Searching Scottish Parishes on Scotland's People
(c) GENUKI
I've listed some good resources for getting more familiar with the Scottish genealogical landscape on my Scottish Geography page. However, having had a high old time wrestling with Old Parish Registers on Scotland's People recently, I thought I would share the fruits of my labours so you don't end up thinking you're doing something wrong if you can't seem to get any results!
Let's start with the historic Scottish counties. This gloriously coloured map is on the GENUKI Scottish website where it is interactive. Click any county and you will navigate to the relevant page, where you can find out more about county resources etc.
There were 33 counties in the 1860's and you will find that these are mostly used to organise the data on the Scotland's People website, albeit with some modern or alternative names substituted. This applies to the following counties,
By the way, you may also sometimes see the county names suffixed -shire in some sources, particularly where there is a major town with the same name e.g. Perth in Perthshire. For a really comprehensive contemporary definition of place names at all levels, see John Bartholomew's "Gazetteer of the British Isles" (1887), which each of the GENUKI Scottish county pages quotes from.
Let's start with the historic Scottish counties. This gloriously coloured map is on the GENUKI Scottish website where it is interactive. Click any county and you will navigate to the relevant page, where you can find out more about county resources etc.
There were 33 counties in the 1860's and you will find that these are mostly used to organise the data on the Scotland's People website, albeit with some modern or alternative names substituted. This applies to the following counties,
- Angus = Forfar
- Moray = Elgin
- Linlithgow = West Lothian
- Haddington = East Lothian
By the way, you may also sometimes see the county names suffixed -shire in some sources, particularly where there is a major town with the same name e.g. Perth in Perthshire. For a really comprehensive contemporary definition of place names at all levels, see John Bartholomew's "Gazetteer of the British Isles" (1887), which each of the GENUKI Scottish county pages quotes from.
Old Scottish Parishes and their Registers (OPRs)
Registers of vital events and other church business started to be kept from about the middle of the 16th century when Scotland was on the cusp of the Reformation leading to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland becoming the established church. These ecclesiastical parishes were mostly contained within just one county, but not always. Just like the counties, these parishes also had a habit of changing names, splitting into smaller parishes or merging with other parishes as the population waxed and waned over time. Even when civil registration came into law in 1855, the parishes still remained as an important local jurisdiction and they were subject to further changes via Local Government Acts in the latter decades of the 19th century. This does make organising and accessing the records in a modern context challenging - hence this page of advice learned from my own observations.
Registers of vital events and other church business started to be kept from about the middle of the 16th century when Scotland was on the cusp of the Reformation leading to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland becoming the established church. These ecclesiastical parishes were mostly contained within just one county, but not always. Just like the counties, these parishes also had a habit of changing names, splitting into smaller parishes or merging with other parishes as the population waxed and waned over time. Even when civil registration came into law in 1855, the parishes still remained as an important local jurisdiction and they were subject to further changes via Local Government Acts in the latter decades of the 19th century. This does make organising and accessing the records in a modern context challenging - hence this page of advice learned from my own observations.
Parish Names & Numbers
Where can you find a list of parish numbers?
One of the most helpful things that I cottoned on to when searching the records was that the parishes were numbered. By learning more about the numbering system, I found that I could use it to both direct my research and interpret the results. The simplest place to start with finding out more about this numbering system is to check the coverage of the old parish registers via the county PDFs on the National Records of Scotland website.
The date ranges of births (probably baptisms), marriages and deaths (probably burials) in each of the individual volumes held for each parish are listed. The number that prefixes the OPR volume number is the parish number. There is also some additional information appended to selected parishes to try to give a fuller picture of what records have survived.
The National Records of Scotland also has a very useful document - the Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland number guide - that lists them all in numerical order and shows how the names attached to those numbers may have altered over time, eventually becoming modern Registration Districts.
But where did all this information originally come from and how reliable is it? Can you learn more?
With the advent of statutory registration in 1855, the Church of Scotland had been obliged to surrender their old parish registers (OPRs) to the state. Over the following decades, ledgers in various states of preservation were delivered to the Registrar General in Edinburgh, mostly covering the period up to 1820. Registers from 1820 onwards were still in use in local custody, but those covering up to the 1855 threshold would also eventually make their way to Edinburgh by the 1880's. Note, the parishes continued to maintain their registers after 1855, but these have largely remained with the churches.
