Scottish OPR death and burials now online

The OPR deaths and burials are now online at www.ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk, a day earlier than their scheduled release, as revealed yesterday on this blog.

Please read the information about the records at the site before doing a search.

Happy hunting!

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Scottish OPRs deaths and burials to go online Wednesday

The pre-1855 deaths listed within the OPR records, along with additional burial records held by the GROS, will be made online at the Scotland's People website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) on Wednesday 1st April. However, the records will not be going online at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh until much later in the year. From the Centre's website:

Users of the ScotlandsPeople Centre system will be aware that there have been problems with the system sometimes slowing down or even freezing due to overload issues. At the moment the system is cleared and re-booted each night to clear the memory but this is not a long term solution because some of the problems still persist. To sort our overload problem, our specialist computer staff need to alter the search facility and make it more efficient. This work should be complete by the Summer 2009. Whilst our IT staff are resolving these problems, there are no resources available to add these records to the system. One of the outcomes of the proposed system changes will that it will be possible to search for a marriage prior to 1929 using both the bride and groom’s name, which will be an improvement. Access to the microfilm for the Old Parish Register deaths and burials will continue to be made available to day search customers.

At this stage we can only say that we expect that the records should be available at the ScotlandsPeople Centre by December 2009.

Users should be aware however that it is possible to access the external Scotland's People website from a terminal at the Centre (via the Useful Websites link), meaning that it will be possible to do a search through these records for the time being, though not as a part of your £10 daily subscription - you will need to purchase credits for this.

UPDATE: Some additional info from the folk at ScotlandsPeople:

The Old Parish Registers are the records which the Church of Scotland kept of births and baptisms, banns and marriages and deaths and burials for the 300 years before the start of the civil registration system in 1855. When the office of Registrar General for Scotland was created in 1855, every parish in Scotland was required by law to deliver to the Registrar General all of its registers of births and baptisms, banns and marriages and deaths and burials up to and including those for 1855. The earliest surviving entries in the OPRs were created in the 16^th century.

The OPR death/burial records include entries for some famous Scots such as:

Adam Smith [economist] (1790)

Sir Walter Scott [author & poet](1832)

William Brodie [Deacon Brodie executed on a gibbet of his own design] (1788)

Please note, there is no death or burial entry for Robert Burns (died 1796 in Dumfries). The parish register for Dumfries did not survive long enough for the Registrar General to take it into care in 1855 along with the other OPRs.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Free online access to the Irish Times

The Irish Times is celebrating its 150th anniversary, and to commemorate this it is offering free access to its online archive at www.irishtimes.com/150/ until April 5th 2009. There are also free articles on the paper's history at the site.

Happy hunting!

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Barry Mill forms steering group to source new funding

Barry Mill near Carnoustie has formed a steering group to try to urgently identify new sources for funding. The mill, still in operation, is one of the least busy within the National Trust for Scotland's properties and is under threat of closure. It is the last working water mill in Angus, and holds records going back to 1539.

For more on the story, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7965781.stm . The mill itself opens from April 2nd to October 31st, on Thursdays to Mondays, from 12.00 to 5.00pm (1-5 Sundays). For more on the mill itself visit www.nts.org.uk/Property/10/.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Lewis Chessmen head back north to Scotland

Twenty pieces of the Lewis chessmen discovered on a beach near Uig in 1831 are to temporarily return to Scotland, where they will be displayed in both Stornoway and Edinburgh. The pieces are believed to be between 800 and 900 years old.

For more on the story, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7968621.stm.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Congratulations to Family Tree DNA

A huge congratulations to Family Tree DNA, which recently received its 500,000th order for a DNA testing kit.

Family Tree DNA was founded in April 2000, and was the first company to develop the commercial application of DNA testing for genealogical purposes, which had previously been available only for academic and scientific research. Almost a decade later, the Houston-based company continues to establish standards and create new milestones in the increasingly popular and rapidly growing field of genetic genealogy, whereas other companies have came to the market space looking for the business opportunity, but offering tests of lesser value. As a tried and tested DNA company it is the service of choice for the Guild of One Name Studies (www.one-name.org).

