Enrollment options
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
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