Recent National Library of Scotland mapping updates

I haven't checked the National Library of Scotland mapping platform (https://maps.nls.uk) in a bit, but the team there are still uploading new content like the plague is in town! Some of the most recent maps to be added include:

• New Survey of India one-inch to the mile mapping, 1870-1966
• Georeferenced layer of OS Six-inch Ireland maps, printed ca. 1860
• Miscellaneous OS Quarter-Inch to the mile maps of England, Scotland, and Wales, 1900s-1990s
• OS 25 inch 1st edition georeferenced layer, 1855-1880 - Glasgow and Lanarkshire

For further details, and relevant links, visit https://maps.nls.uk/additions/, where you will also find the latest edition of the library's Cairt newsletter.

I'm off to check the Glasgow 25 inch map, and the Indian maps! 

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.

National Library of Scotland annual appeal - Recording the Lives of Scots

The National Library of Scotland's annual appeal for 2026 is to raise money for a project entitled Recording The Lives of Scots.

From the NLS website:

Thousands of films from our national film collection are at risk of being lost to decay or formats becoming obsolete. This year's annual appeal is raising the funds to stabilise and restore Scotland's film archive to its full glory, for the people of Scotland.

Scotland's national film archive is a diverse and distinct treasure trove. From the Oscar-winning 1960s film of the Clyde shipyard, to decades of the Kate Kennedy Parade bringing the streets of St Andrews to life, these are the lives and histories of ordinary Scots.

Since it was founded 50 years ago, following a huge response to a public appeal for film, Scotland's film archive has collected 26,000 films. Housed at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall, it is a fascinating, democratic archive, uniquely able to reflect viewers' own stories back to them.

To date, 13,000 films have been digitised, but the same number again are on decaying or unstable formats, unable to be digitised by our present scanning equipment. Without intervention, Scotland's film heritage will remain inaccessible or – worse still – be lost forever.

With your help, we want to change that. Join us in opening up Scotland's film archive.  

To find out more, ands to makea donation, please visit https://auth.nls.uk/support-us/ways-to-give/appeal/ 

(With thanks to the NLS via post) 

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.

National Library of Scotland using georeferenced maps webinar

The National Library of Scotland will be holding a webinar on how to make best use of its georeferenced maps on Wednesday 11 February at  3pm-4.15pm (UK). The following is the blurb:

In this interactive workshop, we will show you tips and techniques to help you make best use of our georeferenced maps.

Georeferenced maps are those which have been aligned with the real-world, so they can be viewed as overlays on top of modern satellite imagery and mapping, or even in comparison to your own live location!

We now have over 600 georeferenced layers of mapping freely available on our website, along with tools to filter, measure, draw, compare and export them. Discover how to use these tools, as well as how you can easily bring these georeferenced maps into other web and desktop applications.

The workshop will last approximately one hour with a question-and-answer session after that. This workshop will not be recorded but it is repeated regularly.

If you enjoy georeferenced maps but are not sure you are making full use of them, this workshop is for you!

To register for the free workshop, please visit https://www.nls.uk/whats-on/georeferenced-maps/.

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.

New maps feature and OS maps from National Library of Scotland

The National Library of Scotland maps platform (https://maps.nls.uk) has a new tool that can help when consulting its georefernced maps. 

At present you can look for a map and see a counterpart map alongside it using the Georeferenced Map Viewer at https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/, which can allow you to compare changes to an area across time. 

The default for this feature has previously been that when you move one map, the other automatically moves as well in the same direction, but as of this week you can now lock, unlock, or relock the two maps - this means you can now keep one of the maps in the same place, but move the other around, offering a bit more flexibility.

For further details visit https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/help.html#unlock-sidebyside  

The site has also added 9,851 Ordnance Survey maps at scales of 1:1,250 to 1:10,560 published in 1975, and covering areas in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, with a further 2,872 more detailed maps at scales of 1:1,250, 6,281 maps at 1:2,500, and 699 less detailed maps at scales of 1:10,000/1:10,560. For more on this visit https://maps.nls.uk/additions/.

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.

Recent online maps additions from the National Library of Scotland

The mapping department of the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) has added several collections over the last two months, including:

• Additional Ordnance Survey One-Inch Ireland maps and layers, 1856-1900
• OS Six-inch England and Wales first edition - earlier states (1840s-1880s)
• Second Land Utilisation Survey, Great Britain, ca. 1958-1974
• Early maps of Great Britain and Ireland, 1570s-1960s

Further details on all of these new additions can be found at https://maps.nls.uk/additions/

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.

