Wednesday 30 June 2021

Renovated Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum re-opens

The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum (www.argylls.co.uk) at Stirling Castle has re-opened today after it closed in late 2018 in order for the facility to be renovated, at a cost of £4 million. 

For more on the story visit the Falkirk Herald at www.falkirkherald.co.uk/whats-on/things-to-do/stirling-castle-museum-dedicated-to-revered-scottish-regiment-to-reopen-following-ps4m-revamp-3289867

Historic Environment Scotland also has a press release at www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/scots-military-treasures-preserved-thanks-to-4m-museum-transformation-at-stirling-castle/.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ancestry adds six National Archives of Ireland collections

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following Irish collections, all sourced from the National Archives of Ireland in Dublin:

Ireland, Wills and Grants of Probate, 1858-1900
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62078/
Source: Wills and administrations. Dublin, Ireland: Microfilm of original records at the National Archives.

Ireland, Indexes to Wills, Probate Administration, Marriage Bonds and Licences, 1591-1866
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62077/
Source: Indexes of Wills, Administration and Marriage Licence Bonds. Dublin, Ireland: Microfilm of original records at the National Archives.

Ireland, Registers of Wills and Administrations, 1828-1885
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62076/
Source: Inland Revenue registers of wills and administrations. Dublin, Ireland: Microfilm of original records at the National Archives.

Ireland, Crew Lists and Shipping Agreements, 1863-1920
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62047/
Source: Records of the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen, 1860 - 1921. Dublin, Ireland: Microfilm of original records at the National Archives.

Ireland, Census Fragments, 1821-1851
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62025/
Source: Pre-1901 Census fragments. Dublin, Ireland: Microfilm of original records at the National Archives.

Ireland, National School Registers, 1847-1959
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62023/
Source: National School registers and roll books. Dublin, Ireland: Microfilm of original records at the National Archives.

Descriptions of all of the collections are available via the links. Note that the first five collections are also freely available on www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie, whilst the school registers are equally hosted on FindmyPast (https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/ireland-national-school-registers). Nevertheless, with the records now also hosted on Ancestry, your online hosted family tree (if you have one), will be able to flag up potential matches.

For more on how to make your trees work with sites such as Ancestry and FindmyPast to locate record matches, my book Sharing Your Family History Online may be able to help. It is available to purchase from Pen and Sword via www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Sharing-Your-Family-History-Online-Paperback/p/18718 in both print and e-editions.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scottish civil partnerships extended to mixed-sex couples

Just a quick heads up on the ongoing developments surrounding civil partnerships and marriage law in Scotland!

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 introduced the concept of civil partnerships for same-sex couples into law in Scotland from December 5th 2005. A civil partnership ceremony is secular and must not contain any religious content, or be held at any place that is “used solely or mainly for religious purposes”. A prior notice must be given to a registrar within three months preceding the event, and no later than 15 days before the ceremony is due to happen. The minimum age for both contracting parties is sixteen, and the usual rules of consanguinity, marital status, etc, apply. 

A further development in 2014, the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act, further provided for the marriage of same-sex couples, bringing marriage law into line for same-sex couples as for mixed-sex couples.

The upshot of all of this was that until today, same-sex couples could enjoy the option of either a civil partnership or a marriage, whereas mixed-sex couples only had the option to marry, and not to enter into a civil partnership. This has changed, thanks to the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2020, with it now possible for mixed-sex couples to enter into a civil partnership. The BBC has the story at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57650828.

From a genealogy point of view, it is a useful reminder that for our current generation, and for future generations of genealogists, we may need to consult both the registers of marriage and civil partnerships to locate family developments in the early 21st century and going forwards. Indexes to both of these are available on ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk).

In a practical sense, there is not a great deal of difference between a civil marriage and a civil partnership, but the Citizens Advice Scotland website sums it up neatly as follows:

Civil partnership and marriage are almost identical, and civil partners have the same rights and responsibilities as married partners.

There are some very small procedural differences. For example, civil partnerships are registered by signing the civil partnership schedule, with no words required to be spoken, whereas marriages are solemnised by saying a prescribed form of words.

(Source: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/family/living-together-marriage-and-civil-partnership-s/registering-a-civil-partnership-s/)

For the genealogist though, there is one other thing to be aware of - marriages can be ended by divorce, but civil partnerships end through dissolution. Again, registers indexes for both are available on ScotlandsPeople.

For background to the recent changes, and the laws underpinning them, visit the Scottish Government's Civil Partnerships page at https://www.gov.scot/policies/family-law/civil-partnership/.

Whether you plan to marry or to go enter into a civil partnership, this humble genealogist simply asks that you leave a paper trail - and above all, be happy, we only have one life!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Tuesday 29 June 2021

Update on my Pen and Sword family history books

Pen and Sword has now updated the pre-order page for my next book, Tracing Your Irish Family History Through Land Records, with the new cover image. The book is available at the pre-order price of £11.99 plus p&p, and will be available from the end of September this year. You can pre-order your copy at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Land-Records-Paperback/p/19283. I hope it helps - and thanks to those who have already pre-ordered a copy, it was Pen and Sword's 15th biggest seller of the week yesterday, which is quite something for a book that has yet to gain corporeal form!!!

