Irish Geneaography
  • Welcome
    • Menu
  • Ingredients
    • Carving up the Landscape - Genealogical Geography >
      • Irish Civil Geography >
        • Provinces & Counties
        • Townlands
      • Irish Poor Law Unions >
        • Irish Poor Law Records
      • Irish Civil Registration Districts
      • Irish Census Geography
    • Main Dishes - Irish Church & Civil Records >
      • Irish Roman Catholic Parishes & Registers
      • Church of Ireland Dioceses & Diocesan Records
      • Church of Ireland Parishes and Registers
      • Irish Will Probate Districts & Records, 1858+
      • Irish Civil Registration Records
      • Public Records in Ireland
    • Kitchen Garden - Irish Land Records >
      • 1798 Claimants & Surrenders
      • Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837 & Tithe Defaulters, 1831
      • Griffith's Valuation, 1847-1864
      • Valuation Revision Books, 1847-1864+
      • Return of Land Owners, 1876
      • Landed Estates Court Rentals, 1850-1880
      • Registry of Deeds (Land Leases, Marriage Settlements & Wills)
      • Irish Land Commission
    • Irish Maps & Gazetteers
    • Historical Directories
    • Irish Newspapers
    • Rules? What rules? Placenames & Boundaries
    • What's That - Glossary and Acronyms >
      • Acronyms
  • Recipes
    • Local Specialities - County Specific Resources >
      • Connaught >
        • Co. Galway >
          • Co. Galway CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Galway RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Leitrim >
          • Co. Leitrim CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Leitrim RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Mayo >
          • Co. Mayo CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Mayo RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Roscommon >
          • Co. Roscommon CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Roscommon RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Sligo >
          • Co. Sligo CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Sligo RoD Townland Indexes
      • Leinster >
        • Co. Carlow >
          • Co. Carlow CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Carlow RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Dublin & City of Dublin >
          • Co. & City of Dublin CoI Parish Records
          • Co. & City of Dublin RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Kildare >
          • Co. Kildare Church of Ireland Parish Records
          • Co. Kildare RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Kilkenny >
          • Co. Kilkenny CoI Parish Records
          • Co. & City of Kilkenny RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Laois (Queens County) >
          • Co. Laois (Queens County) CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Laois (Queens County) RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Longford >
          • Co. Longford CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Longford RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Louth >
          • Co. Louth CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Louth & Drogheda RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Meath >
          • Co. Meath CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Meath RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Offaly (Kings County) >
          • Co. Offaly (Kings County) CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Offaly (Kings County) RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Westmeath >
          • Co. Westmeath CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Westmeath RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Wexford >
          • Co. Wexford CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Wexford RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Wicklow >
          • Co. Wicklow CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Wicklow RoD Townland Indexes
      • Munster >
        • Co. Clare >
          • Co. Clare CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Clare RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Cork >
          • Co. Cork CoI Parish Records
          • Co. & City of Cork RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Kerry >
          • Co. Kerry CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Kerry RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Limerick >
          • Co. Limerick CoI Parish Records
          • Co. & City of Limerick RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Tipperary >
          • Co. Tipperary CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Tipperary RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Waterford >
          • Co. Waterford CoI Parish Records
          • Co. & City of Waterford RoD Townland Indexes
      • Ulster >
        • Co. Antrim >
          • Co. Antrim CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Antrim & City of Belfast RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Armagh >
          • Co. Armagh CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Armagh RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Cavan >
          • Co. Cavan CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Cavan RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Derry >
          • Co. Derry CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Derry & City of Londonderry RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Donegal >
          • Co. Donegal CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Donegal RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Down >
          • Co. Down CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Down RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Fermanagh >
          • Co. Fermanagh CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Fermanagh RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Monaghan >
          • Co. Monaghan CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Monaghan RoD Townland Indexes
        • Co. Tyrone >
          • Co. Tyrone CoI Parish Records
          • Co. Tyrone RoD Townland Indexes
      • Northern Ireland
    • Special Ingredients - Unique Finding Aids >
      • Church of Ireland Parish Records Finder
      • Townland Indexes Timelines of LDS Registry of Deeds microfilms
    • Restaurants - Irish Archives & Libraries >
      • The Registry of Deeds >
        • The Registry of Deeds - History & Future
        • The Registry of Deeds - Visiting the Archive
        • The Registry of Deeds - Online Access
        • The Registry of Deeds - Finding Deeds
        • The Registry of Deeds - Deciphering and Citing a Deed
      • The National Library of Ireland
      • The National Archives of Ireland
      • Dublin City Library and Archives
      • Valuation Office
      • Representative Church Body Library
      • Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
    • Dining Clubs - Irish Societies & Journals
    • Chefs - Irish Genies
    • Foreign Fare - Finding the Irish Abroad >
      • American Pie - USA
      • Empire Builders - Canada
      • Down Under - Australia & New Zealand
      • Settling under the Saltire - Scotland >
        • Scottish History
        • Scottish Geography
        • Scottish Records & Resources
        • Scottish Research Bookshelf
        • Scottish Larder
        • Scottish Tuckbox
      • Fighting in a foreign field >
        • India
        • Europe, Middle East & Africa (WW1)
        • USA
    • Seasonings - Miscellaneous Sources >
      • Methodist Church in Ireland
      • Huguenots in Ireland
      • Medical Practitioners
      • Students, Clergy & Lawyers
      • Schoolbooks and Archive Notes
      • Irish Dog Licences
      • Customs & Excise Officers
    • Kitchen Techniques - Tips & Advice >
      • Wildcard Searching for Placenames
      • Search tips for ScotlandsPeople
      • Searching Scottish Parishes on ScotlandsPeople
      • Searching the NAI Testamentary Index
      • Searching the Inland Revenue Testamentary Indexes
      • Using the Irish Townland and Historical Map Viewer
  • Cookbooks
    • Free Websites
    • Subscription / PPV Websites
    • Research Advice Websites & Videos
    • Blogs, Magazines & Forums
    • Bookshelves >
      • Guides & Finding Aids
      • Histories
      • Digital Libraries
      • Bookmarks
  • Links
    • Snacks
    • Store Cupboard
    • Midnight Feasts >
      • Hunting for Irish Births
      • Hunting for Irish Baptisms
      • Hunting for Irish Marriages
      • Hunting for Irish Deaths
      • Hunting for Irish Burials
      • Hunting for Irish Monumental Inscriptions
      • Hunting for Irish Wills
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Search tips for ScotlandsPeople
​

