Scottish GENES: February 2026

Saturday, 21 February 2026

Seachdain na Gàidhlig - World Gaelic Week 2026

Next week see's the latest Seachdain na Gàidhlig (https://seachdainnagaidhlig.scot), also known as World Gaelic Week, in which all things Scottish Gaelic are celebrated by those of us proud of Scotland's oldest continuously used language.

The theme of the next week will be Cleachd i no caill i - Use it or lose it. The Gaelic language is in a fragile state after centuries of discrimination, although it is finally at the point where the numbers of speakers is finally beginning to rise again, thanks to initiatives such as Gaelic medium education and the efforts of our own governments here in Scotland, run by the SNP, Greens, and Labour/Liberal Democrats at various points since our parliament was reconvened in 1999. That being said, there is still an ongoing decline in usage in the native heartlands of the Western Isles, where it remains in regular community use, so much work has yet to still be done.

There will be various events across the country (and worldwide!) next week where you can find out more about the Gaelic language and ways to learn it, attend concerts, and much more - details can be found in the above website link. Here in East Ayrshire, the East Ayrshire Gaelic Forum (of which I am the secretary) will be holding two events next weekend - a Cafaidh Cabadaich or 'conversation cafe' on Saturday 28th at the Dick Institute in Kilmarnock, and on Sunday 1st March a Coisich anns a' Phàirc event, a walk around the park at Dean Castle, Kilmarnock, starting at the car park, where you can meet like minded learners, speakers and enthusiasts. Both events will be run from 1-3, and are free to attend. Our forum is also working on a few other exciting events over the next few months, but more on that in due course!

Cleachd i no caill i - agus bidh fàilte romhaibh uile! Use it or lose it - and you will all be most welcome!

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.

Reopening of Glasgow's People's Palace delayed indefinitely

The People's Palace museum on Glasgow Green (pictured below, courtesy Wikipedia), which has been closed since April 2024, will not be opening anytime soon according to Glasgow Life. The arms length council body, which runs Glasgow's cultural attractions, had initially hoped to re-open it by 2027, but now finds itself in a situation of escalating costs for its revamp.

Quite why the Scottish Government won't contribute to the refurbishment of one of Scotland's most important museums is beyond me - I'm sure if it was in Edinburgh they would be singing a different tune.

You can read more about the story at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy03kxrz70zo and more about the museum itself at https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/museums/venues/peoples-palace.

Chris

Friday, 20 February 2026

Scottish Indexes conference on 28 February

The next Scottish Indexes (www.scottishindexes.com) conference takes place on Saturday 28 February, with the following talks confirmed:

‘Family History Research at the National Library of Ireland’ by Steven Skeldon
‘Researching British Prisoners of War, 1914 –1919 and 1939 –1946’ by Ken Nisbet
‘Patients and staff: stories of health and wellbeing’ by Lorna Steele-McGinn
'Introducing the Archives and Manuscripts of the National Library of Scotland' by Chris Cassells
‘Braking Brick Walls: How local Family History Societies can help’ by Alan Beattie

For further details visit the Scottish Indexes website.

Chris

FindmyPast's latest additions

Two new additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week that may be of interest to those with Scottish connections:

Britain, Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers
These 13,696 new additions cover pre-1832 parishes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Scotland Monumental Inscriptions
We added 2,249 records covering the years 1807 to 2009 to this set this week.

For the relevant links, and details of other collections from England, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/atlases-monumental-inscriptions

Chris

The Ones Who Got Away - Pharos Tutors webinars series in July

From Pharos Tutors (www.pharostutors.com), news of a webinar programme happening this July:

The Ones Who Got Away: 13th - 17th July 2026

We will be exploring this theme in a number of ways, whether it be how to track down those hard to research ancestors and family members, different approaches to methodology, using technology in different ways or demonstration by example through case studies.