In addition, I note that a second reprint of my book Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd edition) actually happened a few months ago, which was a pleasant surprise to discover last night, so thanks to those who have already bought a copy. It can be obtained via https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483 at £14.99 plus p&p (the good looking girl in the middle of the front cover is my mum, with her parents on either side, who sadly passed away in 2013, and who would have been 71 today!)

I have also just learned that my most recent book Sharing Your Family History Online is due to be reprinted at the end of July - it can be ordered from https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Sharing-Your-Family-History-Online-Paperback/p/18718

My two Scottish titles are also still available - Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Ancestry-through-Church-and-State-Records-Paperback/p/16848), and Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Scottish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/17717).

 

So what's next? Well I have a big commitment this summer that I am currently working on (the British Institute's tract on Ireland in October), and then it's straight into my next book, which is taking me right back to my doorstep back home in Northern Ireland. 

After that, I then have something in the pipeline that I hope will be very helpful for my Scottish friends - more on both projects in due course!


Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Sunday 27 June 2021

Ancestry adds index to Dundee poor law records

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following third party index to an existing poor law records collection from the Friends of Dundee City Archives (http://fdca.org.uk):

Web: Dundee, Scotland, Poor Law Indexes, 1854-1878
Ancestry.com. Web: Dundee, Scotland, Poor Law Indexes, 1854-1878 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021.
Original data: Dundee, Scotland: Friends of Dundee City Archives. http://fdca.org.uk/Index_PoorRegisters.html.

About Web: Dundee, Scotland, Poor Law Indexes, 1854-1878
All data in this third-party database was obtained from the source’s website. Ancestry.com does not support or make corrections or changes to the original database. To learn more about these records, please refer to the source’s website.

Ancestry's description states next to nothing, so here are the collection descriptions from the Friends page itself:

The Data

The data in this database are extracted from two volumes concerning poor relief in Dundee:

    Liff and Benvie Register of Poor, 1854 to 1865 (Dundee Archives - Ref : SC45/48/1)
    Dundee East Poorhouse Register, 1856 to 1878 (Dundee City Archives reference: CP/DE6/1)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Friday 25 June 2021

Ayrshire Archives update

An update this monring from Ayrshire Archives (www.ayrshirearchives.org.uk) via its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AyrshireArchive):

Thank you to everyone for your interest in the reopening of our service. The move to our new premises was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic which started just after we closed. Due to preparations required after the move we are still unable to provide an exact date for reopening. Any announcements of when we are able to reopen will be posted on our social media platforms. Thank you for your patience.

Looks like we may have a wee while to go yet, but I'm sure it will be worth the wait - the archive has some great records.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scottish and Irish records additions to FindmyPast

Added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week:

Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Census & Population Lists 1792-1821
Discover Scottish ancestors, their birth years and addresses in these early local census documents from Annan and Balmaclellan.

Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers
We’ve added over 62,000 new court records from Donegal County Archives and you won’t find them anywhere else online. The records added cover the courts of Ballyshannon and Newtowncunningham and span from 1828-1855.

Ireland, Court of Chancery Bill Books 1627-1884
Uncover family disputes and more in this vast collection of court records spanning over 250 years of Irish legal history. The 1.2 million records in this National Archives of Ireland collection can reveal essential Irish family information like names and court proceedings dates. Remember to check the digitised copy of the original document for extra detail.

Ireland, Court of Exchequer Bill Books 1627-1884
Did your ancestor have their day in one of Ireland’s busiest courts? Delve into over a million new records to find out. The Court of Exchequer was one of Ireland's most senior courts and mainly dealt with cases concerning equity. As such, you'll find the records full of land and business owners, merchants, professionals and farmers with large estates.

Newspaper additions include the Larne Reporter and Northern Counties Advertiser, and more pages for the Evening Irish Times, Fermanagh Times, and the Irish Independent.

For further details on these and other new respurces, as well as links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/irish-bill-books

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Thursday 24 June 2021

Coming soon - Researching Farming Ancestors in Ireland

Coming soon from the Ulster Historical Foundation (www.ancestryireland.com)

Researching Farming Ancestors in Ireland

A new genealogical guide to help you find out more about your Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors.

Agriculture has been central to Irish life for millennia and though in recent decades there have been significant social, economic and demographic changes, the people of Ireland are still generally thought of in terms of their historic relationship with the land.

The aim of this book is to help those with roots in the farming communities of Ireland find out more about their ancestors. Throughout this volume, attention is drawn to the richness of the documentation held in archives and libraries on the island of Ireland, as well as highlighting a selection of material found beyond these shores.

Prior to the late nineteenth century very few farmers owned their farms outright, but rather were tenants on an estate. Considerable attention is given to the records generated by the management of landed estates in Ireland and how these can help uncover much about the lives of farming families. As the result of legislation passed in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the estate system came to an end and an owner-occupier class of farmers was created. The records relating to this major period of change are highlighted and discussed.

There are also chapters on the Registry of Deeds, Valuation records, registers of freeholders and the Encumbered Estates Court and its successors, as well as material created by farmers, such as diaries and account books, and the records of farming organisations, including agricultural improvement societies and the co-operative movement. A final chapter considers documentation relating to agricultural labourers, cottiers and farm workers.

