The Scottish GENES Webinars Christmas Party!

The Scottish GENES Webinars Christmas Party will be an extended webinar session on Saturday 27 December 2025, starting a little earlier at 6.00 p.m. (UK time), with TWO talks for the price of one, AND a festive General Q&A session after! 

Here's a bit more about the sessions:

1) "Irish Family History Resources Online"

Despite the popular belief that Irish family history research is virtually impossible, many records exist which can help with your ancestral pursuits. This presentation looks at the key repositories and records now available online, and will prove to you that if you have been put off with Irish research in the past, now is absolutely the time to take another look.

2) “Instantly Buckled for Life: Discover Scottish Marriage Records”

The law on marriage in Scotland has differed extensively in comparison to the rest of the United Kingdom, with many types of records available for research, whether those marriages were 'regular' or 'irregular'. Most irregular forms were abolished from 1940, with another finally removed from the Scottish statute in 2006; for all of these, a celebrant was not required. I will discuss the legal history of Scottish marriage, provide case studies to illustrate the various situations in which they were created, and dispel some myths along the way.

3) Festive Irish and Scottish Genealogy Q&A

Bring your mulled wine or beverage of choice, pull up a pew, and ask me questions concerning both presentations, or indeed anything to do with Scottish or Irish genealogy, and I will do my very best to help!

This whole event will cost just £10, with registration now available at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Muw8MUupRpuHYMfWx2mH1w

I hope that you can join me!

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, 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. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Key Christmas archive and library closures

Some archive and library Christmas closures in Scotland, Ireland, and in England:

National Records of Scotland/Scotlands People Centre, Edinburgh
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us

Our buildings will be closed to the public from 1pm on Friday 23rd December until 9am on Wednesday 4th January.


National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow
https://www.nls.uk/using-the-library/opening-hours/

During the festive season, we are closed on selected days, including public holidays, with revised opening hours on other days.

Saturday 24 December: Closed.
Monday 26 and Tuesday 27 December: Closed (Christmas holidays).
Wednesday 28 December:
        Edinburgh: Open 10am to 5pm
        Kelvin Hall: Open 1:30pm to 3:45pm
Thursday 29 and Friday 30 December:
        Edinburgh: Open 10am to 5pm
        Kelvin Hall: Open 10am to 3:45pm
Saturday 31 December: Closed.
Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 January: Closed (New Year holidays).


Scottish Genealogy Society
https://www.scotsgenealogy.com/
Christmas Closure:

We will be closed Wednesday, 21st December 2022 until we
reopen on Thursday, 5th January 2023


Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/getting-proni-and-opening-hours

Public holidays:
Monday 26 December 2022
Tuesday 27 December 2022
Wednesday 28 December 2022
Monday 2 January 2023

National Archives, Dublin
https://www.nationalarchives.ie/product/book-the-reading-room/

Christmas Closure – We will be closed to the public from 5pm 23rd December to January 2nd. Re-opening as usual 10am Tuesday January 3rd 2023.


National Archives, Kew, England
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/visit-us/opening-times/

Closure dates. All dates listed below are inclusive. Some dates may be subject to change.

    Christmas 2022: Saturday 24 December to Wednesday 28 December
    New Year’s Day: Saturday 31 December to Monday 2 January 2023


British Library, London St. Pancras and Boston Spa
https://www.bl.uk/visit/opening-hours

London
23 – 27 December 2022     Closed
28 – 31 December 2022     Open as normal
1 January 2023      Closed
2 January 2023      Reading Rooms closed. Exhibition Galleries and public areas open (11:00 to 17.00)

Boston Spa
23 December 2022 to 2 January 2023  Closed

Please contact other repositories for their Christmas closure details.

I'll also be switched off from the evening of this Friday 23rd until January 4th 2023 - with the exception of one newsletter to be written!!!

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.

Merry Christmas from Scottish GENES!

