Basic Scottish Records
# Courses Base Price
Course: SC-101 - Scottish: Old Parish Registers $119.00
Course: SC-102 - Scottish: Wills and Testaments $119.00
Course: SC-103 - Scottish: Census Records $119.00
Course: SC-104 - Scottish: Statutory Registration $119.00
Package total: 4 $476.00
Course image Scottish: Old Parish Registers
Basic Scottish Records
Course Summary:

Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: Old Parish Registers

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Before the introduction of Statutory Registration in Scotland, the most easily accessible source of information about our ancestors is the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland.  

This course will examine in detail the pleasures and pitfalls of the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) and the extent to which they survive. The various indexes to the OPRs and sources to find copies of the OPRs will be examined.  

The course will cover the main categories of records for christenings, marriage banns and deaths; and will consider irregular marriages and discuss the major alternative sources for death records: local authority burial records and Monumental Inscriptions.   

Course Length: 6 weeks

Contact Hours: 15
Grading Scale: 70% Tests/30% Assignments
Course Length: 6 weeks
Course Content

MODULE 1
OLD PARISH REGISTERS
Introduction
Citing Acts of Parliament
National Archives of Scotland & General Register Office for
Scotland
About the Church in Scotland
Development of the OPRs
Where Are the OPRs Held?
Register of Neglected Entries
What Records Survive? Why so few?
About Parishes
Potentially Confusing Parishes

MODULE 2
BIRTHS & BAPTISMS
Websites
Legislation Affecting Baptisms
Information Given in Baptismal Registers
Illegitimate Births
Errors in Entries
Names & Naming Patterns

MODULE 3
BANNS & MARRIAGES
Legislation Affecting Marriage
Regular Marriages
Irregular & Clandestine Marriages
Handfasting
“Other” Marriages
Prohibited Degrees of Relationship

MODULE 4
DEATHS & BURIALS
Introduction
Legislation Affecting Burials & Deaths
Mortcloths
Information Given in Burial Registers
Alternative Sources for Death Records

MODULE 5
HOW TO FIND THE RECORDS
Introduction to Finding the Records
FamilySearch
Ancestry
Findmypast
ScotlandsPeople
Course image Scottish: Wills and Testaments
Basic Scottish Records
Course Summary:

Optional Course Print Material: Scottish: Wills and Testaments

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Wills are one of the most valuable sources for genealogists because they usually mention several family members, even from collateral branches of the family. They are often the easiest means of extending a family tree before the introduction of Statutory Registration in Scotland.    

This course will examine Scottish Confirmations and Inventories (the equivalent of English Wills and Admons) in detail. It will cover the legislation defining what could be willed at various periods and the courts which had jurisdiction. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

Contact Hours: 18
Grading Scale: 70% Tests/30% Assignments
Course Length: 7 weeks
Course Content

MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION
Glossary
What are Wills and Testaments?
Historical Background

MODULE 2
LEGISLATING RELATING TO TESTAMENTS AND MOVEABLES
Wills and Testaments
Heritable & Moveable Property
Domicile
Legislation Affecting Wills
Legal Rights
19th and 20th Century Legislation
Who Could Inherit?

MODULE 3
THE COURTS & HOW TO FIND THE RECORDS
The Courts
How To Find The Records
Indexes 1801-1823
Testaments 1823-1875
Testaments 1876-1901
ScotlandsPeople
20th Century Testaments

MODULE 4
PROCEDURES FOR CONFIRMING A TESTAMENT
Procedures for Confirming a Testament
Procedure for Confirmation of an Executor
Eiks to Confirmations

MODULE 5
TYPES OF TESTAMENTS & CONTENTS OF TESTAMENTS
Types of Testaments
Elements of a Testament

MODULE 6
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
Websites
English Wills
Death Duties
Great Western Railway Shareholders Index
Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Wills
Unclaimed Estates (Money Left In Chancery)
Help With Handwriting
Help With Unfamiliar Terms
Why Can’t I Find a Will or Testament for My Ancestor?
Course image Scottish: Census Records
Basic Scottish Records
Course Summary:

Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: Census Records

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

This course looks at the history, structure and contents of the 1841-1911 censuses of Scotland. Strategies for searching and locating the records will be discussed together with the limitations of the various sources. We will then look at the research possibilities of earlier census returns, together with their survival back to Rev. Dr. Alexander Webster’s census of 1755. We will also look at the National Identity Register of 1939.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Contact Hours: 18
Grading Scale: 70% Tests/30% Assignments
Course Length: 7 weeks
Course Content

MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION TO CENSUS RECORDS
Introduction
Citing Acts of Parliament
National Archives of Scotland and General Register Office for Scotland
Glossary
Census Dates
What is a Census?

MODULE 2
CENSUS YEARS 1841-1861
1841 Census
1851 Census
1861 Census

MODULE 3
CENSUS YEARS 1871-1881
1871 Census
1881 Census

MODULE 4
CENSUS YEARS 1891-1911
1891 Census
1901 Census
1911 Census

MODULE 5
CENSUS RECORD SOURCES
ScotlandsPeople
Ancestry.co.uk
Findmypast.co.uk
FreeCEN
FamilySearch
Family History Centers
Family History Societies
Strategies for Searching
Problems with Names

MODULE 6
NATIONAL IDENTITY
1939 National Identity Register
Pre-1841 Census Listings
Course image Scottish: Statutory Registration
Basic Scottish Records
Course Summary:

Optional Course Print Material: Scottish: Statutory Registration

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Birth, marriage and death certificates are the fundamental building blocks of genealogical research in Scotland. This course looks at the development of the Statutory Registration system in Scotland. It will provide the practical details needed to understand the system of civil registration, where to find and how to use indexes and certificates. The course looks in detail at what the certificates can tell us and at the legislation that affected what was included in certificates at the different periods and in both copies of the registers and certified copies of the certificates.   

We will also look briefly at other, less well-known, birth, marriage and death registers including the Minor Records, register of Stillbirths and the Register of Adoptions.     

While civil registration started, eighteen years later in Scotland than it did in England and Wales, the records hold much more information and are easier to access. 

Course Length: 7 weeks

Contact Hours: 18
Grading Scale: 70% Tests/30% Assignments
Course Length: 7 weeks
Course Content

MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION & HISTORY
Citing Acts of Parliament
Glossary
National Archives of Scotland and General Register Office of Scotland
Legislation
ADMINISTRATIVE GEOGRAPHY OF SCOTLAND
Chapman County Codes
Easily Confused Registration Districts

MODULE 2
HOW TO FIND THE RECORDS
Paper Indexes
Microfilm of Registers
FamilySearch - Historical Records Collection
ScotlandsPeople Website
Wildcards
BMD Exchange

MODULE 3
BIRTH CERTIFICATES
Registration of Births
Birth Certificates 1861-1965
Birth Certificates 1856-1860
Illegitimacy
Adoption
Register of Stillbirths
Register of Corrected Entries

MODULE 4
MARRIAGE CERTIFICATES
Marriages
Irregular Marriages
Divorce
Marriage Certificates
Marriage Certificates 1861-1972
Marriage Certificates 1856-1860
1855 Marriage Certificates - The Bonus Year
Church Marriage Following an Irregular Marriage
Register of Corrected Entries
Prohibited Degrees of Relationship

MODULE 5
DEATH CERTIFICATES
Websites
Death Certificates
Fatal Accident Inquiries
Register of Corrected Entries

MODULE 6
MINOR RECORDS
Minor Records
Births
Marriages
Deaths