Thursday 31 March 2022

Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet reprint

According to a site I can access showing the status of publications from my main publisher Pen and Sword, it looks like yesterday they ran off another print run of my recent book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, so if you have been unable to obtain a copy, hopefully that should be you now sorted! 


Here's a bit of blurb about what to expect from the title:

Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet

Scotland is a land with a proud and centuries long history that far pre-dates its membership of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Today in the 21st century it is also a land that has done much to make its historical records accessible, to help those with Caledonian ancestry trace their roots back to earlier times and a world long past.

In Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Chris Paton expertly guides the family historian through the many Scottish records offerings available, but also cautions the reader that not every record is online, providing detailed advice on how to use web based finding aids to locate further material across the country and beyond. He also examines social networking and the many DNA platforms that are currently further revolutionising online Scottish research.

From the Scottish Government websites offering access to our most important national records, to the holdings of local archives, libraries, family history societies, and online vendors, Chris Paton takes the reader across Scotland, from the Highlands and Islands, through the Central Belt and the Lowlands, and across the diaspora, to explore the various flavours of Scottishness that have bound us together as a nation for so long.

Chapter 1 – Gateways and Institutions
Recording information
Gateway sites
The National Records of Scotland (NRS)
Local archives
The National Archives (TNA)
The National Library of Scotland (NLS)
Other Libraries
Historic Environment Scotland
Family and Local History Societies
Commercial Vendors and Services
      Ancestry
      FindmyPast
      Scottish Indexes
      Old Scottish Genealogy & Family History
      TheGenealogist
      Forces War Records
      Deceased Online
      FamilySearch
      MyHeritage
Professional Researchers
Online Family History Courses
Networking and Communication
      Tree Building
      Discussion Forums
      Social Media
      Magazines
Languages and Handwriting


Chapter 2 – Who were they? ScotlandsPeople
The Home Page
Search for People
      Statutory Registers
      Church Registers
      Census Returns
      Valuation Rolls
      Legal Records
      Poor Relief and Migration Records
Search for Places
Image Library
Other Main Menu Options
      Help and Guidance
      Certificates and Copies
      Our Charges
      News and Features


Chapter 3 – Who were they? Further Sources
            Further Scottish vital records
            Other UK vital records
            Burials
            Confirmation and probate records
            Further census resources and population lists
            Directories
Land registration
Maps and gazetteers
Newspapers and books
Biographical resources
DNA testing


Chapter 4 – Occupations
            Farmers and Labourers
Crafts, Trades and Merchants
Businesses
The Church
Teachers and Students
Medical
Communications
Mining
Shipbuilding
Theatrical
Photographers
Architects
Pensions
Military Service
      Pre-Union
      Fencibles, Militias and Volunteers
      Jacobites
      The British Army
      First World War
      Domestic Tragedies
      Civilians at War
      The RAF
      The Royal Navy
Post-1945 Military Records
Merchant Seamen
Law and Order
The Poor


Chapter 5 – County by County
Aberdeenshire
Angus
Argyllshire
Ayrshire
Banffshire
Berwickshire
Buteshire
Caithness
Clackmannanshire
Dumfriesshire
Dunbartonshire
East Lothian
Fife
Inverness-shire
Kincardineshire
Kinross-shire
Kirkcudbrightshire
Lanarkshire
Midlothian
Morayshire
Nairnshire
Orkney
Peebles-shire
Perthshire
Renfrewshire
Ross and Cromarty
Roxburghshire
Selkirkshire
Shetland
Stirlingshire
Sutherland
West Lothian
Wigtownshire
The Western Isles


Chapter 6 – Scotland's Diaspora
Ireland
England and the British Empire
Europe
USA
Canada
            Jamaica and the Caribbean
South America
Australia
New Zealand
India


Further Reading

Index

The book can be purchased in the UK from publisher Pen and Sword at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/17717, and from other booksellers. (I've just been notified by a friend in the US that Amazon is flagging up a stock issue for the book, hopefully that will be sorted soon!)



I have recorded a short introduction video providing an oversight on what to expect, which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/6oMmlObbLq8, and which is also reproduced below for convenience:




And some reviews...!

An invaluable tome for the serious researcher and amateur alike. If I had to choose one book to recommend to family historians with Scottish links, this would be the one. Absolutely invaluable. Glasgow and West of Scotland FHS, September 2020 

Having read Chris Paton's other book about tracing Scottish ancestors through church and state records, I was keen to add this book to my collection as I live a long way from Scotland and internet research is definitely the way to go for me. Having been encouraged to take up the study of my northern ancestors again by the previous book, this one has given me even more sources to follow. I found it useful to examine the shape of the Scottish population in terms of common occupations and scattered pockets of Scottish migrants in other parts of the world. The section detailing resources for each different Scottish county is particularly helpful, enabling me to search some indexes I was hitherto not aware of. As with the other book, I found the most help in immersing myself in the Scottish records and trying new avenues, resulting in pleasing strides forward on my family tree. Thank you Chris Paton. Amazon Customer, Jayne

Chris Paton is a genealogist and writer whose practical knowledge of researching Scottish records never ceases to amaze me – so I had high expectations of his latest book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet: A Guide For Family Historians. I was not disappointed – it's a superb book from a researcher who has numerous books and countless magazine articles to his name. (He's also a brilliant speaker, as anyone who attended my Genealogy in the Sunshine conferences will know.)... Highly recommended, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet is available as a conventional paperback or as a Kindle e-book.  Lost Cousins 

The book is well laid out and explained, it’s just so simple to read and really does help especially as ancestry research can often be complicated at the best of times. Chris Paton writes these books so well they really do help you do what it says on the cover, because I use them for my own family research. The pictures in this book vary between pictures of old relatives, sites to visit for specific research and website images to help you along. I would definitely recommend these books to others and I think they are so good I would give this copy a 5 star rating.  UK Historian

I hope it helps!

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

No comments:

Post a Comment