Scottish GENES

Sunday, 1 February 2026

Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers genealogy course returns 16 March

The next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers family history course from Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com) commences in just over a week's time from Monday, 16 March 2026.

The following short video introduces the course:

(Also available at https://youtu.be/1aGSA-mEiQY)

And the following is the course description, and how to sign up if interested!

Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers

This is an intermediate level course in Scottish family history for those who are going back beyond 1850. You should have some experience with research in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland and in using major websites for Scottish research.

This course discusses sources that fill the gap when the OPRs are uninformative or missing, such as the kirk session and presbytery courts records generated by the Kirk (Church of Scotland), as well as the records of dissenting and seceding Presbyterian congregations. From the forerunners of Scotlands modern towns and cities are the administrative records of the burghs, and the trades incorporations and merchant guilds, as well as other professions, which can enhance our understanding of our ancestors lives. And in the final two lessons the course turns up a notch and tackles two areas where the Scottish records, as generated through the feudal system, are truly unique, namely the various registers of land records known as sasines, and the separate legal processes in Scotland for the inheritance of both moveable and heritable estate.

Whilst some of the records discussed in the course are available online, many are available only in the archives, or in private hands, and a strong focus of this course will be in how to successfully employ the relevant catalogues and finding aids to locate such treasures.

Whilst not compulsory, it is strongly recommended that you complete the Pharos course Scottish Research Online before studying Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers, as it will be assumed that you are already familiar with the more basic resources available online for Scottish ancestral research.

Lesson Headings:

    * Kirk Sessions records and parish poor
    * Burgh records and town poor
    * Occupations, taxation and early lists
    * Land transfer and the value of sasines
    * Land, inheritance and estates

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat session per week. (See How the Courses Work at https://www.pharostutors.com/howcourseswork.php.) NB: Unlike previous courses, I am trialling using Zoom for these chat sessions, rather than the previously used text-based chat rooms - recordings of Zoom sessions will be made available after each lesson chat.

Relevant Countries: Scotland
Course Length: 5 Weeks
Start Date: 16 March 2026
Cost: £70

Student feedback:

"The exercises helped you to explore new lesson concepts right away. Especially by directing students to apply new research aids to their own work."

"Very clear explanations of terminology and legal processes Really helpful exercises and comprenesive list of useful catalogues and other references Chat sessions very helpful and engaging."

"This being the second genealogy course I have taken, and the second with Pharos, I found these were detailed foundation courses which will permit me to search better and with less effort in my future research work."

"Great subject-matter and excellent tutor/written materials. It could not have been better."

For further details, and to sign up, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/scotland-1750-1850-beyond-the-old-parish-registers.

I'll hopefully see you online there!

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.

Scottish GENES Webinar: Tracing the Irish in Scotland

My next monthly Scottish GENES Webinar will take place on Saturday 21 February 2026 at 7pm (UK time), and will be entitled Tracing the Irish in Scotland.

Following the event, a recording of the presentation will be available for one week to registrants, and a handout will also be supplied.

The following is the talk's description:

The first census in Scotland, the Senchus Fer nAlban, documented the descendants of Irish Gaels in the west of Scotland, a people known to the Romans as the ‘Scotti’ from which ‘Scotland’ derives its name. The stories of both Scotland and Ireland have remained intertwined ever since. Whilst the 17th century Plantations of Ulster led to the settlement of thousands of Scotland in the north of Ireland, the incorporation of Ireland into the UK in 1801, and the subsequent Great Famine of the 1840s, led to an equally vast migration of Irish folk into Scotland in the 19th century, and beyond.

In this session, family historian Chris Paton will explore the Scottish records which can assist in not only documenting what became of the settlers who have arrived over the last two centuries, but which in many cases can also identify an original point of origin in Ireland from which they came. He will cover the vital records as created by the state and the various Scottish churches, the records of confirmation (probate), the administration of poor relief, the records of religious and political conflicts, and more, explaining how such records can help to shed light onto their ancestral stories. In addition he will also flag up some Irish resources that can provide clues to family circumstances in Scotland.

