Secrets of ScotlandsPeople

It’s sometimes unpopular because it doesn’t offer subscriptions, just pay-per-view.  It’s the official government website offering access to the church, civil, and census records of Scotland.  It’s not free…not all of it.  If you didn’t know that some of it is free, you should read on. 

🔊 Late breaking news  Yesterday it was announced online that from early next year, the Kirk Session records of the Church of Scotland up to 1855 will be available, free, to browse and read on ScotlandsPeople.  Welcome news indeed for Scottish researchers everywhere!  You can read a bit more on the Scottish GENES blog.

Free Searches

When you’re searching for any type of record on ScotlandsPeople, you don’t need to have paid anything up front.  All that’s needed to carry out a search is to register with the website, which costs nothing.  Once you’ve done that, you can perform as many searches of as many record sets as you like, and view the results, which can run to several pages. 

Detailed Matches

Several of the record sets provide additional information in the list of matches.  In the case of the pre-1855 christening records, for example, the matches will name not only the child but at least one parent, and usually both.  A list of results for military appeals tribunals will give the occupation, grounds for appeal, and decision of the court.  And testament (probate) matches may give as much detail as this example, in addition to the name of the individual:

Cashier with Denny & Coy., Engineers, Dumbarton, sometime residing in High Street there, latterly at The Bield, Bonhill Road there, d. 17/06/1894 at Dumbarton, testate (SC65/34/40)

To see images of the document requires payment, but the information provided with the search results enables you to more accurately decide if it’s a good fit for the individual you’re researching before forking out, in this case 10 credits for a testament. 

1881 Census

You may have overlooked the free-to-view transcription of the 1881 Scottish census.  This is the product of a community indexing project carried out in conjunction with FamilySearch in the 1990s.  To search this set, choose "Census Returns" and tick the box marked "1881 (LDS)", then enter your search terms.

For instance, if I search for anyone with the surname Wyatt living in Glasgow who appears in this census, I can see not only a list of matches which seems to indicate a family, but I can freely view a transcribed version of the census entry containing those individuals.  This states their relationship to one another, confirming they are indeed a family, and gives all the essential details contained in the original census image such as address, occupation, age, and birthplace.  This is more than you'll find on some subscription websites, which can also be less accurate in their interpretation of the nineteenth-century handwriting.

The 1881 (LDS) transcriptions were written out twice and then keyed into a computer twice - and compared for accuracy at both stages - so they are a good reflection of the original document.  Of course, it’s always advisable to view the original when you can; you can do so without incurring a charge at public libraries or family history centres with microfilm copies. 

Highlands and Islands Emigration

Around 5,000 emigrants from Scotland to Australia between 1852 and 1857 are listed in this database.  These were Scots who received assisted passage in order to try and relieve some of the destitution that prevailed in the Highlands and Islands at that time.  They are enumerated in passenger lists which contain the names, ages, and places of origin of each person, proving very useful as a genealogical source.  You can read more of the story behind these records and their contents on the website’s guide. 

Maps and Plans Images

National Records of Scotland, who operate ScotlandsPeople, claim to have the largest known collection of original maps and plans of Scotland.  Almost 2,500 of these can be freely searched and downloaded, with a further thousand viewable online.  The earliest of these date from the sixteenth century. 

Plan of the River Ness, Commissary Court records,
Crown copyright, National Records of Scotland, RHP672

Historical Images

Another image set you can search and view freely contains images of historical photographs, manuscripts, and drawings.  These can be searched by subject category, ranging from “Armed Forces” to “Whisky Industry”, or by your choice of keyword, which might be a family name you are interested in.  When I entered “MacLeod” as my search term, a very interesting image of a seventeenth-century document of fosterage popped up – written in Gaelic.  

And finally

Don’t forget that search tips plus advice and support are always available via the search pages, or on the help and guidance section of the website.  Whenever I’ve run into difficulties in reading a poor-quality image, the website administrators have been extremely helpful in having the record re-scanned, and sometimes refunding credits spent, in the case of index errors.