International Institute of Genealogical Studies

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

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

Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: Beyond the OPRs

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

This course explores the Church of Scotland records beyond the Old Parish Records or Old Parochial Records (OPRs). It covers the records of:

• Kirk Sessions
• Presbyteries
• Synods
• General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. 

Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: Land and Property Records

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

This course explores the many sources available for tracing land and property in Scotland. Students will become familiar with the laws concerning the inheritance and ownership of property and the different types of records available to trace both landowners and tenants. Practical guidance is given on locating records held in Scottish archives and in using the many sources now accessible online. 

Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: The Poor and Poor Relief

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

Scottish: The Poor and Poor Relief explores the background and history of poor relief in Scotland from the Middle Ages to mid-twentieth century. The course includes the system of poorhouses from the eighteenth century, inspectors of poor played a large role in the administration of relief. The Poor Law Amendment Act (Scotland) of 1845 is a crucial piece of legislation in the evolution of  poor relief. Its operation and effects on the public are important. The poor law system produced a great deal of documentation, which gives detailed insights into the lives of poor Scots and their families. The course covers in detail how they can be used to trace ancestors. Various strategies used to search these records and other sources available in archives and online are explained. General reference sources useful to clarify Scottish language, geography, and palaeography are also included.

Historical: This course originated June 2024. Current version copyright is June 2024. 
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Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: Special Aspects of Scottish Research

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

This course introduces concepts and terms which a student of Scottish family history coming to the topic for the first time is unlikely to have encountered in research in other jurisdictions.

The topics in this course include: Scottish currency, weights, and measures; dates/calendars; languages; glossaries; handwriting; names and naming patterns; clans, septs, and tartans; clan and surname DNA projects; heraldry; and compiled genealogies. 

This course covers researching people who emigrated from Scotland or moved to Scotland. We explore the general overview of historical legal and migration restrictions related to Scotland, followed by a discussion of the key emigrant and immigrant groups.

The main phases of migration from Scotland are discussed in detail. The Highland and Lowland Clearances of the late 18th and early 19th centuries are first discussed to debunk common myths. We also look at people who were moved forcibly from Scotland, either as convicts, assisted migrants, or indentured servants. Next, we consider the factors of the mid-1800s that caused mass migration, focusing on why Scots left and where they immigrated.

Understanding immigration to Scotland, particularly the west, is crucial for researchers tracing their ancestry. The experiences of Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants—three major groups arriving in the 19th and early 20th centuries—are highlighted in these case studies.

Course Length: 7 weeks

Historical: First and current version copyright is August 2025.