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.

TheGenealogist makes parish records accessible via its MapExplorer tool

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist Brings Parish Records to Life with Church Pins, Historic Images and Surname Heatmaps

TheGenealogist has transformed the way family historians explore parish records, now pinning baptisms, marriages and burials directly onto its MapExplorer tool. This powerful update allows users to pinpoint the exact location of over 6,000 churches where their ancestors’ key life events took place, even when those buildings have long since disappeared.

For the first time, researchers can move beyond names and dates to uncover the precise locations behind the records, tracing ancestors to specific churches, chapels and parishes across the landscape. Whether standing, rebuilt or lost to time, these places can now be rediscovered through an intuitive, map-based experience.

Adding a rich new visual layer, TheGenealogist has also boosted its Image Archive with the addition of over 3,000 historic church photographs and paintings. Where available, parish records pinned on MapExplorer™ have been linked to the Image Archive, revealing what the church looked like and offering a rare opportunity to see the setting of an ancestor’s baptism, marriage or burial.

The update also introduces the ability to map search results, giving researchers a powerful new way to explore patterns in their family history. Users can visualise results as a heatmap, revealing concentrations of records across towns, villages and regions, before zooming in to explore individual entries in detail.

This is particularly valuable for surname studies and research before the census era. What may appear as scattered results in a list can quickly form clear geographical clusters when mapped, helping to uncover migration patterns, family groups and hidden connections that might otherwise go unnoticed Parish records remain one of the most important sources for tracing generations before civil registration began in England and Wales in 1837. By anchoring these records to real-world locations and enabling them to be explored visually, TheGenealogist is helping researchers build a deeper, more meaningful connection to their past.

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist, said: “Family history is about more than just names on a page. With this update, you can discover exactly where your ancestors’ life events took place and, in many cases, even see the church itself. Combined with the ability to map your results and spot patterns across places and surnames, it opens up entirely new ways to understand your family’s story.”

MapExplorer™ already allows users to view historical maps alongside modern mapping, helping them locate streets, villages, farms, churches and other places linked to their family tree. The addition of parish record pins, historic church imagery and mapped search results makes the tool even more powerful for uncovering the stories behind the records. 

The new parish record mapping feature, heatmap visualisation and enhanced image archive are available now to TheGenealogist’s Diamond subscribers. Within these newly pinned records is the baptism of the Victorian heroine Grace Darling. Read her story here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2026/amazing-grace-8995/ 

Comment: There is some Scottish content on this layer, but it predominantly covers England and Wales.

(With thanks to Paul Bayley)

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.

FindmyPast's latest additions

Two new additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week that may be of interest to those with Scottish connections:

Britain, Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers
These 13,696 new additions cover pre-1832 parishes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Scotland Monumental Inscriptions
We added 2,249 records covering the years 1807 to 2009 to this set this week.

For the relevant links, and details of other collections from England, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/atlases-monumental-inscriptions

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.

TheGenealogist adds Large Scale 25-inch Historic OS Maps and LiDAR to its MapExplorer tool

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

TheGenealogist adds Large Scale 25-inch Historic OS Maps and LiDAR to MapExplorerTM

TheGenealogist has enhanced its MapExplorerTM historic map overlay with the addition of large-scale 25-inch-to-the-mile 1890-1914 Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, alongside a brand-new LiDAR mapping layer, giving family historians sharper ways to pinpoint where ancestors lived and understand the landscapes that shaped their lives.

The 25-inch OS maps are among the most detailed historic maps available for genealogy, showing features often missing from smaller-scale mapping: individual building footprints, property boundaries, yards, alleys, small lanes, wells, schools, chapels, mills, sidings, and other local landmarks. When used in MapExplorer’s overlay view, researchers can compare these fine-grain historic details against other map layers and modern geography to locate ancestral homes and communities with far greater accuracy.

Additionally, the newly released LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) maps bring another dimension to local history research. LiDAR reveals the shape of the ground beneath vegetation and modern land use, helping users spot historic earthworks, trackways, field systems, quarries, embankments, cuttings, and other “hidden” features, particularly valuable for rural research, lost buildings, and places where the visible landscape has changed.