The registers were comprehensively audited and the result was this 1872 PDF document, which I recommend that you download from the National Records of Scotland website. Starting in the far north in Shetland, the parishes were sorted alphabetically within their historic counties and assigned sequential numbers. The sequence was maintained throughout the country before finishing up in the far south west in Wigtown(shire). The structure of this document follows this sequence, county by county for all 901 "parishes" and there is a helpful alphabetical index at the end if you are trying to locate a specific parish. Why the italics? Read on for some of the quirks...
Where can you find a list of parish numbers?
One of the most helpful things that I cottoned on to when searching the records was that the parishes were numbered. By learning more about the numbering system, I found that I could use it to both direct my research and interpret the results. The simplest place to start with finding out more about this numbering system is to check the coverage of the old parish registers via the county PDFs on the National Records of Scotland website.
The date ranges of births (probably baptisms), marriages and deaths (probably burials) in each of the individual volumes held for each parish are listed. The number that prefixes the OPR volume number is the parish number. There is also some additional information appended to selected parishes to try to give a fuller picture of what records have survived.
The National Records of Scotland also has a very useful document - the Parishes and Registration Districts of Scotland number guide - that lists them all in numerical order and shows how the names attached to those numbers may have altered over time, eventually becoming modern Registration Districts.
But where did all this information originally come from and how reliable is it? Can you learn more?
With the advent of statutory registration in 1855, the Church of Scotland had been obliged to surrender their old parish registers (OPRs) to the state. Over the following decades, ledgers in various states of preservation were delivered to the Registrar General in Edinburgh, mostly covering the period up to 1820. Registers from 1820 onwards were still in use in local custody, but those covering up to the 1855 threshold would also eventually make their way to Edinburgh by the 1880's. Note, the parishes continued to maintain their registers after 1855, but these have largely remained with the churches.
The registers were comprehensively audited and the result was this 1872 PDF document, which I recommend that you download from the National Records of Scotland website. Starting in the far north in Shetland, the parishes were sorted alphabetically within their historic counties and assigned sequential numbers. The sequence was maintained throughout the country before finishing up in the far south west in Wigtown(shire). The structure of this document follows this sequence, county by county for all 901 "parishes" and there is a helpful alphabetical index at the end if you are trying to locate a specific parish. Why the italics? Read on for some of the quirks...
What can you learn from this document?
The modern county by county PDF's on the NRS website referred to above will give you a fair idea of what date ranges you might be able to search within, but for the finer detail, I urge you to consult the 1872 document. You will find specific details of gaps in the record keeping (some pretty substantial) as well as an indication of the condition of the surviving ledgers. Brace yourself for some shocking descriptions that will go a long way to explaining why some of the images you eventually get your hands on might be of poor quality or why there are no images at all as some ledgers might be too fragile to digitise.
Here are the entries for the first Shetland parishes for you to see the richness of the information available (click to enlarge). One of the key things to note is the brevity of deaths/burials recorded. This is a major issue with most Scottish OPRs and I'm afraid that's just the way things were.
The modern county by county PDF's on the NRS website referred to above will give you a fair idea of what date ranges you might be able to search within, but for the finer detail, I urge you to consult the 1872 document. You will find specific details of gaps in the record keeping (some pretty substantial) as well as an indication of the condition of the surviving ledgers. Brace yourself for some shocking descriptions that will go a long way to explaining why some of the images you eventually get your hands on might be of poor quality or why there are no images at all as some ledgers might be too fragile to digitise.
Here are the entries for the first Shetland parishes for you to see the richness of the information available (click to enlarge). One of the key things to note is the brevity of deaths/burials recorded. This is a major issue with most Scottish OPRs and I'm afraid that's just the way things were.
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What else is there to look out for with parish names and numbers?
Whilst the vast majority of parishes were simply a name and number, there were many which appear differently and have implications for searching and interpretation. This is what I observed from reading the 1872 document.
Whilst the vast majority of parishes were simply a name and number, there were many which appear differently and have implications for searching and interpretation. This is what I observed from reading the 1872 document.
- A significant number of parishes had double-barrelled or even triple-barrelled names for a single number e.g. Kilninian & Kilmore (544).
- There were also many separate parishes which shared the same parish number and formed what you could call composite parishes I suppose e.g. Dunrossness, Fair Isle and Sandwick & Cunningsburgh were all numbered 003, as illustrated above.
