ScotlandsPeople Centre ceases half-day bookings

From ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk):

Changes to booking options for visitors

We want to let you know about a change to our booking options for visitors to the Scotland's People Centre in Edinburgh.

Current legal regulations mean we are unable to continue offering half-day bookings. We know that this option has been popular, so we’re working to reintroduce it in future.

In the meantime, full-day bookings remain available at £15. We are also introducing a limited number of free two-hour sessions for personal research.

Find out how you can visit us at General Register House https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

(Source: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/news-and-articles/changes-booking-options-scotlands-people-centre and Facebook)

Comment: 
Where there's a will, there's always a way. 

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 RootsTech presentations until August 2026

From FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org):

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (7 April 2026) —RootsTech 2026, the world’s largest family history celebration, successfully held its 16th annual event and offered new content in 23 languages. Hosted by FamilySearch, the event drew millions of people in person and online from 235 countries and territories and all 50 states. It offered more than 500 classes, keynotes, an expo hall with more than 200 exhibitors, and the popular Relatives at RootsTech interactive discovery activity. This global experience had millions of participants who made new family connections and viewed millions of ancestral relationships online. Find and share this announcement in the FamilySearch Newsroom.

FamilySearch hosts RootsTech as part of its purpose to help individuals discover more about their heritage and make more family connections—past, present, and future. Although RootsTech 2026 has concluded, many of the sessions are now available on demand for free at RootsTech.org. Users can explore thousands of free online classes and create personalized watchlists of their interests to continue learning and discovering year-round. The RootsTech Online Expo Hall will be available until August 2026.

For further details, read the full press release at https://www.familysearch.org/en/newsroom/rootstech-2026-highlights.

The presentations themselves can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/library.

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 expands prisoner records collection

ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has added over 100,000 new prisoner records from Ayr and Inveraray jails from the Victorian era. The addition includes 98,000 entries from Ayr Prison from 1841-1911.

For further details please visit https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/news-and-articles/100000-victorian-prison-records-now-online.

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.

East Lothian Library Service Family History Fair

East Lothian Library Service is hosting a 50th anniversary Family History Fair on Monday 20 April 2026 from 3.30-6.30pm, at the Star Room in the John Gray Centre in Haddington.

For further details please visit https://www.whatsoninedinburgh.co.uk/event/172445-east-lothian-library-service-local-history-centre-family-&-local-history-fair/.

 

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.

Friends of Argyll Estate Archives makes past newsletters available for sale

From the Friends of Argyll Estate Archives via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/friendsofargyllestatesarchives):

NEWSLETTERS

 

The Friends of Argyll Estates Archives Newsletter, now available to non-members! Edited by volunteer and trustee, Duncan Beaton, the Newsletter was established in 2016 to document all the exciting things happening in the archives.

 

Issued twice a year at the traditional Scots term dates of Whitsunday (28 May) and Martinmas (28 November) the Newsletter typically includes an Editor’s note, a list of upcoming seminars, reports on Friends outings and events, articles informed by archival research, a Pen Picture feature and more!

 

Select issues of the Newsletter are now available to purchase for those who are not yet members, but want to learn more about the Friends or read a particular article.

https://argyllestatesarchives.org/shop/

 

PLEASE REMEMBER: existing members can access the full back catalogue of Newsletters by logging-in to the Friends Area!

(With thanks to the Friends)

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.

British Newspaper Archive releases Salvation Army's War Cry

If your ancestors were members of the Salvation Army, the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has now uploaded the archive of the War Cry publication. The current release includes content from 1879-1985, but coverage is planned to continue to the present day, according to its description page at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/BL/war-cry.

My grandmother was a member of the Salvation Army in Belfast as a child, with her mother and grandparents being staunch members. I am still trying to determine which branch they attended in the city, but have already found some clues that I will now pursue with the Salvation Army itself, via its International Heritage Centre (https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/about-us/international-heritage-centre).

Happy hunting!

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.

What to expect from the 1926 Irish Free State census

We are now just a week away from the release of the 1926 Irish census by the National Archives of Ireland, the first census to be recorded by the Irish Free State after its foundation in December 1922. The census revealed that the population of the state (today the Irish republic) at that time was just under 3 million people, standing at 2,971,992. The census will be searchable at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/, alongside the 1901 and 1911 censuses, and the surviving census fragments from 1821-1851.

Details on the questions asked by the census are included at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/about-the-census-collections/census-1926/, with blank examples of the forms also available to view. Note that there will be two forms to consult, Form A, the householder's return, and Form B, the enumerator's return.

I am very much looking forward to the release, to discover information about my wife's family in counties Tipperary and Kilkenny, but also branches of my own family in Donegal and Dublin.  

