Scottish Ancestry Differences from English Research
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SCOTTISH ANCESTRY SCOTTISH ANCESTRY DIFFERENCES FROM ENGLISH RESEARCH Civil registration only commenced in 1855, but the registers contain more information. There is less information on death/burial in parish registers. The legal New Year changed to the 1st of January in 1600 rather than in 1752 as in England. A greater variation in spelling of even locally common surnames. ‘Irregular’ marriages were legally binding – but will often not be recorded. SCOTTISH ANCESTORS SPELLING VARIATION Rattray, Ratray, Ratry, Rattry, Rattery, Rettray in 14th century Gàidhlig manuscripts Mac Domhnaill anglicized as MacDonald, McDonald, Macdonald Mac Dhomhnaill anglized as McConnell, McGonnell, MacDhonell, MacDawnell, McDaniel Donaldson SCOTTISH ANCESTRY SOURCES OF INFORMATION ScotlandsPeople https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ FamilySearch https://familysearch.org Ancestry http://search.ancestry.co.uk FindMyPast http://www.findmypast.co.uk/ Google https://www.google.co.uk Google Books https://books.google.co.uk/ The Red Book of Scotland http://redbookofscotland.co.uk/ Scottish Record Society http://www.electricscotland.com/history/records/index.htm Cyndi’s List – Scotland http://www.cyndislist.com/uk/sct http://www.familytreemagazine.com/articlelist/scottish SCOTTISH ANCESTRY EMIGRATION Push / Pull Convicts, sent to North America until 1776, Australia from 1787 till 1867 Poverty Charities Government Landowners Land availability Gold Employment http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/z4h39j6/re vision/1 http://scottishemigration.blogspot.co.uk/ SCOTTISH ANCESTRY EMIGRATION Migration to England or Ireland is not normally considered as emigration (no passenger lists!) Scotland lost 10% to 47% of the natural population increase every decade in the 1800s. Until about 1855, a number of the emigrants from the Highlands were forced to leave the land because of evictions – The Highland Clearances In the Lowlands, emigration was almost always the outcome of wanting to improve one’s living standards. Many migrants returned – family and social ties or the grass was no greener. SCOTTISH / IRISH NAMING PATTERNS Pattern was said to be ‘highly developed’ , its usage driven by an ‘almost ritual attitude to the naming of children’. Scotland’s People Website – ‘pattern not universally used but may be helpful’ Researcher Alice Crook (2012) In Beith 1701-1800, a minimum of 22.65% did NOT use the pattern for boys, 37.8% did not use the pattern for girls The remainder could be using ‘the pattern’ OR be following a patrilineal/matrilineal convention OR pure chance because of limited name stock. SCOTTISH/IRISH NAMING PATTERNS Child For whom named 1st son Paternal grandfather 2nd son Maternal grandfather 3rd son Father 4th son Father’s oldest brother 5th son Mother’s oldest brother or Father’s next eldest brother 1st daughter Maternal grandmother 2nd daughter Paternal grandmother 3rd daughter Mother etc If a name has already been used, move to the next ancestor The name of a child who died in infancy was reused at the next opportunity SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD PARISH RECORDS The established Presbyterian Church Baptisms and Marriages, few Burials Registers also acted as financial ledgers SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD PARISH REGISTERS 1665 Sep 17 Gilbert Ratray was proclaimed & Elspet Anton [ ] [ ] upon [..] test[....]mall Moneydie, Perthshire 1733 SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD PARISH RECORDS - BURIALS It has been estimated that a third of the parishes don’t have any surviving Old Parish Register death and burial records. Often the only reference is the payment for hire of the mortcloth. Example, Moneydie, Perthshire 1732 Oct 18 Margaret Rattray Rutherford / William Rattray 1733 Jul 29 David Rattray hire mortcloth to Thomas Rattray Son to David Rattray in Rigilmy his funeral 18s 1828 Oct 16 John Rattray Farmer, Moneydie Roger was buried at Moneydie 16th Oct 1828 aged Ninty one Deceased Online is a central database for United Kingdom burials and cremations (local authorities). It provides access to records and monumental inscriptions from most Scottish local authorities. SCOTTISH ANCESTRY CIVIL REGISTRATION -BMDS Only commenced on the 1st of January 1855 More information than English certificates, eg Birth certificates (1855, 1861 onwards) Date and place of child’s parents marriage Marriage certificates after 1855 Name of each spouse’s mother (including maiden name) 1855 marriages – birthplace and number of former marriages of each spouse, and number of children by those marriages Death certificates (1855, 1861 onwards) Name and occupation of deceased’s parents (including mother’s maiden name) and name of deceased’s spouse SCOTTISH ANCESTRY - OTHER CIVIL REGISTERS AT SCOTLANDSPEOPLE CENTRE Children adopted since 1930 Consular returns of births and deaths (since 1914) and marriages (since 1917) of those of Scottish birth or descent Divorces since 1984 Some BMDs abroad since 1860 Deaths of Scottish servicemen in the Boer War and the two world wars Births and deaths since 1855 on British registered vessels at sea (if