National Library of Scotland uploads early maps of Great Britain and Scotland

The National Library of Scotland's maps platform (https://maps.nls.uk) has added just under 200 early maps of Great Britain and Scotland to its site:

We have added online 190 early printed maps of Great Britain, Scotland and more detailed places within these countries. This includes 78 maps of Scotland as a whole, 45 maps of Great Britain and Ireland, 38 town plans and 11 county maps. These maps are often very attractively coloured, variant states of these important early maps, many of which published within Dutch atlases of the 16th and 17th centuries. These maps are all from our Charlotte Smith collection, acquired by the Library in 2017.  

A spreadsheet of the new additions is available at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRXbMQ8JoGby995LB-8XLn138p0Ky4m7SesAi5p15MfINCfiWhTWpoz4bbKPA_oDIeBhAZWH-8m9bfw/pubhtml

(Source: https://maps.nls.uk/additions/) 

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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Forthcoming Georeferenced Maps Workshop from National Library of Scotland

The National Library of Scotland will be hosting a free online webinar on 8 October 2025, from 3.00-4.00pm UK time, entitled Using Our Georeferenced Maps. The following is its description:

In this interactive workshop, we will show you tips and techniques to help you make best use of our georeferenced maps.

Georeferenced maps are those which have been aligned with the real-world, so they can be viewed as overlays on top of modern satellite imagery and mapping, or even in comparison to your own live location!

We now have over 600 georeferenced layers of mapping freely available on our website, along with tools to filter, measure, draw, compare and export them. Discover how to use these tools, as well as how you can easily bring these georeferenced maps into other web and desktop applications.

The workshop will last approximately one hour and includes a question-and-answer session at the end. This workshop will not be recorded but it is repeated regularly.

If you enjoy georeferenced maps but are not sure you are making full use of them, this workshop is for you!

To register visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/using-our-georeferenced-maps-tickets-1606563166679?aff=web

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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

FindmyPast 50% discount on access-all-areas 12-month Everything subscription

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) is offering a 50% discount on its access-all-areas 12-month Everything subscription. The discount is available until 15 September. 

To subscribe, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/subscribe

* Don't forget, if you live in Scotland you can access many records on FindmyPast for free if you register with the National Library of Scotland via https://www.nls.uk/join/, and access the site via its eResources section - some usage restrictions apply.

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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

National Library of Scotland maps department guide to website changes

The National Library of Scotland maps department has published a page detailing the recent design changes to its part of the revamped NLS website, which can be read at https://maps.nls.uk/website/. 

Most of the changes are cosmetic, but it is a useful overview, and worth a quick read!

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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

New look National Library of Scotland website

The National Library of Scotland website at www.nls.uk has had a makeover, and is often the case with such revamps these days, this may take some getting used to. The developers have clearly decided that the PC is dead, opting for a tablet friendly interface, which means, you guessed it, more scrolling to get to the content you wish to find. The text for topic headlines has also been magnified massively, just in case you miss it. 

Locating digitised resources takes a few steps - go to Collections on the home page, then click on Collections on the page returned, then scroll down to Digital Gallery. One of the menu options here is Family history, which takes you to several content collections previously available (and seemingly the pages for these have not been redeveloped). 

The mapping platform has mercifully just had a cosmetic change, and can still be found at https://maps.nls.uk.

Explore the site for yourselves at www.nls.uk.

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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

National Library of Scotland adds Signet Library maps and Finding Placenames guides

The following are recent additions to the National Library of Scotland's digital mapping platform at https://maps.nls.uk:

Finding placenames research guide
Ten searchable lists of placenames (or gazetteers) dating from the 1580s through to the present day, including national surveys and mapping initiatives by Timothy Pont, William Roy, John Thomson, and the Ordnance Survey. The guide is available in the Research Guides section at https://maps.nls.uk/guides/placenames/.

Signet Library maps of Great Britain and the World, 1640s-1930s
This set of 137 maps relating to Great Britain and the World, comes from the library of the Society of Writers to HM Signet (www.wssociety.co.uk) in Parliament Square, Edinburgh. Additions include 402 Signet Library maps of Scotland, as well as maps of England, Wales, Ireland, and overseas. There are also 20 Ordnance Survey One-Inch to the mile Old Series maps of England and Wales included. The collection is available at https://maps.nls.uk/collections/signet/.