A farmer’s son from County Tyrone, Dr William Roulston is the author of Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors (2nd edition, 2018) and Researching Presbyterian Ancestors in Ireland (2020).

A full list of contents of this book can be found at www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/farming-ancestors

(With thanks to the UHF via email)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free immigration records access from MyHeritage

From MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com)

The Immigration & Travel records on MyHeritage encompasses 57 collections with 181 million historical records from all over the world. They include passenger arrival records, naturalization records, border crossings, emigration records, passports, and convict transportation records.

These records are often pivotal for genealogists, because discovering details on exactly where your ancestors were from can help you understand where to look for additional records on their childhoods and their families in the old country. Normally, most of these records are free to search, but can only be fully accessed by MyHeritage users with a Data or Complete plan. From today until June 28, anyone will be able to access them free of charge. Read more about MyHeritage’s immigration and travel records in the blog post at https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/06/journey-to-the-past-with-free-immigration-travel-records/.



MyHeritage has also released Roman Catholic records for Austria - details at https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/06/myheritage-releases-two-record-collections-from-austria-and-eastern-europe/

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Wednesday 23 June 2021

FamilySearch releases Ontario tax rolls and New Zealand electoral rolls

The following releases this week on FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) may be handy for tracing your emigrant ancestors and relatives in Canada and New Zealand:

Canada, Ontario Tax Assessment Rolls, 1834-1899
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/4130007
Description
Tax assessment rolls from Ontario from 1834 to 1899. These records may include the name, age, occupation, and possibly the religious affiliation of the head of household along with information about his lands, home, family members (by age categories) crops, and animals.

New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1865-1957
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/3662227
Description
This collection contains electoral rolls from New Zealand for the years 1865 to 1957. Microfilm of original records now at the Wellington General Assembly Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

For further releases visit https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-21-june-2021/

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Tuesday 22 June 2021

Radical Rising of 1820 trial records added to ScotlandsPeople

ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has added records from the Radical Rising of 1820. From the site, some of the key details on how to access the records:

Background information

The ‘Radical Rising’ or ‘Radical War’ of 1820, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest in Scotland that culminated in the trial of a number of ‘radicals’ for the crime of treason. It was the last armed uprising on Scottish soil, with the intent of establishing a radical republic.

The records of the Radical Rising trials

The highly-significant trial papers of the Radical Rising are held by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). For many years, the papers were thought to have been lost in storage at Parliament House, Edinburgh. In 1972, nineteenth-century records of the High Court of Justiciary were received by the former Scottish Record Office (predecessor of NRS). 

The records were rediscovered among unsorted High Court papers in 1983 by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland though have, until recently, been an under-used resource. The collection has now been fully catalogued, conserved and digitised, and is made fully available online on ScotlandsPeople for the first time.

How to search the records of the Radical Rising

To search for a particular record from the Radical Rising trials, go to the Virtual Volumes search or see our guide on Using Virtual Volumes.

The NRS online catalogue references for the eight series, which can be used for searching the records by reference number in Virtual Volumes, are as follows:

    JC21/1 Commission of oyer and terminer
    JC21/2 Treason Trials: County of Stirling
    JC21/3 Treason Trials: County of Lanark
    JC21/4 Treason Trials: County of Dunbarton
    JC21/5 Treason Trials: County of Renfrew
    JC21/6 Treason Trials: County of Ayr
    JC21/7 Writ of certiorari directing commissioners to certify indictments into High Court of Justiciary
    JC21/8 Writs of capias against persons not brought to trial in 1820

The full article, with considerably more details, is available at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/research-guides/radical-rising-1820

Have fun!


Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

More Kerry records added to RootsIreland

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

More Kerry Records Added

We are delighted to announce the addition of 9,277 baptism and marriage Roman Catholic records from County Kerry to our Roots Ireland database at kerry.rootsireland.ie.
The records are as follows:

    Ballybunion marriages, 1831-1905 (2,922 records)
    Brosna baptisms, 1866-1900 (1,734 records)
    Brosna marriages, 1890-1900 (156 records)
    Castlegregory marriages, 1829-1911 (2,552 records)
    Killeentierna marriages, 1803-1884 (1,586 records)

For an up to date list of sources for Kerry  and to search these records, go to kerry.rootsireland.ie and login or subscribe as required.

Yours Sincerely
rootsireland.ie 

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Monday 21 June 2021

Coming soon - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records

My next book, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, should be available from Pen and Sword by the end of September this year. The cover has now been redesigned, and I think they've done a great job:


The book can be pre-ordered from https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Land-Records-Paperback/p/19283

I hope it can help your research further when it is released!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Saturday 19 June 2021

The Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine

The Scottish Maritime Museum (www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org) in Irvine is a place that I have long had on my list to visit, having first become aware of it in my TV days whilst working on a documentary about an Edinburgh hospital, with one of the people we were featuring residing close to it. Despite having been based in Ayrshire since 2002, and in Irvine itself for the last 18 months, it was today that I finally managed to step foot inside - and it was well worth the wait! 

From the museum's website:

Founded in 1983 and based in the West of Scotland with sites in Irvine and Dumbarton, the Scottish Maritime Museum holds an important nationally recognised collection, encompassing a variety of historic vessels, artefacts, art, fascinating personal items and the largest collection of shipbuilding tools and machinery in the country. The buildings and sites which the Scottish Maritime Museum occupies are themselves part of the collection.

The Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine is housed within the vast, glass-roofed Victorian Linthouse. This A listed ‘cathedral of engineering’ was formerly the Engine Shop of Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard in Govan before being salvaged and relocated to Irvine in 1991.

The Scottish Maritime Museum in Dumbarton is located on the former site of the influential and innovative William Denny Shipyard and features the world’s first commercial ship testing facility, the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank.

As noted, there are two facilities, and I do intend to visit the Dumbarton based facility at some stage also, but today was about the institution on my doorstep here in Irvine. A single adult ticket is £8.50, which essentially gives you the run of the place for the day. The museum provides an overview of the practices of boat and ship building in Scotland since pre-history, from dug out Bronze Age tree trunks to the clinker built boat technology sourced from the Norse and the Vikings, to the full blown shipbuilding industry on the Clyde from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. There was a lot to take in, with many original boats and exhibits from the industry - not least the Linthouse building itself, which was removed from a yard in Govan and rebuilt in Irvine to its original design. Just for good measure, there was also a boat built by the brother of a friend of mine!

On the main website you can access various online exhibits, but the following are some pics to give you a flavour of what is there to see.


One vessel sadly no longer there is the City of Adelaide, which is now based in Adelaide, South Australia, but I was lucky to be able to see this on a trip to the city a few years ago as part of an Unlock the Past event - so for those who may be interested, and who miss her presence outside the museum, this is how she looked down under in 2017...!


Scotland has one hell of a maritime legacy, so what more is there to say other than come and visit the museum in Irvine - you'll love it!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Friday 18 June 2021

FindmyPast adds England/Wales prison registers and Glasgow's Daily Record

Amongst the releases this week from FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) are some useful prison records if your ancestors got into trouble down south (and in Gibraltar), as well as new content from Glasgow's Daily Record newspaper:

England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935

Discover your criminal ancestors’ mugshots, prison registers, visitors’ details and more in the latest additions to this fascinating collection.

Spanning from 1784-1939, the records and prisons featured in these latest additions are:

    Prison registers and minute books from Pentonville Prison
    Visitor's book and journal of proceedings from Gibraltar Prison
    Register of prisoners from Chatham Prison, Kent
    Index of working parties from Portsmouth Prison
    Index of working parties and register of prisoners under separate confinement from Wormwood Scrubs Prison
    Book of questions from Millbank Prison
    List of prisoners and chaplain, surgeons and sheriff visits from Newgate Prison
    Governor's journal from Bedford Gaol
    Visiting committee records from Lindsey Gaol
    Calendar of trials and quarter sessions from Liverpool Gaol
    Entry book of prisoners pardons and visiting justices' records from Reading Gaol
    Register of debtors and plaintiffs from Lancaster Gaol
    Gaoler's journal from Oxford Gaol

One of the most exciting elements of our crime collection is the chance of seeing your ancestor staring back at you. To explore original mugshots, search the MEPO 6, PCOM 2 and PCOM 4 series.


New content for the following years for the Daily Record: 1895-1896, 1898, 1901-1902, 1908-1910, 1921, 1931-1932, 1936-1937, 1946, 1950 and 1952-1954

For furtehr details on these and othe rreleases, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/crime-baptisms-burials


Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

TheGenealogist adds 1841-1901 Scottish census transcripts

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

Scottish Census takes TheGenealogist’s releases to over 75 million in the last 9 months!

TheGenealogist is launching the complete census for Scotland (1841-1901) at The Family History Show Online on Saturday 19th June. For the first time you can use their renowned brick wall busting search tools on these records. You can find a person using keywords such as occupation, birthplace, year of birth and more, search for a family using their forenames or search for an address.

This release adds over 24 million records from the Census of Scotland 1841-1901 to their already substantial data offering. TheGenealogist provides an extreemly strong package for family historians researching British Isles ancestors with its wide range of data that also includes the advantage of its unique Land Records (Tithe and Land Tax) that give ownership and occupiers down to property level.

TheGenealogist has been extremely busy in the last year expanding its coverage for its Diamond subscribers to cover all areas of the British Isles.

Releases in the last nine months have seen 14.5 million individuals from all the Anglican Parish Records for Wales added. A further 34 million records for England and Wales came with the release of the 1939 Register records. There were 100,000 Irish Will records and now, this week, TheGenealogist is pleased to announce that these have been joined by over 24 million records from the Census of Scotland 1841-1901.

This is the first time that TheGenealogist has released such a large number of Scottish records and it now means that this important data for the most northerly part of the British Isles can now be searched using the comprehensive search features for which TheGenealogist is renowned. Appreciated by family historians researching their ancestors for the ease of use of its powerful Master Search, TheGenealogist gives researchers the ability to select phonetic, exact or standard search filters.

The comprehensive search facilities that are already available when using TheGenealogist’s English and Welsh census records will make this Scottish census release a welcome addition to the family history researcher’s toolkit.