- Sometimes there were alphabetical subdivisions applied to a given parish number which implies that the separately named parishes must have had some historical connection e.g. Boharm (128a) and Cromdale, Inverallan & Alvie (128b)
- In the bigger cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh, you may find the same main parish number followed by a numerical subdivision e.g. Glasgow (644/1) and Gorbals (644/2). Edinburgh parishes lead with 685.
- Some parishes had alternative names but it is not clear when one name stopped being used in favour of the other or if they were both used at the same time e.g. Carrington or Primrose (675)
- Some parishes also had former names that were recorded thus e.g. Drainie formerly Kinnedar (130).
- Some "parishes" were never parishes at all! There were a handful of places that were numbered in sequence within the list but were stated to be "a District erected under the Registration Act 1854", and therefore there were no Old Parish Registers e.g. Persie (386/B). Check the notes for these places and you will also see that the 'No. of Vols.' will be 0. They were obviously included in this list for a purpose but I haven't found out why yet.
Part of the County & City list
Searching the Old Parish Registers (OPRs)
So, now you are more familiar with how Scotland was organised ecclesiastically prior to 1855, how should you go about searching for records on Scotland's People? Carefully, methodically and with a weary eye on some quirks that result from trying to shoe-horn all that rich nuanced detail into a modern database. Having said that, some quirks look like poor data entry and I'm staggered at how they have persisted. Here are my experiences.
How are the counties listed on Scotland's People?
When searching the OPRs (and later Statutory Records), Scotland's People uses the same list of counties and cities. They have mostly used the old county names that appear in the 1872 document but have also chosen to substitute some of them with the more modern labels that I highlighted at the top of the page i.e. Haddington has become East Lothian, Linlithgowshire has become West Lothian and if you want to search Edinburgh and its surrounding parishes, you will need to choose Midlothian.
However, bizarrely, they have also included both Angus and Forfar in the list when this name applies to the same county. Even more bizarrely, it's not as if they have simply listed all the same parishes under either county - nope. Forfar has just one parish in the shape of Coupar Angus and you must either choose it under this county or have ALL counties switched on to get any results that include it. Choose it from the list under Angus and you will be told there are no records! This makes no sense to me at all and I'm not the only one who has noticed this and pointed it out to Scotland's People, where it remains unaddressed (SEP 2024.) Shoddy, I say.
Elgin and Moray are also alternative names for the same north-eastern county, but only Moray appears in the county list, so at least there's no confusion there.
Scotland's People has also added some city groups for Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh & Dundee, although the last one only consists of one parish, Dundee. All the parishes that are included in these city groups will also be included if you select their respective counties of Aberdeen, Midlothian, Lanark and Angus (not Forfar remember - try to keep up!) I say all parishes will be included but there's always one that bucks the trend - Tradeston, which is only included in the list for Glasgow City and not the surrounding county of Lanark. But don't fret, there aren't any old parish records for it anyway! Why? Because it was never an old parish but a later Registration District.
So, now you are more familiar with how Scotland was organised ecclesiastically prior to 1855, how should you go about searching for records on Scotland's People? Carefully, methodically and with a weary eye on some quirks that result from trying to shoe-horn all that rich nuanced detail into a modern database. Having said that, some quirks look like poor data entry and I'm staggered at how they have persisted. Here are my experiences.
How are the counties listed on Scotland's People?
When searching the OPRs (and later Statutory Records), Scotland's People uses the same list of counties and cities. They have mostly used the old county names that appear in the 1872 document but have also chosen to substitute some of them with the more modern labels that I highlighted at the top of the page i.e. Haddington has become East Lothian, Linlithgowshire has become West Lothian and if you want to search Edinburgh and its surrounding parishes, you will need to choose Midlothian.
However, bizarrely, they have also included both Angus and Forfar in the list when this name applies to the same county. Even more bizarrely, it's not as if they have simply listed all the same parishes under either county - nope. Forfar has just one parish in the shape of Coupar Angus and you must either choose it under this county or have ALL counties switched on to get any results that include it. Choose it from the list under Angus and you will be told there are no records! This makes no sense to me at all and I'm not the only one who has noticed this and pointed it out to Scotland's People, where it remains unaddressed (SEP 2024.) Shoddy, I say.
Elgin and Moray are also alternative names for the same north-eastern county, but only Moray appears in the county list, so at least there's no confusion there.
Scotland's People has also added some city groups for Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh & Dundee, although the last one only consists of one parish, Dundee. All the parishes that are included in these city groups will also be included if you select their respective counties of Aberdeen, Midlothian, Lanark and Angus (not Forfar remember - try to keep up!) I say all parishes will be included but there's always one that bucks the trend - Tradeston, which is only included in the list for Glasgow City and not the surrounding county of Lanark. But don't fret, there aren't any old parish records for it anyway! Why? Because it was never an old parish but a later Registration District.
