Scottish Research
Scotland is known worldwide for its excellent family history records. What makes Scottish records so good? What are the best ways of accessing, evaluating and saving Scottish records? Once you have found the birth, marriage and death records, what other resources are available?
Come see how to use ScotlandsPeople to find primary source records for your ancestors. This is a site that requires payment. In spite of that, how can you search for free to find records you are looking for so you and don't waste time and money paying for records that don't fit? What other resources are there in Scotland for maps, histories and photographs? Once you have collected everything available, how do you put it all together into a book or video to give family members a picture of what life was like for your ancestors?
1. ScotlandsPeople Centre is the official government resource for
family history research. They provide access to the Scottish birth, death,
marriage and census records, Catholic parish registers, Coats of Arms,
valuation rolls, wills and testaments, and more. They are located in
central Edinburgh with search rooms in the historic General Register House.
How do you search for free?
Can you go to Edinburgh and search?
Can you pay someone to search in Edinburgh?
Do they have all the Scottish records available?
Didn't the LDS Church digitize the Scottish records in the 1960's?
What does it cost to search?
2. National Archives
What do the Scottish National Archives have?
What does it cost to search the Archives?
Where can I get maps for free?
If I want to pay for a map can I get one from the National Archives?
What can I do with a map of the city my ancestors lived in?
3. Statistical Accounts
How do I find out what my ancestors ate? wore? traveled? worked? and living conditions?
What are the Statistical Accounts of Scotland?
How are they accessed?
How can they be used?
4. What would a book on my Scottish ancestors look like?
5. What would a short video on the life of my ancestors look like?
6. I want to visit Scotland. How would that benefit my research?