Read TheGenealogist’s feature article: Scottish census records list the homes of Scots from city dwellers to lighthouse keepers. https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2021/scottish-census-records-list-the-homes-of-scots-from-city-dwellers-to-lighthouse-keepers-1421/

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Thursday 17 June 2021

Glasgow's 1920 Absent Voters List now online

From Glasgow City Archives via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowCityArchives):

New online resource for family historians!

Following a year-long transcription project, we're delighted to release an index to Glasgow's 1920 Absent Voters List. This fantastic database will be of interest to those whose ancestors served in the First World War and contains the names of more than 13,000 men and women who lived in Glasgow.

The Absent Voters List is a register of those who were absent from home but eligible to vote. This makes it an excellent source of information about those serving in the forces, merchant seamen and other occupations supporting the war effort.

Find out more and search it at: https://bit.ly/3grNWoF

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scottish 1921 census release delayed until latter half of 2022

ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has added an update on the release of the 1921 census - and it is going to disappoint a lot of folk:

We will release indexed images of the 1921 Scottish Census on scotlandspeople.gov.uk and in the ScotlandsPeople Centre in the latter half of 2022. We’ll keep you updated on progress via our digital channels.

(Source: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/guides/census-returns)

I first reported on the possible delay on the census release last month (https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2021/05/delay-to-1921-scottish-census-release.html) on the basis of a news update from Manchester's Anglo-Scots FHS, which was subsequently confirmed by a member of the Aberdeenshire and North East Scotland FHS. They had been informed of a possible delay by the Scottish Association of Family History Societies, following correspondence it received from the ScotlandsPeople Centre, but this is the first public confirmation from the centre itself through its own online channels.

It's worth noting that the ScotlandsPeople Centre never actually gave a date for the census' publication, only that it would be made available after June 2021, but it was widely anticipated that it would be released this year at some stage. There is no point blaming the ScotlandsPeople Centre, as the staff at the NRS have their hands full just now with the coronavirus situation - so please blame the bug folks, and not the staff, who are doing their best in very difficult circumstances.

In a forthcoming edition of Family Tree magazine (https://www.family-tree.co.uk) I have written a detailed guide to 20th centry records that you can get on with in the meantime, as we await the census's release, and I'll announce more on that when it is published.

All good things come to those who wait - we'll just have to wait a wee while longer...

 

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Ancestry adds Casey Collection Indexes for Counties Cork and Kerry

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following collection:

Ireland, Casey Collection Indexes, 1545-1960
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62062/
Source: Casey Collection. Albert E. Casey: O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher, and Upper Blackwater in Ireland, 1952-71.

About Ireland, Casey Collection Indexes, 1545-1960

General Collection Information


This collection contains an index and images from a series of books titled “O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and the Upper Blackwater in Ireland” by Albert E. Casey. This 16-volume series, commonly known as the Casey Collection, is a compilation of Irish genealogical and historical records from parts of the counties Cork and Kerry.

This collection includes Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, and Quaker birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial records transcribed from parish and civil registers.

Using this Collection


You can search the database using the indexed fields or browse by volume. The information contained within this collection includes the following:

    Name
    Gender
    Event type (birth, marriage, death, and burial)
    Date range
    Denomination
    Event barony
    Event county
    Event parish
    Birthdate
    Event date
    Marital status
    Age at time of event
    Death district
    Father's name
    Mother's name
    Next of kin's name
    Relationship

More genealogical and historical information can be found by viewing the images.

History of the Collection

Dr. Albert E. Casey, an Alabama pathologist, was born in New York City in 1903 and received his medical degree from St. Louis University in 1927. Dr. Casey created and compiled this collection while researching his family history and published it between 1952 and 1971 by the Amite and Knocknagree Historical Fund in Birmingham, Alabama.

Casey’s ancestors came from the area known as Sliabh Luachra on the border of Northwest Cork and East Kerry. Local Irish researchers, typists, and transcribers assisted Casey in compiling over 3 million names from the area. The books also include maps, photographs, family and county histories.

Bibliography


Patin, Michele. “Casey’s Remarkable Collection of Genealogical Sources for Kerry and Cork ... and How to Use It.” Irish Genealogical Society of Wisconsin. 2001, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~irlker/pdf/caseyaid.pdf

Goodwin. "Albert Casey Irish Collection." Samford University Library. March 2018, https://library.samford.edu/exhibits/2018/casey-irish-collection.html.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Saturday 12 June 2021

Colour charts of ancestral birth places

This is doing the rounds again online just now - a template from 2016 on J. Paul Hawthorne's blog, GeneaSpy, on which you can create a colour chart using Excel to plot where your ancestors were born. You can find it on https://www.geneaspy.com/2016/03/a-little-thing-that-went-viral.html.

This is my attempt using the chart template today for 5 generations:

And an earlier attempt at seven generations which I put together in 2016!


The suggestion is that you create a chart and then use the hashtag #MyColorfulAncestry

It's a bit of fun, and a useful visual aid to see where your research is currently at - have fun!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Friday 11 June 2021

Handfasting - marriage or betrothal?

This may be one of those 'where angels fear to tread' posts...! 