“By adding 25-inch OS maps and LiDAR layers to MapExplorer, we’re giving researchers new ways to connect records to real places, right down to individual buildings and the landscape around them,” said Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist. 

The 25-inch-to-the-mile OS map layer and LiDAR maps are available now within MapExplorerTM at TheGenealogist.

Read about these new additions and how they can help reveal the landscape your ancestors knew here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2026/lines-across-the-landscape-8934/.

** I asked what the coverage was, and the new additions cover the whole of Britain; it is hoped Ireland will be added in the future.

(With thanks to Paul Bayley) 

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.

ScotlandsPeople adds new maps and plans

From the latest ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) newsletter via email:

New maps and plans

Over 1,000 new maps and plans are now available to search. They range from historic town layouts to architectural designs of iconic buildings like Arbroath Abbey and the National Gallery of Scotland. Discover churches, prisons, railways, estates and industrial sites from Scotland's past. 

The new maps and plans are accessible via https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/search-records?tab=maps_plans#search_records, but I can't see a listing anywhere of what has actually been added.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TheGenealogist completes project to link census entries to maps

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk): 

TheGenealogist Unveils 1841 Census on its Innovative Map Explorer
Discover over 18.4 million individuals on historical maps

Leading genealogy research website TheGenealogist has announced the integration of the 1841 census into its cutting-edge MapExplorerTM tool. This significant addition allows family historians and researchers to delve deeper into their ancestral past with unprecedented geographical context.

Key Highlights:
●    The 1841 census, the first modern census of England, Scotland and Wales, is now on TheGenealogist's MapExplorer.
●    Locate your ancestors to the parish, street or even house they lived in
●    Over 18.4 million individuals are recorded in the 1841 census and you can now explore their neighbourhoods
●    Users can visualise their ancestors' locations on historical maps, providing a unique perspective on family history

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Development at TheGenealogist, stated, "We're proud to announce the completion of our project to "map the census". Never before could you pin down your ancestors through each year, from 1841 all the way to the 1939 register. This visual approach to genealogy brings the past to life in ways never before possible."

Found in these records is Surgeon Nurse Eliza Roberts, the forgotten hero of the Crimea, read her story here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/eliza-roberts-a-forgotten-pioneer-in-nursing-7666/

To celebrate this release, for a limited time you can claim a Diamond Subscription for just £99.45, a saving of £40. You can claim this offer here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBCEN924

Offer expires 30th December 2024.

Comment: The Scottish component of the MapExplorer tool is for the 1841-1901 censuses. The Scottish 1911-1921 censuses are only available on ScotlandsPeople, whilst the 1939 National Identity Register for Scotland is only available from the NRS.

(With thanks to Paul Bayley)

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.

Cassini maps additions to Ancestry

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added some Cassini maps collections to the site this week, the following two in particular may be of interest:

UK, General Map of Great Britain, 1935-1937
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62550/
Source: Cassini General Map of Great Britain. England: Cassini Publishing.

Europe, Cassini Maps, 1800-1960
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62541/
Source: Cassini European Maps. England: Cassini Publishing.

The European maps include content for Austria, Balkans, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central Europe, Croatia, Czechoslavakia, Demark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Spain, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia.

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.

TheGenealogist maps 1851 census entries for Britain

 From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

Where were they in 1851? – Mapping Your Ancestors’ in the Census
For the first time, you can now pin down your ancestors in 1851!
 
TheGenealogist’s latest release makes it easy to locate an ancestor geographically in the 1851 census. With a choice of historical and modern georeferenced maps, this welcome development makes it simple to explore the place where your ancestors lived and discover their surroundings.

Census records have always been a staple resource for family historians. With the particulars of the street or road name, researchers will often turn to a modern map to see if they can locate where their forebears lived. This, however, can be fraught with difficulties if the road name changed over the years or the area was redeveloped. Thus, TheGenealogist has been working through its census collection, linking the records to the detailed map collections on its Map Explorer™.

●    The 1851 census now joins the ranks of other key censuses (1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, and the 1939 Register) already integrated with the innovative Map Explorer™.

●    With just a click of a button, researchers can pin their forebears’ residences down to a parish, street or building and trace the routes they would have taken to visit local shops, pubs, churches, workplaces, and parks.