We are joined by current and past tutors and friends of Pharos to bring you a star studded programme of talks. The list of webinars is as follows:

Mon 13th July

Dave Annal - Mind the Gaps!
Debbie Kennett - How DNA uncovered a 100-year-old family secret
Simon Fowler - My mother and history: a genealogical exploration

Tues 14th July

Sophie Kay - Negative Space: How Genealogy Gaps Can Help Your Tree Flourish
Joe Saunders - Social Network Analysis in Historical Research
Phil Isherwood - Whatever Happened to Aunt Gonda?

Wed 15th July

Jonny Perl - Understanding What are the Odds? (WATO+) at DNA Painter
Karen Cummings - FREE: Who are Pharos Tutors? Courses, Certificates and What to Expect
Nathan Dylan Goodwin - Finding Henry (pre-recorded, but with live Q&A)

Thurs 16th July

Janet Few - Ancestors on the Margins: tracing misfortunate ancestors
Gill Rossini - Researching LGBTQ Ancestors
Dai Davies - Remembering Our Ancestors who Died by Suicide

Fri 17th July

Andrew Redfern - AI as a Research Partner: Strengths, Limits and Sensible Use
Kelly Cornwell - Transported to Tasmania: Researching your Convict Ancestors
Nick Barratt - When Harry Met Dotty

Each webinar will last approximately one hour. Each session will be recorded and made available for one month after the event, so do not worry if you cannot attend live on the day. Webinars are priced at £10 BUT sign up for the full week and save 20%, bringing the total cost down from £140 to only £112 (only £8 per session).

Full details of the programme can be found here: https://www.pharostutors.com/webinars

Chris

Tobar an Dualchais website adds interactive map

The Tobar an Dualchais / A Kist o' Riches website has been updated to include an interactive map, that now allows you to target specific areas where your family may have come from to find traditional songs and conversations from times past, in both the Gaelic and Scots languages.

The site is freely available at https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk.

Chris

Tuesday, 17 February 2026

Research Guides section updated on National Records of Scotland website

I'm not sure when this happened, it is possible that it happened in late November/early December and I hadn't yet picked up on it, but the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) has now updated its Research Guides interface on its website, which thankfully means we are no longer redirected to cached copies of the guides in the site's web archive (although the historic guides remain accessible there). The Research Guides page is available at https://nrscotland.gov.uk/learning-and-events/research-guides/ (found under the Records and Archives tab of the main homepage menu).

A quick search on the web archive shows that in 2020 there were 59 guides available, but the new Research Guides section now has 86 guides available, although this is likely because guides that were embedded within other topics now have their own standalone page - for examples, the Census Records page on the old site had individual guides to each census from 1841-1921, but these are now shown as individual guides in their own right on the new guides index. I have checked a small number of guides which suggest that they have not been rewritten, although the guides themselves are stamped as having been updated 28 November 2025, so it is possible there may have been some rewrites on some of them.

Some guides may have been removed entirely from the guides section and given their own page on the NRS site. The one concrete example I have found concerns the pages dealing with National Registration, and the 1939 National Identity Register, the emergency wartime census carried out in September 1939, just two weeks into the Second World War. This page is no longer found in the Research Guides section, but is instead located on a new dedicated page in the Statistics and Data section of the NRS website, on a new page entitled NHS Central Register, at https://nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/nhs-central-register/#. To access the application form for the 1939 National Identity Register you need to scroll to the bottom of this new page. If anyone has come across other examples of things that may have been relocated, I'd be grateful for details!

It's great to see this finally addressed, the web archive access looked very amateurish beforehand, and it was a nightmare having to use the long URL address to access guides within this. Of course, that does mean that some of us will have to recreate links to the new guides again within presentations and articles, but it at least looks fit for purpose now!