the deceased, or the father of the child was Scottish); UK registered aircraft since since 1948 Army records of BMDs of Scots at military bases at home and abroad since 1881 SCOTTISH ANCESTRY CENSUS RECORDS 1841 to 1911 Same as English Census Images (and transcriptions) on ScotlandsPeople Transcriptions on Ancestry and FindMyPast and FamilySearch 1939 Register – not available on-line Paper application - £15 per entry https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//registration/form-nr1.pdf SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD NEWSPAPERS FindMyPast Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (6,273,728) Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland (317,691) Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland (50,487) Arbroath, Angus, Scotland (1,174,675) Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland (208,735) Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland (43,293) Banff, Banffshire, Scotland (565,041) Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland (249,764) Brechin, Angus, Scotland (101,959) Cupar, Fife, Scotland (261,927) Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland (169,557) Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland (285,102) Dundee, Angus, Scotland (9,050,145) Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland (65,550) Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland (11,353,805) SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD NEWSPAPERS Elgin, Moray, Scotland (112,944) Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland (1,523,899) Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (293,716) Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland (2,714,357) Golspie, Sutherland, Scotland (58,461) Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland (1,864,541) Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland (18,384) Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland (137,358) Hawick, Roxburghshire, Scotland (236,039) Inverness, Inverness-Shire, Scotland (666,415) Kelso, Roxburghshire, Scotland (104,221) Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, Scotland (93,416) Kinross, Kinross-Shire, Scotland (13,686) Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland (1,265,012) Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland (640,719) SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD NEWPAPERS Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland (55,415) Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland (864) Lerwick, Shetland, Scotland (223,689) Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland (391,077) Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland (612,560) Nairn, Nairnshire, Scotland (61,114) Oban, Argyll, Scotland (18,787) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland (144,415) Peebles, Peeblesshire, Scotland (14,204) Perth, Perthshire, Scotland (474,158) Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland (304,497) Rothesay, Bute, Scotland (74,636) Selkirk, Selkirkshire, Scotland (503,834) St Andrews, Fife, Scotland (535,832) Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland (286,588) Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland (232,348) Stranraer, Wigtownshire, Scotland (15,427) Wick, Caithness, Scotland (392,287) SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD NEWSPAPERS Rattray – 205,769 articles, 65 1700-1749 Caledonian Mercury 26 April 1733 SCOTTISH ANCESTRY OLD NEWSPAPERS Rattray 1800 – 1849 Edinburgh 1143 articles Glasgow & Greenock – 109; Thomas Rattray – 1 Greenock Advertiser 09 January 1849 SCOTTISH ANCESTRY SCOTLANDSPEOPLE ScotlandsPeople is the family history ‘brand’ of the National Records of Scotland There is a physical ScotlandsPeople Centre in the General Register House opposite Waverly Station in Edinburgh. The on-line presence is the ScotlandsPeople website at www.ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk SCOTTISH ANCESTRY SCOTLANDSPEOPLE - ONLINE Statutory registers of births (older than 100 years), marriages (older than 75 years) and deaths (older than 50 years) cost 6 credits (£1.50) Census returns and church registers of births and baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials and other events cost 6 credits (£1.50) Valuation rolls cost 2 credits (£0.50) Wills and testaments (including soldiers' and airmen's wills) cost 10 credits (£2.50) - this is the cost of the entire document, which is usually two or three pages, but can be more than 100 pages long Military Service Appeals Tribunal records cost 20 credits (£5.00) - this is the cost of the entire document which is usually about three or four pages long but can be much longer. Coats of Arms (entries from the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland) costs 40 credits (£10.00) WILLS, TESTAMENTS AND PROBATE Strictly, wills deal with real estate, testaments with personal estate. Real estate - non-moveable, eg land, river rights) Personal estate – money, furniture, livestock, crops? Until 1868 real estate, under Scottish law, went to the eldest son, if none surviving then to daughters equally, then to the surviving spouse. NO WILLS until 1868 Testaments proved (probate) in secular commissary courts (commissariots) 1560 –