Hi folks,

There is not a lot happening currently in the lead up to Christmas, and we are all nervously awaiting the impact of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 with regards to any potential restrictions heading our way again with archives and libraries. One unfortunate development is that we have postponed our trip to Ireland next week to see my elderly 89 year old mother-in-law in County Kilkenny, as we don't want to unwaringly take over an invisible gift to her, but we're looking forward to celebrating her 90th in a few months time in County Kilkenny. It's been almost 2 years now since I have been back home, but it's not going anywhere, it'll be there in due course!

 

I've just finished off my last big Scottish research genealogy report prior to Christmas (with added Suffragettes!), and had a wonderful evening on Monday talking to my branch of the North of Ireland Family History Society in Larne. It's been a mad auld year! I've managed to get two books published from Pen and Sword, have written a brand new course for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd on Irish genealogy, written and presented a 20 hour long institute programme, served for several months on the board of the APG, given umpteen talks online, and much more.

I want to thank all of you who have attended my talks, who have bought books, attended the courses, or commissioned me to carry out research - despite the many difficulties we've been through this year (not least the loss of my father at my end), it's been fun for the most part, and I look forward to getting stuck in again next year. There will be one or two wee developments with this blog in particular heading into 2022, including resurrecting something I used to do when I first launched it way back in 2007, I'll also be bringing you some Scottish GENES bites, and more!

I'm happily going to head off for a few days now into sheer, blissful delinquency (mince pies! wine! turkey!), but if there are any genealogical developments over the next few days I'll obviously put up a quick note. Heck, I might even do some of my own family history research over the next few days - time off for good behaviour!

In the meantime, have a blithe yule / Nollaig Chridheil dhuibh uile - and I will see you on the other side!

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.

Archive and library festive closures

The following are the currently announced festive closure plans, although all are subject to change with the emerging coronavirus variant threat. So far the NLS is the only agency to have extended its festive closures, with its annoucnement of its additional closures between the Christmas and New Year period:

National Records of Scotland https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/service-status#Festive
We are closed on certain public holidays. These dates for the period up to 31 January 2022 are:

• 27 December 2021
• 28 December 2021
• 3 January 2022
• 4 January 2022

 
National Library of Scotland https://www.nls.uk/using-the-library/opening-hours/

• Service update: Our buildings are closed from 24 December to 4 January inclusive.

PRONI https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/getting-proni-and-opening-hours#toc-2
Public holidays 2021/2022

• Friday 24 December 2021
• Monday 27 December 2021
• Tuesday 28 December 2021
• Monday 3 January 2022

National Archives (Dublin, Ireland) https://www.nationalarchives.ie/product/book-the-reading-room/

• Christmas Closure: CLOSED from 1pm 24th December 2021 – 3rd January 2022 inclusive.   

 

National Library of Ireland https://www.nli.ie/en/opening-hours.aspx

Christmas opening hours at the National Library of Ireland

• Please note all NLI buildings, apart from the National Photographic Archive, are closed from Friday 24th December 2021 to Monday 3rd January 2022 inclusive.

National Archives (Kew, England) https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/visit-us/opening-times/
We are usually closed for bank holiday weekends (including the Saturday), and for Christmas and New Year. All dates listed below are inclusive.

• Christmas (2021): Friday 24 December to Tuesday 28 December (closing at 17:00 on Thursday 23 December)
• New Year’s Day (2022): Saturday 1 January to Monday 3 January

 

Check  your local library, archive and family history sites for details on additional festive closures.

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.

There's still time to order my Scottish and Irish genealogy books for Christmas!

There's just over a month to go until Christmas, so time to get the genea-shopping in!

Over the last three years I have had five books published by Pen and Sword Family History (www.pen-and-sword.co.uk), including two this year, which I hope will help those carrying out their research, but which I'm sure could also make a useful present to anyone you know needing some help with their Scottish or Irish research, or for research in general! 

Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records
A Guide for Family Historians
£14.99 plus p&p
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Land-Records-Paperback/p/19283

Paton’s book is a great guide on not only the how and whys the records of Ireland were and are recorded and preserved the way they are but also how to find and navigate different types of records, like tithe, land, birth, etc. It is quite informative and Paton includes a lot of links and screenshots of the website they discuss.
- NetGalley, Samantha Garrity

Sharing Your Family History Online
A Guide for Family Historians
£12.99 plus p&p, 144 pages
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Sharing-Your-Family-History-Online-Paperback/p/18718

We’re all pretty confident now accessing census records and BMD’s online. What this excellent book reveals are the dozens and dozens of other ways we can discover new ancestors and even make new friends. Everything from online methods of collaboration and crowdsourcing to social media, DNA research and even putting a video of your family stories up online.
- Alnwick FHS

Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet
A Guide for Family Historians
£14.99 plus p&p, 192 pages
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/17717

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.
- Peter Calver, Lost Cousins

Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records
A Guide for Family Historians
£14.99 plus p&p, 162 pages
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Ancestry-through-Church-and-State-Records-Paperback/p/16848

One of the strengths of Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry through Church and State Records is that the author provides the historical contexts in which records were made and how each category developed over time, thus making the book engaging and informative, especially for family historians beyond Scotland. Overall, this is a useful and very readable introduction to Scottish records, with many case studies to assist the reader, but there is also much in it that may be new to more experienced family historians.
- The Local Historian, journal of the British Association for Local History

Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd edition)
A Guide for Family Historians
£14.99 plus p&p, 192 pages
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483

The book is easy to read, follow and understand – it is no hesitation from me in giving this one 5 stars, it has been brilliant and such a help to me – anyone with Irish ancestry should give this a read!
- Donnas Book Blog

(Postage is £4.50 UK Delivery or free UK delivery if order is over £35.)

I hope they may help!

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.

Here we go again

So just as we dared to hope that things were finally on the up in Scotland after the most disastrous 2020 imaginable, we are about to be hit with another whammy - a new three week (at least) lockdown in Tier 4 on the mainland from Boxing Day (Dec 26th) to try to prevent the new coronavirus strain from taking hold as it has done in London and the south-east of England, and the utterly insane prospect of a no-deal trade scenario with the EU from January 1st. There is still time for something to be scraped together by Hogmanay on the latter, but the new strain of coronavirus is already leading to the UK being cut off for the time being by countries overseas, with Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands already banning travel from the UK, and with other countries currently considering their position. My youngest son's return to school in Ayrshire in January has already been pushed back, with virtual learning to be imposed at the start of the next term for a period, and we are still unsure of the implications for my eldest son and his return to university. I only picked him up from Dundee yesterday - how astonishing it is that the world can change so much in one day.

The biggest impact on the new rules in the short term is going to be the rules for Christmas, where folk are being urged not to visit friends and family now, but if they absolutely have to, to do so on Christmas Day only. A quick reminder that Zoom is offering unlimited talk time over Christmas Day for anyone with a free account, temporarily replacing the 40 minute only limit, and will do so again over New Year - for details see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/12/zoom-to-lift-40-minute-call-limit-over.html.

If you are experiencing difficulties this Christmas, another reminder that many groups and agencies are out there to offer free advice and support, which you will find on the Crisis Lines page of this blog at http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/p/crisis-lines.html. For those working as genealogists professionally, don't forget that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is still running - details are available at www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme.

Despite the current gloom, there is much to be optimistic about. We have a vaccine, with more on the way, and so long as our governments can implement vaccination quickly, we will hopefully get through this soon in 2021. 

On the genealogy front, despite the restrictions currently in place because of Covid, there have also been some handy mitigations, such as the National Archives in England offering free access to many of its digital records - this is still ongoing, with details at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/digital-downloads/. And whilst Ancestry seems to have forgotten about Scotland in terms of new resources, FindmyPast has had an astonishing year in catering for us with new materials, so if you have not had a chance to play yet, you can avail yourself of a free two week trial at the site via www.findmypast.co.uk/free-trial to see what new toys are in town there. (Ancestry does also have a free trial option at www.ancestry.co.uk).

The next free to access Scottish Indexes conference takes place January 30th, and you can register for this at www.scottishindexes.com.  

I'll obviously update on any important developments as and when I hear them, but I am otherwise going to take a short break this week from blogging, and come back again after Boxing Day. In the meantime, have a great Christmas as best you can in the circumstances, and we will hopefully catch up again soon! 

Chris

Pre-order my next book, Sharing Your Family History Online, at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.