There was an equivalent census recorded on the same night in 1926 by the recently established Northern Irish government, but these returns have tragically not survived. The next census for the north was recorded in 1937, whuch means we still have eleven years to consult that. However, the 1939 National Identity Register for Northern Ireland, recorded two weeks into the Second World War in September 1939, can be consulted by sending an enquiry to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/forms/submit-enquiry. There is no charge for the service, but you may be required to submit evidence of the death of those you are seeking details for, to protect privacy for those still alive.

The next census in the Irish Free State was recorded on April 26, 1936. The following is therefore the list of censuses for Britain and Ireland to be released over the next 25 years:

• 1931 Scottish census (the English and Welsh returns have not survived)
• 1936 Irish Free State census 
• 1937 Northern Irish census
• 1939 UK National Identity Register (already available)
• No UK 1941 census (Second World War)
• 1946 Ireland (Republic) census 
• 1951 UK census / 1951 Ireland (Republic) census

Every census release is a big occasion - happy hunting!

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 adds Dublin Port employment records but fails to name archival source

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added a new Irish collection, but has provided no information on where the records have been obtained from.

Ireland, Dublin Port Employment Records, 1862-1925
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/ireland-dublin-port-employment-records-1862-1925

This new set consists of 1,636 employment records from the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Comment: Dublin Port employment records from 1906-1925, as sourced from the Dublin Port Name Book, are available at https://www.dublinportarchive.com/searchable-archives/. It is unclear if this is the source for some of the records. 

It is regrettable that FindmyPast portrays itself to be the bona fide source here, when it is simply a publisher of material derived from another archival source. 

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.

Learn with Lorna event in Inverness on May 28th

This who have been following Highland Archives archivist Lorna Steele-McGinn over the last six years with her weekly online Learn With Lorna lectures will perhaps be interested to know that Lorna will be hosting an in-person event in Inverness on 28 May 2026. Here's the blurb from the archive's latest newsletter:

Our series of short online talks about the records held by the Highland Archive Service returned on 22nd January 2026 after a Christmas break.  As advertised in our last newsletter we are looking forward to hosting an in-person Learn with Lorna event at the Highland Archive Centre on 28th May 2026.  A talk on some "Treasures of the Highland Archive Service" will be followed by the chance to see some of the many documents that have featured across the 6 years of the series and to meet some of the other team members who have contributed research over the years.  We are really looking forward to welcoming LWL viewers to the archive centre, celebrating the community that has grown from the series, and saying thank you to all who have helped it grow. The few remaining tickets are available via https://tickets.highlifehighland.com/events/highlifehighland/2057468 or by contacting the Highland Archive Centre direct.

It should be a great event! To watch Lorna's Learn with Lorna series on YouTube, visit https://www.youtube.com/@HighLifeHighlandsocial

(With thanks to Highland Archives) 

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.

Ancestry adds Prerogative Court and Exchequer Court of York wills

This blog tends to concentrate on genealogy resources relevant to Scotland and Ireland these days, but occasionally there are developments down south of the border worth noting. The English and Welsh 'probate' system - the equivalent of Scotland's confirmation system - had two high-tier ecclesiastical courts running the show until 1858. One of these, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC Court), has had wills for the southern half of England available for some time, but there was also a Preogative Court for York (PCY Court), for the northern half, although the PCC Court remained superior to the PCY Court. Whilst some records for the PCY Court have been available on FindmyPast for a while, Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has also now added them as a collection. Ancestry's collection also includes wills form the lower Exchequer Court in York:

England, Prerogative and Exchequer Court of York Wills, 1389-1858
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63000/
Source: Yorkshire Wills and Probate, 1383-1858. York, England: Borthwick Institute for Archives.

This collection contains images of wills filed in Yorkshire, England, between 1389 and 1858. A will is a document that specifies how a person’s property should be distributed after their death.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Place of residence
• Relationship to head of household
• Will date
• Probate date

The indexed information may help you confirm important dates regarding your ancestor’s death and estate processing. You may find additional information by looking at your ancestor’s record image. Your ancestor’s will may include names of family members that you can add to your family tree, and they can help to sort out how your ancestors were related. A will may also include an inventory of an estate’s assets, which may provide some insights into your ancestor’s financial status and lifestyle.

If the will doesn’t have the information you are looking for, you may be able to find related probate records, such as property inventories, petitions to begin the probate process, guardianship and orphans’ court records, and estate bonds.

The majority of the wills in this collection are written in Latin. Ancestry’s Latin genealogy guide may help you read the documents. Some of the records are handwritten in English, but old handwriting can be difficult to read. This article may help you decipher your ancestor’s record. 

For further details, consult the link above. 

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.