I've occasionally been asked in the past about so called 'handfast' marriages in Scotland, where it is said that couples could be married for a year and day, at which point they then decide whether to call it a day, or to continue on as a married couple. The reason I have never really bothered to discuss them in talks, lectures and books is very simple - I have never come across them in the records during my client work or my own personal research over the last 20 years. If it isn't something I'm dealing with for my work, it's not as relevant as other things that maybe are - and which will be for others doing their work. And goodness only knows that in Scotland there is already enough of relevance to be talking about with regards to marriage in genealogical research!

In looking through the back collection of The Scottish Genealogist, I have come across a great article by genealogist Donald Whyte, in the December 1994 edition (Vol. XLI No.4), entitled Handfast Marriage in Scotland. In essence, it summarises 'handfasting' not as a form of marriage, but for the most part across Scotland as an act of betrothal prior to a marriage. For the most part it seems to have been a largely pre-Reformation practice in Scotland.

There were three forms of irregular marriage prior to 1940 in Scotland - a marriage by declaration, with an exchange of consent before witnesses; marriage by habit and repute (living together as man and wife, with no ceremony, and accepted by the community as such - and which remained valid as form until 2006), and promise subsequente copula - the act of betrothal, followed by intercourse. As far as the Kirk was concerned, the term 'handfasting' applied to the latter, an act of betrothal, which did not constitute marriage in itself, and for which those so betrothed were to continue to live as single persons until they either were married in the church or completed their marriage irregularly. Whyte's article cites various examples from the kirk session records of Aberdeen and St. Andrew's from the 1560s.

A betrothal, which held some importance to the Kirk, could be demonstrated in Scotland by the joining of hands, with the term handfasting derived from the Anglo-Saxon term faesta-hand. But a betrothal, unlike the existence of a marriage itself, could be easily called off prior to a wedding, and the two prospective spouses could go their separate ways.

In the Western Isles, parts of the Highlands, and Eskdalemuir in the Borders, Whyte describes the traditions of supposed temporary marriages, but considers these to be variations of an act of betrothal. In the Western Isles, Martin Martin noted in 1703 a practice, long abandoned, of at the end of a year and a day, the prospective husband returning his betrothed wife to her father, along with any dowry, if the desire to marry was no longer shared, but with the father keeping any illegitimate children. William Skene noted similar, with a temporary betrothal between the heir of a chief and another's daughter which could be abandoned after a year and a day, unless a child had been borne to them, in which case they were deemed to have become married by promise subsequente copula. Whyte further cites an example of a similar practice on Skye, recalled by Dr Samuel Johnson in 1773, of a calamitous feud following the dissolution of such a betrothal between a branch of the MacLeods and the MacDonalds. This practice appears to have been dissolved during the reign of James VI in 1608.

One area in the Borders where handfasting seemed to be a bit more culturally institutionalised until the late 17th century was Eskdalemuir, where at an annual fair, single men and women could meet and take each other as betrothed spouses who then cohabited for a year and a day. The practice here was noted as having emerged prior to the Reformation due to a lack of clergy in the area, with priests making annual visits to carry out rites of baptism and marriage, but in such a case, those who were so betrothed still had to be married by the priest for the marriage to later become valid.  

In conclusion, Whye again cites his belief that despite the variations in the country, handfasting was still just a part of the betrothal custom, and a part of the irregular form of marriage by promise subsequente copula. 

You can obtain a copy of the full article from the Scottish Genealogy Society - Scottish Genealogist Journal vol.41 part 4 (1994) - at https://shop.scotsgenealogy.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=1994%20scottish%20dec%20genealogist&PN=Scottish_Genealogist_Journals_%2d_Downloadable%2ehtml#SID=307?a4336, as a downloadable PDF priced at just £1.


(With thanks to Donald Whyte)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

British Newspaper Archive passes 43 million pages

The following titles have been added to the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) in the last 30 days, including some new Scottish content (it's good to see Inverness getting some TLC here!), with the total number of pages available to view now well past 43 million:

Daily Record
1895-1896, 1898, 1901-1902, 1908-1910, 1921, 1931

Morning Herald (London)
1801-1807, 1809-1810, 1819-1822

Staffordshire Newsletter
1907-1915, 1917-1933

Derby Daily Telegraph
1989

Bangalore Spectator
1889-1890

Herts and Essex Observer
1982

West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser

1951-1956, 1959-1990, 1993-1999

Newcastle Evening Chronicle
1912

South London Press
1871

Torquay Times, and South Devon Advertiser

1934-1949, 1951-1961

Boston Spa News
1873-1878, 1880-1882, 1884-1895, 1898-1900

Galway Express
1853-1920

Western Star and Ballinasloe Advertiser
1845-1869, 1888-1902

Lynn Advertiser
1926-1928

Middleton Albion
1857-1867, 1869-1880

Ballymena Advertiser
1873-1892

Pontefract Advertiser
1865, 1873, 1889

Glossop-dale Chronicle and North Derbyshire Reporter
1895-1896, 1898-1910, 1913

Beverley Independent
1888-1893, 1895-1896, 1898-1911

Englishman's Overland Mail
1906

Swindon Advertiser

1900

Isle of Wight Journal
1877, 1879, 1889

Weekly Journal (Hartlepool)
1905-1909

Halifax Comet
1895-1897, 1903

London and China Express

1858-1861, 1863-1905, 1907-1919, 1923-1931

Glasgow Weekly Mail

1867, 1869, 1886, 1888, 1890-1892

Sun (London)
1843

Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser
1837

Northern Daily Times
1855

Blackpool Gazette & Herald
1894-1896, 1899-1907, 1913-1919

Teviotdale Record and Jedburgh Advertiser
1855-1872, 1874-1878, 1881, 1885-1910

Weekly Free Press and Aberdeen Herald
1879-1881, 1883-1884, 1887-1888, 1890, 1892