The latest news and developments from the mapping department can be found at https://maps.nls.uk/additions/.

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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Victorian era books which can cause arsenic poisoning

Do you have poisonous books in your library?! If your very old book has a green cover, you may wish to read this article on the BBC website at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g2y9xq58no. It seems that in the Victorian era bookbinders used arsenic as well as mercury and chrome to create, which can cause low level arsenic poisoning. The National Library of Scotland has located a few such copies which have now been removed from its shelves.

More details in the article - and happy reading!

Chris 

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Plug to be pulled on ScotlandsPlaces website next month

This has been expected for some time, but it looks like the ScotlandsPlaces website at www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk is to be ended on June 24th. The following message is currently being displayed on the websites:

Scotlands Places will switched off on 24th June 2025, however users will be able to access the materials directly from each of the contributing bodies.
HES material can be found on trove.scot.
NLS material can be found at nls.uk and maps.nls.uk.
NRS records will be accessible through scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
Further information about the closure can be found on the HES website: Retiral of HES web services | Historic Environment Scotland. 

 

ScotlandsPlaces was launched in October 2009 (see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2009/10/scotlandsplaces-website-online.html), and has provided a variety of resources free of charge for Scottish genealogists and historians for over 15 years. But the priorities of the founding institutions - the NRS, Historic Environment Scotland (previously RCAHMS), and the NLS - have changed massively since then, each now developing their own separate platforms and doing heir own thing. Whilst the message on the website states that material will be ytransfered to these platforms, it does not say that ALL the material will be transferred, and whether it will continue to be offered on the free basis that it always has done. Whilst Trove and the NLS platforms are free, ScotlandsPeople is not; fingers crossed the NRS will soon tell us how to access records such as the 17th and 18th century land and tax records currently available on ScotlandsPlaces.

It's a sad day, and having seen the poor version of the new replacemernt NRS website in recent months, I donlt have a lot of faith in the institution, but as always, remain open to be convinced that they have their users interest at heart. In the meantime, you have just over a month to use the site whilst it still exists.

RIP ScotlandsPlaces.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

National Library of Scotland's new Mills of Britain tool

There's a new mapping tool on the National Library of Scotland mapping platform, entitled Mills of Britain (https://maps.nls.uk/projects/mills-of-britain) - the following is the blurb:

This new web resource shows the locations and details of over 15,000 mill sites mapped in 18th-19th century Britain. You can browse and filter the mill records by survey date, map symbology, mill type, as well as their distances from rivers. There is also supporting information about the project, its background, identifying mills on maps, the methods, and on accuracy and georeferencing. You can also explore more and access the data. The online resource was created through a collaborative project with the University of Glasgow and University of Wollongong, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

The project covers Britain, rather than the UK, so Northern Ireland is not included, but Scotland is well served in the coverage. Pictured below is a grab from the site for the Mill of Airntully in the parish of Kinclaven, Perthshire. To the right are descriptiosn from three separate maps for the mill site.

Have fun exploring!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

National Library of Scotland Family History Fair

From the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk): 

The National Library of Scotland hosts several organisations from across the city for a drop-in family history event. 

Monday 28 October 2024
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
George IV Bridge building
Free

The National Library of Scotland is partnering with colleagues from Edinburgh Central Library, Edinburgh City Archive, National Records of Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, and the Scottish Genealogy Society, for a family history fair.
 
This is an opportunity for people at all stages of genealogical research to hear from and interact with staff members from various archives in Edinburgh, who will talk through the various collections that they hold and services that they offer and explain how they can help with your genealogical research.

(Source: https://www.nls.uk/whats-on/family-history-fair/; with thanks to Scottish Indexes)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Edinburgh event for researching nurses and midwives in your family tree

Edinburgh Napier University, in partnership with the National Library of Scotland and Royal College of Nursing, is running the following free event in central Edinburgh (with free lunch) on Wednesday 5th June for members of the public who are interested in finding out about nurses or midwives in their family but are not sure how to do so.

Do you have a nurse or midwife in your family history?

• Want to find out more about them?
• Not sure where to start?

Edinburgh Napier University, the Royal College of Nursing, and the National Library of Scotland are offering a 1-day event for people who want to find out about nurses or midwives connected to their family but who are not sure where to start.

You may be looking for a nurse or midwife of any era who worked in any setting (e.g., hospital, community, industry, prisons, military). They may have worked in the NHS or privately, or have spent time working outside the UK. All are welcome!

What will the day involve?