How are the parishes named and organised on Scotland's People?
So, how are some of those issues with names described above dealt with? Hmmmm...
Double & triple-barrelled parish names
Firstly and most importantly you need to be aware that Scotland's People has chosen to list every parish singly by name in the lists. Let me emphasise that again - despite the fact that so many parishes have double or even triple names in their full titles and are covered by the same parish number, Scotland's People have split them all up and listed them individually in their parish list. But surely that won't matter will it? Well, usually, no, Select any of the names that make up the 2 or even 3 part parish names and you will be searching the same set of records and the results will clearly state the full name. However, this is not consistent. Here's one example;
Composite Parishes
Remember where 2 or more parishes actually share the same parish number? For example, Bressay, Burra and Quarff in Shetland are all listed separately but actually share 1 as their parish number. This means that even if you just select one of these parishes, you will in fact be searching all 3 of them, so take care with interpreting the results. I would recommend going back to the 1872 document referenced above so that you can understand the underlying data much better and perhaps make some more informed deductions before choosing to buy specific records.
Alternative names
These are also listed separately in the parish lists. However if you chose either name, the same set of records will usually be searched - look out for "or" appearing in the parish name of any record returned e.g. Carrington or Primrose (675) in Midlothian. However, again, this is not consistent. For example;
Alternative spellings
There are also what look like duplicate names or alternative spellings. Again watch out for odd things happening when you try to narrow down your search.
"2 become 1!"
There are a couple of entries in the parish list that list just one name for what were actually 2 distinct separate parishes. Study the results carefully though as they have kept the different parish names and numbers. This applies to,
Parishes straddling county boundaries
Some parishes don't neatly fit into just one county - they may have straddled a boundary or even two! Therefore, you may find the same parish listed under 2 or more counties and, sadly, this means it may behave oddly in searches. The parish of Arngask (404) is listed 3 times under the counties of Fife, Perth and Kinross. Make sure you have ALL counties switched on if you want to specifically search within this parish as if you try to select it under Perth or Kinross there will be no records returned. Select it under Fife and you'll be fine but there is nothing to tell you that.
"Parishes" that were never parishes
Remember those "Districts erected under the Registration Act 1854"? Well, many of them have been included in the list of parishes but there are of course no OPRs for them. They may be registration districts that do have records after 1855 but I can't help feeling that it is just plain confusing to include them in the lists for old parish registers e.g. Tradeston as mentioned above.
So, how are some of those issues with names described above dealt with? Hmmmm...
Double & triple-barrelled parish names
Firstly and most importantly you need to be aware that Scotland's People has chosen to list every parish singly by name in the lists. Let me emphasise that again - despite the fact that so many parishes have double or even triple names in their full titles and are covered by the same parish number, Scotland's People have split them all up and listed them individually in their parish list. But surely that won't matter will it? Well, usually, no, Select any of the names that make up the 2 or even 3 part parish names and you will be searching the same set of records and the results will clearly state the full name. However, this is not consistent. Here's one example;
- Kirkwall and St. Ola (021) is the name of the parish on the island of Orkney that contains the main town of Kirkwall. Both names appear separately under Orkney on the list but if you select St. Ola there are apparently no records - you have to know to select Kirkwall (021)... whose main cathedral church is actually called St. Magnus's! Do try to keep up!
Composite Parishes
Remember where 2 or more parishes actually share the same parish number? For example, Bressay, Burra and Quarff in Shetland are all listed separately but actually share 1 as their parish number. This means that even if you just select one of these parishes, you will in fact be searching all 3 of them, so take care with interpreting the results. I would recommend going back to the 1872 document referenced above so that you can understand the underlying data much better and perhaps make some more informed deductions before choosing to buy specific records.
Alternative names
These are also listed separately in the parish lists. However if you chose either name, the same set of records will usually be searched - look out for "or" appearing in the parish name of any record returned e.g. Carrington or Primrose (675) in Midlothian. However, again, this is not consistent. For example;
- Abercrombie (454) is an alternative name for the parish of St. Monance (454) in Fife but if you select it from the list you will get no records returned. You have to know to select St. Monance to get any records returned.
Alternative spellings
There are also what look like duplicate names or alternative spellings. Again watch out for odd things happening when you try to narrow down your search.