To register for the event, please visit https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9aN1bbcrQYyt_jjTZ1dbiw - the registration fee is just £10 Stirling.

I hope to maybe see you there!

Chris

Date announced for next Scottish Indexes conference

Thanks to those who attended my DNA talk at yesterday's Scottish Indexes genealogy conference, run by Graham and Emma Maxwell, I hope it helped!

Graham and Emma have announced that the next Scottish Indexes conference will take place online on Saturday 28 February 2026.

For further details keep an eye out at https://www.scottishindexes.com/conference.aspx.

Chris

My farewell to the postion of APG eNews editor

At the end of December 2025 I stepped down as editor of the Association of Professional Genealogists' monthly eNews publication, a position I held for four years, from January 2022, with my last edition being January 2026.

At the time I took on the role the publication had not been in operation for 18 months, and I had initially offered to revive it on a voluntary basis as a means to help develop communication with members in the organisation, before accepting an offer after a few months to take the role on as a paid contractor. (I should add that that had never been my intent, I had fully intended to hand it on after a few months to someone who new what they were actually doing!).

The early editions were just a few pages in length, but working with the APG team over the last four years to develop it, the publication now regularly reaches twenty pages of content, and offers a great overview of the organisation's work.

To my replacement, Allison Beard, I wish the very best of luck, and also to the wider APG team led by Michelle Leonard Cohen. The eNews is available to read at https://www.apgen.org/apg_enews.php, with the February edition now out (in which I am weirdly the main story!).

For more on the APG, please visit https://www.apgen.org.

Thig crìoch air an t-saoghal, ach mairidh gaol is ceòl!

Chris

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

Monday, 26 January 2026

February 2026 issue of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine on sale

The latest edition of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine (Feb 2026) is now on sale. In the magazine I have a three-page article about Scottish Wills, which may be of interest.

Also this issue, Debbie Kennett looks at Ancestry's Pro-Tools, Claire Vaughan looks at the DNAngels team, and Jo Thompson explores the Second World War NAAFI women. In addition Nicola Vaughan looks at Irish teachers, Jonathan Scott looks at free websites for research, and Nick Peers looks at RootsMagic's use of AI.

Further details on the magazine will be available shortly at https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/magazine/.

Chris

Friday, 23 January 2026

MyHeritage offers free access to Australian records

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) is offering free access from January 22-27 to all Australian records (308 collections) to celebrate the country's Australian Day. You can access the records at https://www.myheritage.com/research/catalog?location=Australia&utm_campaign=New%2520historical%2520records&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ms2EIR8ZyKZ-M9wOMCtYYXsRyvy8tTycrwgYImZ7sUB2tqd569fmmyql0JoIU_W-aCWfOMmdjU5M7cK5m4luxFLxNqQ&_hsmi=399876018&utm_content=399876018&utm_source=hs_email

There's a blog post about the promotion at https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/01/celebrate-australia-day-with-free-access-to-2-2-billion-australian-records/.

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

LostCousins founder Peter Calver passes away

I was saddened to learn last night that Peter Calver, the force of nature who created and ran the LostCousins website and newsletter, sadly passed away from bowel cancer on Monday this week. The news comes from an announcement by his wife Sian, which can be read at https://www.lostcousins.com/newsletters2/Jan26deathnews.htm.

In 2014 and 2015 I had the great pleasure to visit Rocha Brava in Portugal's Algrave, where Peter held a timeshare, to take part as a speaker in two highly successful LostCousins hosted Genealogy in the Sunshine events. Peter kindly extended the invitation to my wife and sons also, and I can honestly say that they were two of the best genealogy conferences I have ever attended, with a great crowd of attendees and fellow speakers (including Else Churchill, Debbie Kennett, and John Hanson), and in such a wonderfully relaxed environment. Peter was an absolute gentleman at both events, a fun host, and one who knew exactly what his delegates were looking for from a conference. Due to factors beyond Peter's control the second conference would be the last, but in many ways that only adds to the legend of what they were.