Chris

Saturday, 14 February 2026

TheGenealogist adds Large Scale 25-inch Historic OS Maps and LiDAR to its MapExplorer tool

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

TheGenealogist adds Large Scale 25-inch Historic OS Maps and LiDAR to MapExplorerTM

TheGenealogist has enhanced its MapExplorerTM historic map overlay with the addition of large-scale 25-inch-to-the-mile 1890-1914 Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, alongside a brand-new LiDAR mapping layer, giving family historians sharper ways to pinpoint where ancestors lived and understand the landscapes that shaped their lives.

The 25-inch OS maps are among the most detailed historic maps available for genealogy, showing features often missing from smaller-scale mapping: individual building footprints, property boundaries, yards, alleys, small lanes, wells, schools, chapels, mills, sidings, and other local landmarks. When used in MapExplorer’s overlay view, researchers can compare these fine-grain historic details against other map layers and modern geography to locate ancestral homes and communities with far greater accuracy.

Additionally, the newly released LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) maps bring another dimension to local history research. LiDAR reveals the shape of the ground beneath vegetation and modern land use, helping users spot historic earthworks, trackways, field systems, quarries, embankments, cuttings, and other “hidden” features, particularly valuable for rural research, lost buildings, and places where the visible landscape has changed.

“By adding 25-inch OS maps and LiDAR layers to MapExplorer, we’re giving researchers new ways to connect records to real places, right down to individual buildings and the landscape around them,” said Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist.

The 25-inch-to-the-mile OS map layer and LiDAR maps are available now within MapExplorerTM at TheGenealogist.

Read about these new additions and how they can help reveal the landscape your ancestors knew here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2026/lines-across-the-landscape-8934/.

** I asked what the coverage was, and the new additions cover the whole of Britain; it is hoped Ireland will be added in the future.

(With thanks to Paul Bayley)

Chris

Wednesday, 11 February 2026

University of Strathclyde to host two-day Irish Family History Course in April

Something I've been sitting on for a while, and now delighted to announce, is that I will be one of the speakers at a forthcoming two-day conference in April at the University of Strathclyde, dealing with Irish family history research. I'll be giving four separate presentations at the event, where I will be joined by fellow speakers Judith Russell, Dr. Martin Mitchell, and Ciara Chivers.

The following is an overview of the event:

Irish Family History Course

Join us on Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 April 2026 at the University of Strathclyde for an engaging two‑day introduction to Irish family history research.

Participants are welcome to arrive from 8:30–9:00 am each day, with teas, coffees and biscuits available to help you settle in before the sessions begin.

The course will run until 5:00 pm on day one and conclude at the earlier time of 4:15 pm on day two.

Designed for beginners and intermediate level researchers, this hands‑on course features talks from experienced genealogists and educators, covering the fundamentals of genealogy and how to work effectively with key Irish records.

Through practical exercises using vital, land and poor relief sources, attendees will gain confidence and practical skills to apply in their own research.

The two‑day course fee is £165.00 (participants are asked to bring their own lunch).

Full details of the programme and speaker biographies are provided below. Book online today!

The talks I will be giving are Tracing the Irish in Scotland, Discover Ireland's Vital Records, Irish Censuses and Census Substitutes, and Tracing Irish Land Records. The event will be at the university, not online, and should be a lot of fun!

For a full overview of the talks programme, speaker biographies, and to register for the event, please visit https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/irishfamilyresearch/.

We'll look forward to seeing you there!

* Just a quick word also to say that I will be participating at the Association of Professional Genealogists' Professional Genealogy Symposium at the university on 24 June 2026 - further details on this can be found at https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/apgprofessionalgenealogysymposium/.

Chris

Tuesday, 10 February 2026

Departmental bunfight in Ireland over 1864-1870 death records?

I commented the following on the Irish Government's Department of Culture, Communications and Sport's Facebook page yesterday (https://www.facebook.com/DeptCultureCommsSport):

"What about the 1864-1870 death records? Sporadic death indexes, absolutely no images. Come on lads, it can't be that difficult to put them online!"