Picture
If you have discovered that some of your Irish relatives made their way to Scotland and you have, of course, perused my "Settling under the Saltire" page for advice, you will no doubt be grappling with the ScotlandsPeople website to try to find their records. 

Whilst it is relatively straightforward to use it is not without its quirks and, quite frankly, problems and inconsistencies.  A recent upgrade immediately prior to the welcome release of the 1921 Scottish census has not gone swimmingly to say the least and has been fulsomely picked apart on the Old Scottish blog.  There is some seriously good advice born of diligent fruitless searching in this and earlier blog posts also referenced, so have a good read if you are experiencing similar confusion.  Some of the inconsistencies actually go well beyond annoying, especially if you are trying to find folk in Coupar Angus!  There has been a healthy clamour for a user group for this site for many years but the National Records of Scotland remain shy of engaging with their paying public in this way ...

That said, there is still plenty of content that does work well.  The generic first screen, pictured above is very simple and good for casting your net very wide to begin with.  However, once you get to the search screens specific to each source, then there is quite a lot of technical flexibility for searching.  However, I'm not going to picture every screen and give you a step-by-step lesson in how to use them.  What I can do, as ever, is give you some practical advice based on my own experiences and observations.  There are quite a few of them listed under bold headings and with wee bits of the screens to illustrate what I mean - be sure to scroll to the bottom to see them all.