Kirriemuir Free Press and Angus Advertiser
1915-1960

Saturday Inverness Advertiser
1860-1879, 1881-1882

Kirriemuir Observer and General Advertiser
1884-1885, 1915-1949

Inverness Journal and Northern Advertiser
1812-1833, 1835-1836, 1840-1842, 1844-1848

Inverness Advertiser and Ross-shire Chronicle
1849-1885

Glasgow Weekly Herald
1868-1869, 1885

Ripon Observer
1889, 1917-1918

Weymouth Telegram
1886

East Riding Telegraph
1898

Weekly True Sun
1835

Northern Weekly Gazette

1910, 1922-1923, 1925-1928, 1930-1931 

COMMENT: It's good that the project is continuing beyond its original goal of 40 million pages, but I hope the BNA addresses one of its biggest weaknesses for its Scottish content at some point, and that is its coverage for 20th century Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. 

In the meantime, don't forget that the Glasgow Herald is freely available from 1806-1990 on Google News at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC, whilst the Evening Times, mainly from 1951-1990, is available at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2mus-XyGPC0C. The Bulletin and Scots Pictorial from Glasgow is also available for 1951-1960 at https://bit.ly/BulletinScotsPictorial. In all cases the search tool from Google is unfortunately quite poor, but the papers can be freely browsed.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast updates First World War Soldiers' Medical Records collection

There's not a lot added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week, but the following may be of interest:

British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records

After winning 50% of your votes in last week’s community poll, we’ve added over 1,900 new entries to this important Great War collection.

As well as names, ranks and service numbers, the records reveal details you won't find elsewhere, like illness or wound descriptions and how long the injured soldiers stayed at a medical facility.

Some Roman Catholic records for a few regions in England have also been added. For further details, and links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/english-catholic-parish-records

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Wednesday 9 June 2021

People, Place and Power: The Grand Jury System in Ireland

I've just carried out three separate research jobs for a client which relied heavily on Irish land records, but the third in particular involved the use also of Grand Jury presentment and query books for County Louth, with many of the relevant query books available online from the Louth County Archives website at www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/archives/online-digital-archives/louth-grand-jury-query-books/

The books, produced from the late 18th century onwards, are a wonderful resource for the main arm of local administration in Ireland prior to 1899 (before they were replaced with County Councils, Rural Councils and District Councils), with published presentment books and query books from the late 18th century listing jurors, constables and sub-constables, as well as public works to be carried out in the county, and the costs involved. 

The Beyond 2022 project (https://beyond2022.ie) has now placed online a new book published by Trinity College Dublin entitled People, Place and Power: The Grand Jury System in Ireland, by Brian Gurrin, david Brown, Peter Crooks and Ciaran Wallace, which can be found at https://beyond2022.ie/the-grand-jury-system-in-ireland. The book is free to download.

The Grand Jury was in use in Ireland from Anglo-Norman times, although for many centuries it largely only had a judical function at assizes and quarter sessions. A lot of Grand Jury records have been destroyed, not least with many of them gathered into the Public Record Office, which was largely destroyed in the Irish Civil War in 1922. A lot of material has survived, however, in published form and at other repositories, and with some resources reproduced online (including for Donegal on FindmyPast).


Enjoy the book - and don't forget that my new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records will be coming out from Pen and Sword later this summer, and is already available for pre-order at Amazon on www.amazon.co.uk/Tracing-Irish-Ancestors-Through-Records/dp/1526780216 (NB: there may be a change to the cover!)! 

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Tuesday 8 June 2021

Old Scottish adds Scottish asylum records and Aberdeenshire Sheriff Court extract decrees

Old Scottish Genealogy & Family History has added an index to all admissions to Scottish asylums 1858-1915 (www.oldscottish.com/asylum-patients.html), and further Aberdeen Sheriff Court entries to its Sheriff Court Extract Decrees index, taking the total to over 42,000 (www.oldscottish.com/sheriff-court-extract-decrees.html).

(With thanks to FergusSmith @oldscotbooks via Twitter)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Lists of Roman Catholics in early 18th century Scotland

A few years ago I bought the entire collection of the Scottish Genealogy Society's journal, The Scottish Genealogist, and from time to time I take a batch of them and read through. Many of the articles are quite dated on the technology front (the journal started in 1954!), as is the language used, but one of the real joys is the amount of knowledge locked away within them about resources which are just not noted in any books that I have come across elsewhere on research sources.

One brief article that I have just read from the December 1991 issue (Vol. 38, No. 4), for example, is entitled Catholic Records, which is uncredited, but which over the course of three pages lists which records of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland contain letters and documents naming Roman Catholics ('papists') living within various Scottish parishes in the early 1700s. The records are catalogued under CH1/2/5 and CH1/2/29-34. 