And I received a response:

"This week’s release includes the annual update of records, adding an additional year of civil records to the website. The Irish Genealogy website now provides access to Civil birth records from 1864–1925, marriage records from 1845–1950, and death records from 1864–1975.

"Please note that while death records from 1864–1970 are indexed on the website, the associated images are not yet available. These images remain with the General Register Office (GRO). The Department has informed the GRO that we will prioritise uploading these records to the Irish Genealogy website as soon as they are provided."

First of all, the indexes are absolutely not complete for death records from 1864-1870. But secondly, have we been unable to see this small group of records for all this time because one Irish governmental department is simply not collaborating with another?

I'll repeat the last line again:

"Come on lads, it can't be that difficult to put them online!"

Chris

Monday, 9 February 2026

Update on plans for proposed Glasgow Necropolis eastern entrance

The following has been sent by Annette Mullen, chair of The Friends of the Glasgow Necropolis (https://www.glasgownecropolis.org):

Dear Supporters,

Further to my previous correspondence, I wanted to provide an update on the proposed Eastern
Entrance to the Glasgow Necropolis

The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis had been invited to a Progress Update Meeting on the 27th
Jan 2026 with Glasgow City Council (GCC) representatives, Ian Elder, the current Project
Manager of the proposed Eastern Entrance and Alice Fayaud - Project Assistant.
Attending the meeting on behalf of the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis: Annette Mullen, Chairperson; Colin Campbell, Deputy Chairperson

The following Progress Update was provided:

Topographical Study – complete.
Ground Penetration Survey - not completed as yet, will take place imminently.
South side of Firpark wall is the proposed site for the new entrance.
Discussions have been held by GCC with the following representatives:
Parks Management
Police Scotland
Neighbourhood Co-Ordinator (Ward 22 Dennistoun)

We were informed that GCC are looking at a sustainable approach with possible CCTV cameras
and appropriate lighting at the Firpark Street side of the wall looking into the Necropolis.
CCTV cameras would be managed/monitored 3pm – 3am seven days a week.

We were informed some trees have already been cleared from the Firpark Street side of the
wall area, but many of these had already been highlighted for removal previously due to ash
dieback.

We were informed it is anticipated that the design plan will be ready to be shared with the
Friends of Glasgow Necropolis in 4 – 6 weeks at another progress meeting.

It was confirmed Historic Environment Scotland have been informally engaged.

Time scales for the Project:

Planning & Operating Plan – 8 week process
It will then move to formal planning application. If formal consent approved, work would start
asap, with an anticipated timescales to complete of 4 weeks.
Completion anticipated late Summer/Early Autumn.

The current Project Manager Ian Elder is moving to a new role in 4 – 6 weeks. At the next
progress update meeting, the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis will be introduced to whoever will
take forward the project.

It was confirmed that the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis will continue to be engaged in the
progress of the project by whoever takes over the role as Project Manager from Ian Elder.
We will update you as soon as we have the next meeting which we anticipate will be towards
the end of February or early March.

As soon as we are aware that the Planning Application consent has been progressed, and we
are monitoring this, it is the intention of the Friends of Glasgow Necropolis to formerly object to
the Planning Application.

There will be a very short window to object and our understanding is this must be done via the
Glasgow City Council planning portal by email, or by post within the specified consultation
period (usually 21- 28 days).

This will be your opportunity to make your voice heard and we sincerely hope you stand with the
Friends of Glasgow Necropolis in objecting to this Planning Application and prevent this very
real threat to the future of the Glasgow Necropolis.