Picture
Picture
Tips

The search screens have a little slider switch in blue prefixed "Turn Off Tips". Don't. 

This is a useful little feature that only activates green information boxes when you chose an option from a drop-down menu.  Some of the advice is a bit bland, but some of it can be a very useful reminder of what there is, and what there is not, in the underlying data.  If you are not finding what you hoped, check the tips and see if that might explain things.

As in this example, you might be directed to more help too e.g. surname guidance which is very informative.


Picture



​Name Searching

​
The default is to search for exact names.  I recommend that you make a conscious effort to use several different choices for the same search in order to find as many candidates as possible.  There can be a lot of variation in spellings, especially in the old parish registers. 


​See my page on Wildcard Searching for some tips for this option.  Phonetic matching can be quite good for overcoming transcription errors.  Name Variants is a good one for educating yourself on just how much a name can vary and you are reaping the benefit of lots of contributions from staff and online users.  It is also a good one to use for forenames which have been abbreviated in a way that wildcards might not always pick up.  That same surname guidance page will tell you more about these options.

Picture

Gender


You can narrow down searches immediately by gender - the default is to search for both.  I recommend that you leave this as it is for initial searches as there may well be several candidates that are marked as "U" for Unknown. 

There may be no forename for example, often the case for the burials of babies and infants or for widows, who may just be noted as "Widow McLeod" in the very oldest registers.  Another reason for this may be that transcribers may have been unfamiliar with some more unusual Scottish names and have not been able to assign a gender to the record - Grizzell is one of my favourite old names for a girl!  Also, did you know that both Christian and Stewart were quite common forenames for girls in some of the earlier records?  You can always narrow down a very large group later to just recognisable males or females, but don't forget about the unknowns.

Picture
Married Woman and Widows

Once you start buying a few post 1855 records, you will quickly be delighted to discover that maiden names are diligently recorded in many registration districts and have often been indexed too.  If you are searching for the death of a married or widowed female relative, the search screen will give you an option to search with another surname which can be her maiden name - great for narrowing down long candidate lists when the married name is not uncommon. 


​If you are still struggling to find her under her married name then search for her with just her maiden name in the surname field and then try again to find her married record by using the combinations of year, forename, registration district that come up in the new list of results.  Compare the age at death and the reference numbers to see if they match and you've probably found your woman.  Here's an example of what I mean - this is the same woman:

Picture
​Drop-down Choices

​The drop-down choices generally apply to place names - counties, parishes and registration districts for example.  I recommend that you do an open query - no names - for the place you are interested in to establish whether there are actually any records of the type you want.  This particularly applies to deaths and burials in the old parish registers for example which are very sparse.  For example. you can legitimately choose the parish of Banchory Devenick for the county of Kincardine but there are in fact no burial records online - you'll be a long time faffing about with trying to find your relative with no success before that dawns on you, trust me!  I just wish that ScotlandsPeople would tell you they don't have any records of that type for the parish instead of just telling you to keep recomposing your search criteria.


For more detailed observations and advice, then do visit my Searching Scottish Parishes on ScotlandsPeople page.

Sorting Results

Once you have a set of results for any search, click on any of the column titles to sort them in either ascending or descending order.  This will help you identify groups of records that might reveal interesting patterns e.g. groups of siblings being baptised in the same parish or to the same parents in the old parish registers.  Sort by gender to group together all the "unknown" records so you can study these separately and understand why there was no gender assigned. Sort by year to reveal perhaps an older sibling who must have died for your ancestor to be given the same name.
Picture
Picture
​One other thing to watch out for in Scotland, is that widows sometimes reverted to their maiden names.  If you cannot find your widowed ancestor in a census, then try searching for her under her maiden name - I've found a couple of ancestors this way.  Incidentally, although there are no monumental inscriptions on ScotlandsPeople, this was also a very common practice on Scottish gravestones - you will often find the wife engraved with her maiden name.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2022
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.