- For example there are 2 choices for the parish of Heriot (688) in Midlothian - one labelled Heriot (Edinburgh) and the other labelled Heriot (Midlothian). If you only choose the former, there are no records returned - you have to choose the latter. Go figure...
- There are 2 spellings given for Northmaven / Northmavine (008) in Shetland and there are records under both spellings. I'm all for preserving the accuracy of what is actually recorded in original documents but I can't help feeling that this is just plain unhelpful or just smacks of sloppy data entry. The National Records of Scotland catalogue uses the latter spelling so maybe a bit of consistency would be good...
"2 become 1!"
There are a couple of entries in the parish list that list just one name for what were actually 2 distinct separate parishes. Study the results carefully though as they have kept the different parish names and numbers. This applies to,
- Anstruther in Fife - actually Anstruther Wester (403) and Anstruther Easter (402)
- Leith in Midlothian - actually Leith North (692/1) and Leith South (692/2)
Parishes straddling county boundaries
Some parishes don't neatly fit into just one county - they may have straddled a boundary or even two! Therefore, you may find the same parish listed under 2 or more counties and, sadly, this means it may behave oddly in searches. The parish of Arngask (404) is listed 3 times under the counties of Fife, Perth and Kinross. Make sure you have ALL counties switched on if you want to specifically search within this parish as if you try to select it under Perth or Kinross there will be no records returned. Select it under Fife and you'll be fine but there is nothing to tell you that.
"Parishes" that were never parishes
Remember those "Districts erected under the Registration Act 1854"? Well, many of them have been included in the list of parishes but there are of course no OPRs for them. They may be registration districts that do have records after 1855 but I can't help feeling that it is just plain confusing to include them in the lists for old parish registers e.g. Tradeston as mentioned above.
How best to search the OPRs on Scotland's People?
Check to see if there are ANY records
Firstly, before you start entering any query criteria for a specific parish you are interested in, I encourage you to select the parish and do an open query with no criteria to see if there are any records at all. This particularly applies to deaths and burials, which are very sparsely represented.
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 Scotland's People would tell you they don't have any records of that type for the parish instead of just telling you to keep refining your search criteria.
Check to see if there are ANY records
Firstly, before you start entering any query criteria for a specific parish you are interested in, I encourage you to select the parish and do an open query with no criteria to see if there are any records at all. This particularly applies to deaths and burials, which are very sparsely represented.
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 Scotland's People would tell you they don't have any records of that type for the parish instead of just telling you to keep refining your search criteria.
You're going to be seeing this message a lot...
If you do get some records back from an open query, note the total count carefully - there may be very few records for some places. For example, the parish of Galston (593) in Ayrshire has only 9 burials, all for 1761-62. Next, sort the date column to find out when the earliest record dates from. Click on the column header again and the latest record will appear at the top of the list. You now know the range of years you can search within. However, make sure you go back to that lovely 1872 document referenced above too, as that is the only way you will find out about gaps, some of which can be huge!
Start vague and sort your results before adding more criteria
If you are searching more widely for a person, then start off with All counties and All parishes selected to get an idea of the most results you can expect. You can then add more criteria and see how that changes the numbers. It's free to view results so spend time experimenting with criteria and make liberal use of the sort function on various columns to see how the results group together. That all important parish number is a separate column, so I encourage you to sort your results on this column and you should quickly see where the name you are looking for was prevalent. Remember that the parishes were numbered in sequence, so by sorting the results like this you should also start to see parishes in the same county appearing sequentially. This can be useful for thinking about spreading your net wider geographically and considering other more unfamiliar parishes nearby.
The following slightly fuzzy set of results illustrate this, although I'm not sure what is going on with the Gorbals entry appearing in the middle of the Glasgow ones (invisible space?) However, you get the general idea. Having appraised the results, I can now choose to either select a particular county or parish and sort by date perhaps, which might reveal the passing of a name down through generations. Or alternatively, I might be interested in a specific time period and want to see just how widespread the name was at that time.
If you are searching more widely for a person, then start off with All counties and All parishes selected to get an idea of the most results you can expect. You can then add more criteria and see how that changes the numbers. It's free to view results so spend time experimenting with criteria and make liberal use of the sort function on various columns to see how the results group together. That all important parish number is a separate column, so I encourage you to sort your results on this column and you should quickly see where the name you are looking for was prevalent. Remember that the parishes were numbered in sequence, so by sorting the results like this you should also start to see parishes in the same county appearing sequentially. This can be useful for thinking about spreading your net wider geographically and considering other more unfamiliar parishes nearby.