There will be short presentations and introductions to family history research from librarians, researchers, and archivists, and opportunities to learn about online searching. There will also be the chance to ask questions and get guidance on how to find out more about the nurse or midwife in your family.

No previous experience or knowledge is needed.

If you have a photo or other small memento of the person or people in your family you are interested in finding out more about, and would be happy to show it, please bring this on the day.

If you cannot attend for the whole day, please do still join us!

Notebooks, pens and lunch will be provided free of charge.

The event is open to all and free. The online registration link is: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/edinburghnapieruniversitycentreformentalhealthpracticepolicyandlawresearch/1222685

(With thanks to Ken Nisbet via the Scottish Genealogy Network) 

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

NRS and PRONI closures for Easter

Both the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) will be closed next week on Easter Monday (April 1st), with PRONI also closed on Easter Tuesday (April 2nd). 

At the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) in Edinburgh, the building will be open on Monday to visit the shop, view exhibtitions, or to sit in the cafe, but the Special Collections Reading Room and General Reading Room will both be closed. Both the Causewayside and Kelvin Hall sites will also be closed. Normal service again from Tuesday 2nd.

Belfast Central Library (www.librariesni.org.uk/libraries/greater-belfast/belfast-central-library/) will be closed on both Monday and Tuesday.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

National Library of Scotland to change opening hours

From the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) in Edinburgh:

We’re changing our opening hours at George IV Bridge, Edinburgh. From 5 February we will open at 10am (Monday to Saturday). More info on our opening hours > https://www.nls.uk/using-the-library/opening-hours/

Chris  

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

NLS Maps site adds 1973 OS maps, and Woodlands viewer 1840s-1880s

Two major additions so far this month to the National Library of Scotland maps viewer:

Ordnance Survey maps published in 1973

We have put online 1,868 maps at scales of 1:1,250 to 1:10,560 which were published in 1973, and which have therefore just come out-of-copyright from 1 January 2024. These include 1,151 detailed maps at scales of 1:1,250 and 1:2,500 covering areas in Scotland, and 717 less detailed maps at scales of 1:10,000/1:10,560 covering areas in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Our graphic index showing the maps highlights the new maps published in 1973 in orange. These are usually the most detailed, basic scales of Ordnance Survey maps for these areas.

    Home page - Ordnance Survey National Grid maps, 1944-1973

Woodland in Scotland map viewer, 1840s-1880s

The Library has recently partnered with the nature regeneration platform, Zulu Ecosystems, who have extracted a digital layer showing woodland from the mid-19th century Ordnance Survey maps. The depiction of woodland on these OS Six-Inch to the mile maps (1843-1882) is one of the most comprehensive records of ancient woodland in Scotland. It is hoped that the development and donation of this open access layer will contribute towards the conservation and protection of ancient woodland in Scotland.

Due to the automated processes used to extract the layer, some revisions are still needed. We are inviting volunteers to easily record corrections they spot in the viewer.

    Woodland in Scotland map viewer

For further details on recent releases visit https://maps.nls.uk/additions

Chris 

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Sgeulaiche Gàidhlig air ainmeachadh / Gàidhlig Storymaker announced

Bhon Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba /From the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk): 

Tha sinn toilichte ainmeachadh gun deach an dreuchd chliùiteach mar a’ chiad Sgeulaiche Ghàidhlig a bhuileachadh air an sgrìobhadair agus craoladair Curstaidh NicDhòmhnaill. Chaidh an dreuchd a bhrosnachadh le taisbeanadh dà-chànanach làithreach an Leabharlainn ‘Sgeul | Story: Sgeulachdan bho Ghaidhealtachd na h-Alba’. A’ tarraing air dualchas beul-aithris a tha a’ dol air ais fad linntean mòra, tha an dreuchd ag amas air a’ Ghàidhlig a bhrosnachadh tro sgeulachdan cruthachail.

We’re pleased to announce that writer and broadcaster Kirsty MacDonald has been selected as the Library’s first Gàidhlig Storymaker. The post was inspired by the Library’s current dual-language exhibition, ‘Sgeul | Story: Folktales from the Scottish Highlands’. Drawing from a centuries-old oral storytelling tradition, the role aims to promote Gaelic language through creative storytelling practice. The 12-month Gàidhlig Storymaker position is funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig.

Barrachd fiosrachaidh / Further information - https://www.nls.uk/news/archive/gaidhlig-storymaker-announced/

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - 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. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.