Annette Mullen
Chairperson - The Friends of Glasgow Necropolis

(With thanks to Annette)

Chris

Free access to 100 million pages of British Newspaper Archive content via FindmyPast

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) will be reaching 100 million pages of content this week (it's currently at 99,924,013 pages). The same content is also made available to view via a FindmyPast subscription, and as such, FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) is opening up its access to the collection for free until February 16th to celebrate. The following is its announcement:

Findmypast opens newspaper archive for free to celebrate 100-million-page milestone

Findmypast and the British Newspaper Archive reach 100 million historical newspaper pages digitised and published online to the public
The collection dates back to 1699, covering over 2,700 titles and more than 7 million issues, offering a vast, powerful resource for uncovering vibrant family stories
Findmypast’s high quality digitisation process and powerful search tools mean it's easier than ever to make discoveries, add them to family trees, or save them to Workspace projects
To celebrate, Findmypast is offering free access to the entire newspaper archive until 16 February 2026, giving family historians a full week to explore

Findmypast, the home of British and Irish family history, is celebrating a monumental milestone this week: its ever‑growing digital historical newspaper collection reaches 100 million fully searchable pages, opening up countless new opportunities for family historians to uncover hidden stories, forgotten moments, and long‑lost ancestors.

This milestone marks one of the world’s largest long-running digitisation projects to enable broader access to these significant historical records. To celebrate the occasion, Findmypast is offering free access to its entire newspaper archive until 16 February 2026, giving researchers a full week to dive into centuries of headlines and discover the unexpected.

Spanning 400 years and featuring more than 2,700 titles and 7 million issues, Findmypast’s newspaper archive is one of the richest sources for building a vivid picture of your ancestors’ lives. Whether you're chasing down a great‑grandfather’s wartime escapades, tracking a long‑forgotten marriage announcement, or stumbling across a scandal that reshapes your family narrative, these pages offer a window into events as they happened.

Findmypast’s newspaper search tools are designed to help family historians uncover stories quickly and accurately. Researchers can draw on extracted details from birth, marriage, and death notices—instantly linkable to family trees—and refine broad searches with smart filtering to pinpoint the most relevant results. Clip and save articles to your tree, add them to your Workspace, or create a Collection around a family member or project.

The vast, continually growing archive includes newspapers from the UK, Ireland and beyond, digitised page-by-page on an ongoing basis by a team based in Boston Spa, Yorkshire.

Using the latest equipment, the pages are scanned to a high resolution, and the images processed using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. This extracts the text data, enabling Findmypast’s own machine learning technology to identify key terms powering a more detailed search, including information like names, dates, locations, and even phrases. Quality checks ensure that the pages are clean and readable before they are processed and added to the archive.

Lee Wilkinson, Managing Director of DC Thomson History, which owns Findmypast, said: “Reaching 100 million published newspaper pages is a landmark moment for Findmypast, and a powerful reflection of what long-term partnership can achieve. Over 15 years, we have worked closely with major British & Irish archives, cultural organisations, and publishers to preserve these fragile records and expand public access to them. Each page adds depth to our shared history and gives researchers, educators, local historians and families new ways to understand the lives and communities that came before us. I’d encourage everyone to go online and explore this rich resource for free.”

Delve deeper into your family history at www.findmypast.co.uk

(With thanks to Madeleine Gilbert)

Chris

Annual update for IrishGenealogy.ie - but still no 1864-1870 death records

The IrishGenealogy.ie platform (www.irishgenealogy.ie) has received its annual update of vital records, meaning that biorth records from 1925, marriages from 1950, and deaths from 1975 can now be viewed online free of charge.

Please note that these are for records in what is now the Irish republic - for Northern Ireland, the equivalent records can be found at the pay-per-view GRONI website at https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk (note this site has an ongoing weekly update of records to reflect the same closure periods of 100 years for births, 75 years for marriages, and 50 years for deaths).

In what is now becoming a well-established IrishGenealogy.ie tradition, there is still absolutely no news as to why the death records from 1864-1870 continue to remain inaccessible on this platform. Will they have to kill us if they release them, are they really so top secret?! Note that death records for the six Northern Irish counties from this same period are available on the northern GRO site, there's absolutely nothing remarkable about them!

Chris

Saturday, 7 February 2026

Registration now open for Strathclyde's postgraduate genealogy courses

From the University of Strathclyde:

Registration is now open for the April 2026 start Postgraduate Certificate in Genealogical Studies.