The following slightly fuzzy set of results illustrate this, although I'm not sure what is going on with the Gorbals entry appearing in the middle of the Glasgow ones (invisible space?) However, you get the general idea. Having appraised the results, I can now choose to either select a particular county or parish and sort by date perhaps, which might reveal the passing of a name down through generations. Or alternatively, I might be interested in a specific time period and want to see just how widespread the name was at that time.
Click to enlarge
(c) Ancestry
Get familiar with the landscape
If you are very unfamiliar with the geography then there is an old document available on the Wayback Machine that Scotland's People must have produced some time ago entitled "An Alphabetical List of Coterminous Parishes". There was no logic explained for how the groups of parishes made their way on to this list and indeed the introduction suggested that it was originally conceived of as a work in progress with further suggestions invited. However, you may find it helpful to know which parishes to consider together.
If you want a more visual way of exploring the parish geography, have a play with the People's Parish website map or the National Library of Scotland's Boundary Viewer. Be careful to consider parishes that straddle county boundaries or are just over the county border, as the latter may have parish numbers in a different range.
If you have a subscription to Ancestry, then they have images from the Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers by Cecil R. Humphery. These are simple maps as pictured above illustrating the parish landscape as it was before 1832, with the earliest date for registers also given for each parish. Select Scotland from the browsing list and then choose the general area you are interested in. Zoom in on the small text and look out for disjointed bits of parish connected with lines. One other useful bit of information to note from these maps are the coloured borders that enclose groups of parishes to indicate which commissary court would have administered wills etc. prior to 1823.
But remember, with all these lists and maps, it may not be clear what time period they refer to, so use the visual information as a finding aid and don't get too hung up on the boundaries. If your ancestors lived close to a boundary, always check out the neighbouring parishes. In particular, if your ancestors lived in rural parishes that were swallowed up by expanding towns and cities, be sure to take note of this and consider that later records may be recorded under a city parish.
If you are very unfamiliar with the geography then there is an old document available on the Wayback Machine that Scotland's People must have produced some time ago entitled "An Alphabetical List of Coterminous Parishes". There was no logic explained for how the groups of parishes made their way on to this list and indeed the introduction suggested that it was originally conceived of as a work in progress with further suggestions invited. However, you may find it helpful to know which parishes to consider together.
If you want a more visual way of exploring the parish geography, have a play with the People's Parish website map or the National Library of Scotland's Boundary Viewer. Be careful to consider parishes that straddle county boundaries or are just over the county border, as the latter may have parish numbers in a different range.
If you have a subscription to Ancestry, then they have images from the Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers by Cecil R. Humphery. These are simple maps as pictured above illustrating the parish landscape as it was before 1832, with the earliest date for registers also given for each parish. Select Scotland from the browsing list and then choose the general area you are interested in. Zoom in on the small text and look out for disjointed bits of parish connected with lines. One other useful bit of information to note from these maps are the coloured borders that enclose groups of parishes to indicate which commissary court would have administered wills etc. prior to 1823.
But remember, with all these lists and maps, it may not be clear what time period they refer to, so use the visual information as a finding aid and don't get too hung up on the boundaries. If your ancestors lived close to a boundary, always check out the neighbouring parishes. In particular, if your ancestors lived in rural parishes that were swallowed up by expanding towns and cities, be sure to take note of this and consider that later records may be recorded under a city parish.
Finding Families in the Old Parish Registers
Baptisms and marriages in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) generally do not contain a lot of information and burials are both scarce and sparse in detail too. In fact burials may be little more than an entry that signifies the hire of a mortcloth to cover the coffin. Therefore, although it's nice to have an image of the actual register entry, the cost can soon add up for little incremental benefit. So, here is my strategy for trying to find candidate family groups in these registers.
Perhaps you have an ancestor who you have found in a census that indicates they were born before 1855 and you have an idea of the parish or area they think they were born in.
Multiple Marriages?
When you are looking for a marriage of the parents, be alert to what you might think are duplicate records albeit in different parishes. One of them may be a proclamation record (like a marriage bann in England) and if you look at both records, you should be able to work out the home parishes for the bride and the groom if they were different. Knowing that might also help you to track down their baptisms more confidently.
