Scottish GENES

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland adds 190,000 new records

To mark 104 years since the destruction of the Irish Public Record Office, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland platform (https://virtualtreasury.ie) has just uploaded a further 190,000 records. The following is a summary of the releases, as noted on the site:

June 2026 Releases at a glance:

over 190,000 new records bring to 544,000 the total number of records available in the VRTI and 340 million words of searchable Irish history.
Enhanced Knowledge Graph of Irish History: Now with over 15,000 entries, including 5,800 more historical individuals added since last June. More than 3,500 people from the early modern period (1550-1700), over 2,300 of these are women and 2,300 people are from the medieval/Norman period.
Catholic Emancipation, 1825-1829: This curated collection traces the campaign led by Daniel O’Connell and the Catholic Association, through thousands of digital images of letters, petitions, intelligence reports government correspondence.
States of Independence, 1776-1783: Curated collection reveals the close, and sometimes surprising, connections between Ireland and the American Revolution.
The Birth of Local History in Ireland: Curated collection gathers together attempts by early modern local history enthusiasts to document the customs, folklore, history and landscape of their localities.
State Papers Ireland 1660 – 1715: Over 40 more volumes of State Papers and Signet Office records are being released. These have been interconnected with the Knowledge Graph creating a powerful new tool for researching this tumultuous period of Irish history following Cromwell’s death.
Deeds of the Guild of St Anne, 1237 – 1778: Gold Seam containing 800 stories of the lives of ordinary men and women in Dublin, from arranging a funeral procession in 1345, or leaving bequests for prisoners in Dublin Castle in 1380, to mapping a property on Merchants Quay in 1739.
Parchment Conquest (1171-1307): In 8,000 printed summaries of records drawn from a Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland we encounter Italian tax-collectors in Galway, poachers in Dublin, and women seizing land in Cork
Medieval Irish Exchequer Rolls (1309-10) : A remarkable record, NAI EX 1/1 is one of only two original medieval memoranda rolls of the Irish exchequer to survive in 1922, containing 56 parchment membranes. Beautifully conserved and digitally imaged, these records can be viewed for the first time in over a century.
Registers of the Archbishops of Armagh (1361-1542): four fascinating volumes which capture the workings of church government, its extensive landholding, legal disputes and clerical discipline, as well as the relationships between English and Gaelic communities in medieval Ireland.

For further details, and the relevant links, visit https://virtualtreasury.ie/2026-new-releases

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.

Free access to MyHeritage Canadian and American records

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has made two collections freely available this week.

For Canada Day, it is making all 15 Canadian census collections, comprising 52.3 million historical records, free to search at https://www.myheritage.com/research/records-catalog/canadian-census/catid-1300.

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States, it is offering free access to the U.S. City Directories collection, featuring 1.3 billion historical records from approximately 26,000 directories published between 1860 and 1960, via https://www.myheritage.com/research/records-catalog/usa/directories/catid-11020.

Both collections are available for free from July 1-5 2026.

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

Friday, 26 June 2026

5-week Scottish Research Online courses starts 6 July

Hi folks, the next Scottish Research Online course from Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (https://www.pharostutors.com) returns 6 July 2026. The following is its description:

Scottish Research Online (102)
Tutor: Chris Paton

Scotland was one of the first countries to digitise its major family history records collections for accessibility online, and continues to this day to use such resources to promote a worldwide interest in family history for those with Caledonian connections.

This course describes the major sites and record types that you will encounter in your research, and how to analyse the results. It compares and contrasts many of the key websites available for Scottish research, drilling down to key features within each to help improve a users knowledge of what is contained within the presented records, and equally important, what is not. It explores the key resources for vital records such as births, marriages and deaths, as recorded by the state from 1855 onwards, and the usefulness of the decennial censuses from 1841-1911 in connecting family members and branches together.

Prior to civil registration there are the records created by the Church of Scotland as the state church, with the course exploring access to its Old Parish Registers (OPRs) on ScotlandsPeople and through FamilySearchs various finding aids. In the final lesson, wills and inventories generated by Scotlands confirmation process are explored, with some of the many differences flagged up between the records of Scotland and the rest of the UK, thanks to the distinctly different legal system north of the border.

Most importantly this course will inspire you to actively pursue your interest in Scottish genealogy and take it to the next level.

Lesson Headings:

    * Understanding Scotlands People, FindmyPast, Family Search, Ancestry, and FreeCen
    * Essential Maps and Gazetteers
    * Civil Registration and Census Research
    * Searching in Church of Scotland Registers
    * Scottish Wills and Inventories

Note: it is recommended but not required that students in this course sign up for the basic search option, 30 units/seven days, at ScotlandsPeople (cost is £7.50 for 30 credits)

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chats See How Courses Work.