For more on the company, and to see the range of products that it offers, visit www.familytreedna.com.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Family Tree Magazine April 09 now on sale

The April issue of Family Tree Magazine is on sale, with a great number of genealogical articles to help you on your mission!

There are articles on builders' labourers, the military within the Tudor and Stuart periods, bigamy, Royal Naval personnel in the censuses, lesser known sources in the parish chest, Danish ancestors, autograph books and more.

On the Scottish front in particular, there is a feature on the top ten resources to be found at the National Archives of Scotland, and yours truly has contributed an article on the role of King James VI Hospital in Perth during the town's massive redevelopment in the 19th Century, it being the feudal superior for the areas of Blackfriars and the Hospital Gardens.

Family Tree Magazine is available at your local newspagents - and it does what it says on the tin!

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Your Family Tree 76 now on sale

The latest issue of Your Family Tree magazine (issue 76, Spring 2009) has gone on sale with the usual goodies within.

In addition to an extended news item on the recent Who Do You Think You Are? Live show, Else Churchill salutes the work of the College of Heralds in England, Doreen Hopwood examines records of the poor, and Stephen Thomas looks at colonial ancestors in Australia and the Pacific Islands.

There are additional features on property records, DNA testing, grave rubbings, finding Royal Navy ancestors online, a regional guide to Plymouth, and all the usual case studies and regular features. Yours truly also chips in with an in depth article examining the chain of events leading up to the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, and its immediate aftermath.

On sale now at local newsagents for £4.99.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Famous Scots exhibition: Sir James Black

Following on from Billy Connolly, the Famous Scots exhibition at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh features medical scientist Sir James Black, who in 1988 was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Sir James' story can be followed at the centre between March 30th and May 22nd.

For more information, visit www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/scotlands-people-centre/sir-james-black.html and www.nas.gov.uk/about/090324.asp.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving

Hawick to unleash the Voyage of the Vampire

The following has just been announced from the Heritage Hub at Hawick:

Join the Voyage of the Vampire for an adventure on the high seas in bygone days: experience pirate-infested waters, parties, antics, foreign sights and tales on board a ship bound for foreign shores.

This online journal from April 1846 – January 1847 belonged to George Henry Scott Douglas of Springwood Park, Kelso. He was stationed with the 34th Regiment of Foot (now the Border Regiment) in Corfu. After acquiring a Cutter called the Vampire, he got leave to go on a long cruise with some friends and toured the Greek islands, Athens, the Turkish coast and Istanbul. Twenty years of age when he writes this diary, it is lively and full of verve and joie-de-vivre, providing us with a privileged insight into the life of a young man in an age very different to our own.

The project launches at www.voyageofthevampire.org.uk on 1st April 2009, with the publication of the first diary entry of 1st April 1846. The adventures will unfold in real time as each subsequent day sees the publication of the next diary entry, plus some songs and poetry penned by Scott Douglas’ own hand.

The diary is part of the Scott Douglas collection held by the Heritage Hub, Scottish Borders Archive & Local History Centre. The collection was given to the Heritage Hub by Ian Abernethy who tracked down the Douglas papers to an address in Aberdeen while researching the history of the village of Heiton for his book: The High Toun on the Hill.

To coincide with the launch of the Voyage of the Vampire, there will also be an accompanying exhibition at the Heritage Hub on travel and travel writing from the Scottish Borders. The exhibition will feature the original Scott Douglas material, plus other archives from the Scottish Borders Archive collection and will run from 1st April to 19th May 2009.

For more on the Heritage Hub at Hawick, visit www.heartofhawick.co.uk/heritagehub.

Chris

www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
Scotland's Greatest Story
Professional family history research & genealogical problem solving