Baptisms and marriages in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) generally do not contain a lot of information and burials are both scarce and sparse in detail too. In fact burials may be little more than an entry that signifies the hire of a mortcloth to cover the coffin. Therefore, although it's nice to have an image of the actual register entry, the cost can soon add up for little incremental benefit. So, here is my strategy for trying to find candidate family groups in these registers.
Perhaps you have an ancestor who you have found in a census that indicates they were born before 1855 and you have an idea of the parish or area they think they were born in.
- Search the OPRs for them with different name strategies. Even if you think you know both parents names, only use the father's in any search as often the mother's name was not recorded.
- The date that appears in the results is generally the date of a baptism. There may be an actual date of birth in the record and to find that for free, search for the same record in the Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 on FamilySearch as if it was recorded separately from the baptism it may be included in the transcript there. Children were generally baptised within days of their births but it was not uncommon for them to be baptised much later as older children, often at the same time as a new baby sibling.
- Search on just surname and father's forename say and / or parish to see if you can assemble a group of siblings. Some or all of them may have the mother's name in the results too for corroboration.
- Note the date range for the baptisms and search again for just that surname in the parish. This should help you identify cousins all baptised with granddad or granny's name in the same decade. Seriously, you need to make sure you have not just chosen the first candidate that looks roughly right without considering other possible ones, particularly if you don't know the parents' names. There could be multiple families of the same surname in the parish baptising children with the same names in the same generation. My 4x Great Grandfather, Walter Riddell, had 4 grandsons all named for him, born in the same Lanarkshire parish in a relatively short period of years.
- Check out the neighbouring parishes for more siblings too.
Multiple Marriages?
When you are looking for a marriage of the parents, be alert to what you might think are duplicate records albeit in different parishes. One of them may be a proclamation record (like a marriage bann in England) and if you look at both records, you should be able to work out the home parishes for the bride and the groom if they were different. Knowing that might also help you to track down their baptisms more confidently.
“Disruption of 1843” by David Octavius Hill (Public Domain at Wikimedia Commons)
Not finding someone in the Old Parish Registers?
This is where I need to come over all London Underground announcer and tell you to "Mind The Gap!" What do I mean by this? This rather crowded image is a depiction of the First General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland following the "Disruption" in 1843. This was a major breakaway from the established Church of Scotland, largely as the result of a major rammy (as we say like to say in Glasgow) over patronage i.e. the right of the heritors to appoint ministers. Many ministers left the fold, taking large portions of their congregations with them to new places of worship. This meant that a significant number of baptisms, marriages and burials for the decade before Statutory Registration are NOT online with ScotlandsPeople.
Add to that the fact that earlier schisms in the church had already meant there were several other "flavours" of Protestant worship already in existence (e.g. Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist - see Churches of Scotland timeline), this means that you should not be surprised if you cannot find any trace of your ancestor in the Church of Scotland Old Parish Registers. Indeed, if you only find one "good" match, be highly suspicious and investigate what other places of worship might be in the parish or nearby (See Places of Worship in Scotland for example.)
Where are these alternative records? Some of the churches that split away later decided to rejoin the Church of Scotland and some of their records have made their way online with Scotland's People and can be accessed under the "Other Churches" option. However, check the list first to see whether there is anything for the area you are interested in. Else, you are on the hunt for these records in archives or perhaps whatever governing church bodies that may still exist. The National Records of Scotland catalogue is a good place to start under the record collections starting with 'CH3/'. Alternatively, try the Scottish Archive Network catalogue for records in local archives. Links to both are on the NRS Catalogues & Indexes page.
Kirk Session Records
These Church of Scotland records were finally added to the Scotland's People site as browsable "Virtual Volumes" in 2021. They are a wonderful source for learning about the ebb and flow of contemporary life in the parish as they document the work of the parish elders. For example, you might find all sorts of events mentioned in relation to your ancestors e.g. receipt of poor relief, recognising settlement, counts of heads of households, pew rents, mortcloth hire for burials etc. There are also some key life events like baptisms and marriages that might also only exist within these pages and did not make it into the Old Parish Registers. However, they are being widely touted as a really riveting gossipy read with much emphasis on SIN - ante-nuptial fornication (children born less than 9 months after the marriage being a bit of a giveaway!), tracking down fathers of illegitimate children, drunkenness and other bad behaviour like not keeping the Sabbath for example.