STUDENTS SAID:

'I've learnt so much more context around the types of records that really help to understand the value and possible other clues they offer, it's been incredibly useful.'

'Excellent course materials; I learned so much that wouldn't have been easy to do on my own. I also learned more about Family Search than I have in the past, which was helpful.'

'Class material was introduced in an organized manner. Way more information provided than I expected. Many, many leads provided for me to follow up on through learning about specific website holdings.'

'I particularly liked the fact that the course didn't just focus on the well-known BMD resources available, but on a much wider range of websites, including many which give extremely useful background information on the geography and history of the localities where our ancestors lived.'

'Excellent tuition from Chris Paton; very good course materials; well-paced; excellent value for money. I very much liked the opportunity to work at my own pace.'

Relevant Countries: Scotland
Course Length: 5 Weeks
Start Date: 6 July 2026
Cost: £70.00

To register for the course, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/scottish-research-online

I hope to maybe see you there!

Chris

Friends of Argyll Estates Archive to host 2-day online study event in November

The Friends of Argyll Estate Archives will be hosting a two day event on Tuesday 3 November and Tuesday 10 November, with both sessions starting at 6pm. The following is a brief description:

Finding Your Scottish Family: Argyll Estate Archives and Beyond

Two communities, two stories - Tiree and Kintyre - revealing insights that resonate across Argyll and beyond. Join us for two fascinating case studies that explore how history, estate ownership and migration have shaped the documentary records family historians and researchers rely on today.

Standard tickets £25, Friends of Argyll Estate Archives £20.

Keep an eye out for further details at https://argyllestatesarchives.org/.

Chris

University of Strathclyde's Ken Your Kin conference to return in 2027

The University of Strathclyde is to bring back its Ken Your Kin conference in 2027. From the news announcement:

Following the success of Ken Your Kin 2025, the event is coming back in June 2027 with a fresh and exciting new range of topics to explore!
Date - 23rd to 30th of June 2027
Location - Glasgow, Scotland

Immerse yourself in Scottish family history and heritage with a unique summer school experience; the programme for 2027 (to be announced) will introduce exciting new topics.

Join us for engaging talks from Scottish family history experts.
Take your genealogy journey further with help from qualified genealogists.
Savour Scottish food, drink, and time-honoured traditions.
Explore a wonderful mix of museums, cultural, and literary venues.
Enjoy a sociable programme with plenty of chances to connect.
Perfect for groups and solo travellers alike.

For further details please visit https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/kenyourkin2027/.

Chris

ScotlandsPeople adds dissenting prebyterian church session records

ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has uploaded a substantial tranche of dissenting presbyterian church kirk session records, for the Free Church of Scotland and the United Presbyterian Church, covering a period from 1739-1900. These are from congregations that seceded from the Church of Scotland, and which later merged with others to form these two particular bodies, the creation of the Free Church being the bigest development, in 1843. (The Kirk's history is a bit complicated, but you can read my handy free guide to what it is all about at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/p/kirk-history-2.html).

A full breakdown of the new releases is available at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/media/iimdque0/nrs-digital-services-church-records-ch3-online-release-list-of-churches-for-guide-11-june-2026.pdf

Happy hunting!

Chris

Saturday, 20 June 2026

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

Thursday, 18 June 2026

RootsIreland adds records from County Tipperary

From RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.ie) by email:

New Tipperary records added!

We are delighted to announce the addition of almost 10,000 new records for South Tipperary to the Roots Ireland database! They are as follows:

Cappawhite RC baptisms, 1815-1900 (7981 records);
Cappawhite RC marriages, 1803-1900 (1844 records).

For an up to date list of sources for South Tipperary and to search these records, go to rootsireland.ie/tipperarysouth

Chris

Wednesday, 17 June 2026

Scottish GENES Reader's Story: ‘One is one and all alone’ – so the nursery rhyme goes

Reader Catherine Platt has asked me to share the following story, in case it may provide some encouragement to others in a similar situation...

‘One is one and all alone’ – so the nursery rhyme goes –
A Family History journey spanning 20 years!

At the time I retired in 2004, I knew only the story my mother Barbara Tough maintained, that my father (a sailor) had died during the war, her parents had died and she had no brothers or sisters. In contrast both sides of my husband John Platt’s family were teeming with aunts, uncles, cousins galore… many still living within 10 miles of their birth place.

The facts I had were my mother, Barbara left Aberdeen, Scotland with me as a 2/3 year old and took a housekeeper’s job in Leeds for about two years. Then we moved another 4 times, then around 1951 she and I settled in Knutsford Cheshire until her death in 1979.