The online modular route offers greater flexibility, perfect for students who prefer to learn at their own pace over a longer period of time. There are no formal exams on any of our courses. Instead, you’ll complete modules through engaging assignments and coursework.

What you will gain from the programme:

develop a grounding in the theory and practice of genealogical research, records, archives and heraldry;
focus on the sources available to genealogists and family historians;
gain a deeper, more critical understanding of the field, its literature, professional and academic practice;
professional recognition (ASGRA, AGRA, RQG) from PGDip level.

Application deadline

Please submit your application no later than the 31st of March 2026.

Normally, a degree or similar evidence of study skills is required however non-standard educational or professional qualifications will also be considered Download our FAQ document for further guidance.

Information including fees and course content can be found on the MSc Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies course page.

** This year marks 20 years since the Postgraduate Certificate in Genealogical Studies course first commenced, as designed by Bruce Durie. I was in the first cohort of students for this, and the subsequent year's Postgraduate Diploma, although did not continue to the masters, as this took a bit longer to set up and I was already onto other things (I may go back some day to complete the Masters, who knows?!). I can thoroughly recommend the course for those wishing to take a serious approach to becoming a professional genealogist.

It's not an easy course - there is a LOT of work involved - but the rewards are worth it!

Chris

Forthcoming talk: The Bombing of Edinburgh and Leith

From Leith Local History Society (https://www.leithlocalhistorysociety.org.uk):

Please join us on Tuesday, 17th February at 7pm in Leith Community Centre to listen to Tom Woods fascinating talk about the bombing of Edinburgh and Leith during World War II. He has recently published a book on the same topic. Tom was previously one of the most senior law enforcement officers in Scotland and his last role was in command of the investigation into the infamous World's End murders. After leaving the police he has worked in various posts including Adult and Child protection and writes for the Scotsman on crime and justice. Tom has also written another best selling book Ruxton. The First Modern Murder.

Further details at https://www.facebook.com/events/909716141427158/.

Chris

A search for bilingual Gaelic and English headstones in Scottish kirkyards

The BBC's Gaelic news page, Naidheachdan, has an interesting article entitled "Am faca sibhse clach-uaighe dhà-chànanach?", meaning "Have you seen bilingual headstones?", available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan/sgeulachdan/ckgkmel4vlko.

The article discusses a headstone from Monzie graveyard in Perthshire, dated to 1793, which is written in English on one side, and in Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) on the other. The dialect of Gaelic spoken in Perthshire at that time has now been extinguished, making the find a sort of 'Rosetta Stone', providing evidence of local pronunications of the language in this part of Scotland at that time.

The article discusses whether other examples can be found to help flesh out the picture some more.

The article is written in Gaelic, but can be easily translated with Google Translate.

Chris

Share discoveries with the British Newspaper Archive as it approaches 100 million pages of content

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk), a collaboration between the British Library and FindmyPast, is on the point of reaching 100 million pages of content, with the current total at the time of writing at 99,828,117 pages.

On the site's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TheBritishNewspaperArchive), it asks the following:

Now, as we approach our 100 millionth page, we’d love to hear from you. What have you used the BNA to uncover? #100MillionPages

By replying, you’re happy for us to quote your comment (and your name) in our milestone blog and related marketing.

The following are the latest additions for Scotland and Ireland over the last 30 days:

Scotland:

John o' Groat Journal
1957, 1986-1987, 1989-1993

Invergordon Times and General Advertiser
1887, 1889-1891

Fifeshire Advertiser
1849-1856, 1858-1869, 1900

Edinburgh Evening News
1996-2004

Govan Press and Weekly Advertiser for Govan & Kinning Park
1889, 1891-1892

People's Friend
1930-1948

Sunday Post
1929, 1940

Ireland:

Irish Railway Gazette
1844-1850

Belfast Telegraph
1986-1999

Chris

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

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