The first bit of advice is to read the Kirk Session Records guide as this explains at length what you can expect to find in the records. The records are not currently indexed and you need to think about how you are going to look for the right volume to answer your question. You are also going to have to set aside some time to carefully read through the pages to try to find the information you hope is in there. The very earliest volumes date from the 17th century and the handwriting can be a bit of a challenge. Later volumes may helpfully have notations in the margins that act as helpful bookmarks to the longer entries noted alongside.
Next, do the records actually survive for the parish you are interested in and where are they? Emma Maxwell from Scottish Indexes gave a really good talk at a recent online Scottish Association of Family History Societies conference where she passed on the following good advice;
These Church of Scotland records were finally added to the Scotland's People site as browsable "Virtual Volumes" in 2021. They are a wonderful source for learning about the ebb and flow of contemporary life in the parish as they document the work of the parish elders. For example, you might find all sorts of events mentioned in relation to your ancestors e.g. receipt of poor relief, recognising settlement, counts of heads of households, pew rents, mortcloth hire for burials etc. There are also some key life events like baptisms and marriages that might also only exist within these pages and did not make it into the Old Parish Registers. However, they are being widely touted as a really riveting gossipy read with much emphasis on SIN - ante-nuptial fornication (children born less than 9 months after the marriage being a bit of a giveaway!), tracking down fathers of illegitimate children, drunkenness and other bad behaviour like not keeping the Sabbath for example.
The first bit of advice is to read the Kirk Session Records guide as this explains at length what you can expect to find in the records. The records are not currently indexed and you need to think about how you are going to look for the right volume to answer your question. You are also going to have to set aside some time to carefully read through the pages to try to find the information you hope is in there. The very earliest volumes date from the 17th century and the handwriting can be a bit of a challenge. Later volumes may helpfully have notations in the margins that act as helpful bookmarks to the longer entries noted alongside.
Next, do the records actually survive for the parish you are interested in and where are they? Emma Maxwell from Scottish Indexes gave a really good talk at a recent online Scottish Association of Family History Societies conference where she passed on the following good advice;
- You can search Virtual Volumes by place on Scotlands People but not all records survive and of those that do, not all have been digitised or immediately released as a Virtual Volume.
- As all the material that will appear on the Virtual Volumes comes from the collections in the National Records of Scotland, it's good to get into the habit of always starting with the NRS Catalogue to see what records actually survive for the parish. Church of Scotland records are catalogued under the reference "CH2". This rather blurry image is an example of what you can expect to see.
Note the different catalogue descriptions and the time periods the individual items cover. It's also a good idea to open the top-most reference in the hierarchy i.e. CH2/991, as this will give you a bit more information on the history of the parish, especially any splits or mergers with nearby parishes.
Also note the "traffic light" that appears at the end of the line. Remembering that this catalogue is primarily designed to support researchers visiting the National Records of Scotland, these coloured dots describe the accessibility of the records. Green and Red are fairly self-explanatory, but the yellow dot and invitation to "Check details" will tell you more. In this case, the items for Larkhall have been digitised and therefore are only available as a Virtual Volume, which I could access in person at any NRS centre. So, I should expect to find them on Scotland's People? Not all of them it would seem.
Also note the "traffic light" that appears at the end of the line. Remembering that this catalogue is primarily designed to support researchers visiting the National Records of Scotland, these coloured dots describe the accessibility of the records. Green and Red are fairly self-explanatory, but the yellow dot and invitation to "Check details" will tell you more. In this case, the items for Larkhall have been digitised and therefore are only available as a Virtual Volume, which I could access in person at any NRS centre. So, I should expect to find them on Scotland's People? Not all of them it would seem.
You may also see a yellow dot and the words "Not Held" - click on the hyperlinked reference on the far left of the entry and you will find out more. For example, kirk session records pertaining to the parish of Balfron are not held by the NRS but by Stirling Archives. However, I learned from the catalogue that they have been digitised and when I looked on Scotland's People they are indeed there.
Be aware of 2 key dates when you are using these resources;
Be aware of 2 key dates when you are using these resources;
- 1843 - Remember the words of caution given in relation to the Old Parish Registers above. The formation of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843 might have meant that any minister who chose to break away and form a new congregation by taking much of his flock with him, may also have appropriated the kirk session ledgers as well. This may mean the records get a bit mixed up, so there is nothing for it but to read through carefully and try to make sense of what you find.
- 1900 - If a volume covers a time period that strays into the 20th century, it will not be uploaded to Scotland's People even if it has been digitised. It may be available to view digitally at the relevant archive - you would be advised to check directly with them.
(c) Irish Geneaography - 2024