Not believing the ‘no relatives’ tale, I set out to research what I thought was a very unusual surname, Tough. The Aberdeen FH society were holding a FH day at Kings University, so we travelled up there for this seminar. There they told me Tough (pronounced Tuach) was a very common local name. So began my search, using parish register entries on microfiche of the area where I knew mother was brought up – Bridge of Don, the parish of Old Machar. It was on an old map of the area I spotted the name Morrison’s Croft, and this was written as her place of birth on her birth certificate. One asset the Aberdeen Family History society had was a library of past researcher’s family studies. I started reading through the studies in the Tough section (many written by Americans and Canadians). It was on reading probably the 5th or 6th of these files, I began recognising names and places mentioned and knew I’d found the right Tough family. I phoned John Tough, the author of this file and following some hasty arrangements, met John, his uncle Bob and aunt Betty in Aberdeen. He remembered my mother, his aunty Barbara and told me the family often mused ‘whatever happened to aunty Barbara and her bairn’. On subsequent visits I learned more and met 4 other cousins

Next decade 2024, I started a search for paternal ties via wartime naval personnel information. Then I took a DNA test. Shocking results, as I discovered I was 50% Norwegian. So I’d been searching for records of Jack, the sailor in the wrong country. I finally looked at two old books of my mother’s about old Norway, and saw an inscription with the signature Jack Stendal. My focus now was on the Norwegian archive office. They responded with information on a Jacob Andreas Stendal (b.1.9.1905). His military record showed he was in the UK from 1941 on 3 different warships, plus Portsmouth during the war years. The Oslo archive also enclosed 2 newspaper clippings concerning Jacob, plus a mention of a biography published in 2020. This proved he had survived the war.

A Google search of Jacob Andreas Stendal, showed there was the biography ('From war to a peaceful life' - roughly translated title) written by Emse Andreas Lote. This book was not freely available anywhere other than in academic libraries. An Oslo University Library assistant alerted me to Norwegian Yellow Pages, and at last I had contact details I could follow up! First step was a Christmas card, enquiring to buy a copy of the book. Then an exchange of emails, as she was puzzled to know why I was interested in this Norwegian text book about Jacob, but she sent an extract of an incident involving Jacob and his fellow recuperating naval officers who had been invited to go fox-hunting with the Grantham Hunt (he fell off his horse). My follow up email, pressing to buy the book, was queried, so I said I suspected we could be related. A video call was arranged, and after some questions, Emse agreed to do a DNA test and said, ‘whatever the truth/result will be, my face shape was unmistakenly ‘Norwegian’, and so this fact convinced her that I had a Norwegian parent. She agreed to send me her book, and in exchange I would arrange to send her the DNA testing equipment. Meanwhile I grew fairly proficient in using the on-line translation software and managed to print out an English version of Emse’s 197 page book, outlining not only Jacob’s SOE exploits during his years in UK, but his life story, post-war in setting up a youth sailing proficiency school (for which he received the King’s Medal).

Shortly after my 80th birthday, she contacted me saying ‘Hi sister’… we were a match! On 9 April 2025 she emailed confirming I now had 2 half-sisters (one in the US, but both with English speaking husbands) 4 nephews, 1 niece, 4 grand nephews, plus many more wider family members, so 20 Norwegian nationals. Thus these relatives, added to the Scots Tough clan (16 or so estimated), plus my husband’s extensive family, revealing that I’m now part of a sizeable tribe.

Seizing the moment, with my daughter, I travelled to Oslo last August and met Emse, and several of her family. I was shown Oslo harbour, where my father was initially harbour master, following the German invasion, the town where he grew up, and his gravestone. The Lote family are planning to visit us in Lincoln in July, but dates are pending medical checks.

The results of my family history research was a case of ‘just in time’ for people in their 80s.

Catherine Platt

(PIC: Cathy with Emse, author of Fra Krig til Sjovett, and Alan her husband, in Munch Museum, overlooking Oslo Harbour)

** If you have a story you would like to share, to help others with their research, by all means drop me a note, I'll be only too happy to publish it!

(With thanks to Cathy)

Chris

British Newspaper Archive to unveil new look platform this summer

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has some news:

Something very exciting is coming... the next chapter of the British Newspaper Archive. Later this summer, a new BNA platform will arrive, featuring a range of improvements. The move will be a seamless one, and all your trusted tools will remain. Discover more here: https://bit.ly/4esZXrQ

The full article essentially outlines that the BNA is moving to a new platform in the summer, and promises that it will all be the land of milk and honey when it does so.

I sincerely hope so, and that this isn't going to be a roll out of the FindmyPast version of the platform, which, despite recent improvements, is still inferior to the BNA's own platform.

We'll know soon enough.

Chris