●    Historical maps reveal the location of major roads and the nearest railway stations, shedding light on how our ancestors would have travelled to other parts of the country to work, visit relatives or their hometowns.

With this latest release, subscribers of TheGenealogist can now explore their ancestors’ neighbourhood in 1851, making it easier to uncover hidden stories and discover connections to family that lived nearby.

For those family historians on the move, TheGenealogist allows you to trace your forebears’ footprints while walking down modern streets using their “Locate me” feature. Imagine retracing your ancestors’ steps and discovering the places that they had frequented!

When viewing a household record from the 1851 census on TheGenealogist, you’ll now see a map indicating where your ancestor was during the night of the census. Clicking on this map seamlessly loads the location in Map Explorer™, enabling you to explore the area.

Read TheGenealogist’s feature article where the 1851 census locates the Edinburgh house where a famous author was born: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/a-leading-light-on-the-map-of-the-1851-census-7470/

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

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.

Ancestry adds Cassini Old Series OS maps for Scotland, UK and Isle of Man

Added to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

England, Wales, Scotland and Isle of Man, Old Series Maps, 1805-1874
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62510/
Source: Cassini Maps Old Series and Scottish First Edition. Dorset, England: Cassini Publishing.

General collection information

This collection contains indexes of topographic maps of England, Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man published between 1805 and 1874. Indexes in the collection were taken from a series of Ordnance Survey maps referred to as the "First Series" or the "Old Series." Old Series maps were the result of the first national survey of Britain.

Using this collection

Records in the collection may contain the following information:

• County name
• Town name
• Parish name
• Map scale
• Survey date
• Publication date
• Revision date
• Railway lines
• Topographic information

Further details via the link.

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.

Irish Ordnance Survey maps join National Library of Scotland maps platform

A nice piece of news that I have just gleaned from Laragh Quinney from the National Library of Scotland's maps department - Irish OS maps are being added to the NLS maps viewer. Here's the announcement from the latest editions page at https://maps.nls.uk/additions/:

OS Six-Inch Ireland 1st edition maps (1820s-1840s)

We have added online 1,970 maps forming the Ordnance Survey of Ireland's Six-Inch 1st edition series (surveyed 1829-1842). This is the earliest comprehensive mapping of Ireland, showing good landscape detail. Ordnance Survey began work in Ireland in 1824, working initially on creating an accurate triangulation network. The surveying and publication of map sheets generally proceeded from north to south. Ordnance Survey mapped Ireland at the Six-Inch scale before Scotland, England and Wales, and the maps show emerging practices for this series in terms of features, placenames, heights, and engraving techniques. 

For more on the maps visit https://maps.nls.uk/os/6inch-ireland/index.html

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 for Family and Local History talk on Wed 23rd August 2023

The following talk from the National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) will take place next Wednesday 23rd August 2023:

Maps for Family and Local History
Wed, 23 August 2023, 15:00 - 16:00 BST
Online

Maps can provide a window into the past for family and local history researchers. In this session you will learn about different types of historical maps and the rich information they can provide. We will then showcase the Map Images Website, where there are over 250,000 historical maps available to view. Discover how to find relevant maps, and use our georeferenced, side by side and spy tool viewers. There will be a question and answer session at the end.

When you book an event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and our third-party suppliers for the purposes of allowing you to attend the event and for audience research. For more information, visit the National Library of Scotland privacy pages, in particular the events notice and feedback and complaints notice. We expect attendees to behave respectfully towards presenters, guests and other audience members.

To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maps-for-family-and-local-history-tickets-684824337027

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 website adds print function for geo-referenced maps

The National Library of Scotland has added a print function to its geo-referenced mapping platform at https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5.0&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=1&b=1. You will find the printer icon at the bottom left of the screen, beside the buttons allowing you to zoom in or widen out from an image. You can also save an image as a JPG, PNG file, or PDF document.

As well as many recent additions for English and Welsh agricultural and geological maps, the site has also added 2,094 out of copyright Ordnance Survey maps at scales of 1:1,250 to 1:63,360, for the whole of Britain from 1972. 

Further details are available at https://maps.nls.uk/additions/.

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.