Peter announced that he had become ill in his last LostCousins newsletter just a few weeks ago in December 2025, and I learned a few days ago that his condition had seriously declined, mirroring the rapid situation that my own family experienced when my mother passed away from bowel cancer in 2013. To Sian, and to Peter's wider family, I extend my heartfelt condolences, and those of my wife and boys.

Sian has informed me that she wishes to honour Peter's legacy by continuing the LostCousins platform, although the site will take an understandable break on the newsletter front until Easter.

In the meantime, if you have not subscribed to LostCousins, it would be a fitting tribute to someone who was an absolute legend in the genealogy world. You can do so at www.lostcousins.com.

RIP Peter.

* You can read about the Genealogy in the Sun confernces via the following reports written at the time:

Chris

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

Update on Irish RASCAL local archives platform

The following update is available concerning the Research and Special Collections Available Locally (RASCAL) platform in Ireland, normally available at www.rascal.co.uk, which allows you to look for local holdings of collections, but which has been down for many months:

RASCAL is an electronic gateway to research resources relating to Ireland. It is administered by Special Collection & Archives, Queen's University Belfast. The site is currently undergoing redevelopment and will be back online in 2026. All information from participating institutions has been saved and will be reinstated.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

(Source: https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/InformationServices/TheLibrary/SpecialCollections/DigitalResources/RASCAL/)

Don't forget that the Irish Archives Resources site at https://iar.ie is another very useful finding aid for finding Irish resources across the island.

Chris

Monday, 19 January 2026

MyHeritage adds incoming and outgoing UK passenger lists

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has added the surviving incoming and outgoing UK Board of Trade registered passenger lists from the late 19th to mid-twentieth centuries, which may be of interest if your Scottish and Irish ancestors emigrated or returned back to the UK or Ireland in this period.

From MyHeritage:

United Kingdom and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960

This collection includes 15.7 million records of passengers arriving in the United Kingdom (and Ireland until independence in 1922) from ports around the world between 1878 and 1960. Each record documents an individual’s arrival into the country and typically includes the passenger’s full name, date of birth, current residence, intended residence, date and place of arrival, place of departure, and the name of the ship.

While the collection begins in 1878, many of the earliest records from 1878 to 1888 were destroyed by the Board of Trade in 1900. The surviving records from this early period are especially rare and valuable.

In addition to immigrants and returning residents, the collection also captures short-term visitors and transit passengers. Because ships were required to submit passenger lists at every U.K. stop, even those not intending to stay often appear in the records.

This collection is particularly useful for locating individuals who may not appear in other sources — such as those who fell between census years, left home temporarily, or migrated in stages. Whether your ancestors were arriving for work, travel, or to begin a new life, these records provide valuable insights into their movements and circumstances.

Search the incoming passenger lists at https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-20991/united-kingdom-ireland-incoming-passenger-lists-1878-1960

United Kingdom and Ireland, Outgoing Passenger Lists, 1890–1960

This collection contains 23.5 million records of individuals departing from ports in the United Kingdom (and Ireland until independence in 1922) between 1890 and 1960. Records typically include the passenger’s name, date of birth, current and intended residence, date and place of departure, place of arrival, and the name of the ship.

These lists are a vital resource for understanding emigration patterns from the U.K. and Ireland, particularly to destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. For many families with ancestors who left the British Isles in the late 19th or early 20th century, these records may contain the only surviving documentation of their departure. These passengers include many continental Europeans, especially Scandinavians, who commonly passed through the U.K. en route to destinations like the United States and Canada.

Together, the incoming and outgoing collections represent the entire surviving set of U.K. and Ireland passenger lists for this time period, offering a comprehensive view of travel into and out of the country across 8 decades. They provide detailed, global context for millions of family journeys.

Searc the outgoing passenger lists at https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-20989/united-kingdom-ireland-outgoing-passenger-lists-1890-1960.

The company has also added some nonconformist English and Welsh parish records - for details of the full release visit https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/01/now-live-4-major-u-k-and-ireland-collections-passenger-lists-and-nonconformist-vital-records/.

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

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