The article provides specific references for individual parishes and presbyteries in which lists of Catholics are identified. The same information can be gleaned today for these collections using the modern NRS catalogue (http://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/welcome.aspx), by placing CH1/2/5 in the Reference box, and clicking search, which in this case generates 5 results:

  • CH1/2/5/1, Church Papers, 1701-1705
  • CH1/2/5/2, Church Papers, 1700-1705
  • CH1/2/5/3, Church Papers, 1702-1706
  • CH1/2/5/4, Church Papers, 1706-1707
  • CH1/2/5/5, Church Papers, 1700-1706

However, each of these references, when clicked on for more detail, provides further details of five bound manuscript volumes, with further references to holdings contained within them given in considerably more detail, but also for parishes where none were recorded (not identified in the article). 

If I do a further search on the second reference above, CH1/2/5/2, the following additional details are included, amongst the many items collected, for lists of Catholics found or not found:

MSS bound - Part Two

  • 149-154. Lists of Papists within the Presbytery of Edinburgh in various years 1700-1704.
  • 155. List of Papists in Aberdeen, 1705.
  • 156. List of Papists in Urr, 1705.
  • 157. List of Papists in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright above the Water of Dee.
  • 158. List of Papists in the Sheriffdom of Dumfries. 1705.
  • 159. List of Papists in the Regality of Terregles and Kirkcungeon. 1705.
  • 161. Names of the few papists in Kincardineshire. 1705.
  • 162. List of papists in Morayshire. 1705.
  • 163-164. Declarations by Town Clerk and Sheriff of Selkirk. [No papists] 1705.
  • 165. No. papists in Atholl. 1705.
  • 166. No. papists in Dunbar. 1705.
  • 167. Names of papists in Musselburgh. 1705.
  • 168. Names of papists in Leith. 1705.
  • 169. Names of papists in Dalkeith.
  • 170. List of papists in Canongate. 1705.
  • 171. List of papists in Forfar. 1705.
  • 172. List of papists in Linton. 1705.
  • 173. Names of papists in Glasgow. 7 March 1705.
  • 174. Names of papists in Cupar. 5 March 1705.
  • 175. List of papists in Edinburgh. 9 Feb. 1705.

And there are of course others found within the general references quoted above.

The journal discussed here is, if of interest, available from the Scottish Genealogy Society's shop at https://shop.scotsgenealogy.com/acatalog/shop.html as a downloadable PDF document, priced at just £1.

I'll occasionally flag up a few more gems from time to time, as and when I find them!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FamilySearch's Family History Library in Utah to re-open on July 6th 2021

This may be of interest to those of you requiring access to resources for your Caledonian or Hibernian research as held at the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA - it includes a new provision for a free look-up service:

FamilySearch Family History Library Reopening

New patron film scanning station in the FamilySearch Family History LibraryThe FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, announced it will begin a phased reopening starting 6 July 2021. The popular destination service has been closed since March 13, 2020, due to precautions pertaining to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The library serves beginner and professional family history patrons from all over the world and is a popular tourist attraction for the state of Utah. Initially, hours will be from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with plans to extend to additional days and hours soon.  

“While billions of our records are available online, we realize that many researchers—including professional genealogists whose livelihoods depend on reliable records—are anxious to access records in-person within the library. We know the extended closing has created difficulties, and we are excited to welcome our guests back into a safe environment for continued research and discoveries,” said David Rencher, director of the Family History Library and FamilySearch’s Chief Genealogical Officer.

Rencher says as one of the most popular attractions in the state, it has been tough to be closed for so long, but necessary to ensure the health and safety of staff and guests. When the library reopens, patrons will be asked to respect any prevailing safety precautions at that time. In addition, sanitizing stations are placed throughout the library, and continuous cleaning procedures will also be in place.

New patron workstations at the FamilySearch Family History Library.The library has taken advantage of the prolonged closure to make needed renovations to the facility that will be very exciting to patrons when the doors reopen. “Guests will return to an environment that will significantly improve discovery and research experiences,” said Rencher. Crews have been busy preparing to welcome guests back by remodeling, adding new features like state-of-the-art patron workstations with multiple monitors and adjustable height desks to accommodate sitting or standing preferences, enhanced workflow throughout, and nearly 40,000 books from new acquisition and long-term storage.

The library has added or upgraded the following new, free patron services. They are accessible through the new Family History Library web page.  

- Guests can sign up for free, online, one-on-one virtual consultations with a research specialist (available in languages).  

- Library look-up services. If you can’t come to the library, a staff member can retrieve a book from its shelves and help you find what you’re seeking.

- In FamilySearch Communities online, guests can get assistance from volunteers worldwide, including locating or interpreting ancestor records, asking questions, or sharing their expertise with others.  

- Check out the growing menu of popular free online classes and webinars. New selections are offered and recorded weekly and made available on-demand.  

- In the library, take advantage of improved services to digitize your family photos and artifacts or convert family audio and video tapes to digital media.  

FamilySearch family history centers and libraries will open based on the direction of their local ecclesiastical leaders and government guidelines. If you plan to visit a FamilySearch center soon, please call ahead to ensure it is open and its hours of operation. 

(Original press release at https://media.familysearch.org/familysearch-family-history-library-reopening/ - with thanks to FamilySearch via email)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.