records from The National Archives.
www.scan.org.uk: Scottish Archive Network – a nationwide catalogue of material available in local archives.
scotlandsplaces.gov.uk: Info about placenames, old taxes levied locally, etc.