The Scottish GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top news stories and features concerning ancestral research in Scotland, Ireland, the rest of the UK, and their diasporas, from genealogist and family historian Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit Scottish GENES if you do. I'm on Mastodon @scottishgenes and Threads @scottishgenesblog - to contact me please email chrismpaton @ outlook.com. Cuimhnich air na daoine o'n d'thà inig thu!
The Belfast based Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has at long last launched its new website.
The new website is available at www.proni.gov.uk, a much simpler web address than its predecessor to remember, and if memory serves me right, an address that it used to have many, many years ago.
Everything looks slick, but whilst the catalogue is easily accessible from the main home page, one change that is immediately obvious is that you cannot access the digital records from the main home page, as with its predecessor - you instead have to go to the Explore Archives Online tab on the main menu at the top of the screen, and select Family and Local History Archives from the drop-down menu. Each collection's home page has a slight redesign, but it looks like the actual search screens are the same from the previous version of the website. One thing that is nice to see is the hierarchy of links that you go through under the main menu bar, ensuring you know how to get back to the home page or other parts of the trail to the collection of interest.
The biggest change is perhaps how the guides are now accessed, and I think this may take a bit of getting used to. I tried to locate the PRONI Guide to Church Records and ended up all over the place, so ended up just typing the name of the guide into the search box, and soon discovered it - but having done so, I still can't identify which collection the guide is contained within, or how to access it other than by the search box, so I think there may be an element of retraining needed here!
Needless to say, all the links on the new site are completely different, so you will need to remark any bookmarks that you have on your PC.
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.
From 1996-1998 I studied the University of Strathclyde's Postgraduate Diploma programme in Genealogical Studies, as part of its very first cohort, and back in the days when it was an attendance based course! At the time there was no Masters year to go onto, as this did not start until two or three years after, and I had moved onto full time working as a genealogist by then.
As a part of the diploma course, we had to submit a final year dissertation, and the topic for mine was The Role of King James VI Hospital in Perth as a 19th Century Feudal Superior - you can read this freely via https://scotlandsgreateststory.wordpress.com/free-items/, albeit minus the important appendices!
Last week, whilst at the university to speak at the 2-day Irish course there, I caught up with Tahitia McCabe and Calista Williams, the heid yins of the course and institute programme, and asked a simple question - with the diploma course having been running for twenty years now, and with the development of the subsequent masters programme, there must be an extraordinary amount of knowledge there in similar dissertations from over the years, but how can such information be identified?
Well, a seriously huge thank you to Calista for getting back to me today with a LibraryThing link that lists all such dissertations! You can search for past topics at https://www.librarything.com/catalog/gsholton/yourlibrary. Calista has indicated that these dissertations may be shared if those who have written them give permission to do so, and dependant on how busy the university staff are to make such enquiries of past students.
But perhaps more importantly, if you are thinking of doing the courses, this catalogue will give a great idea of the kinds of topics that past students have pursued for their studies!
Update: Interestingly, in addition to my own dissertation on King James VI Hospital, I see there;s another piece of course work that I submitted, on Castle Menzies. I've completely forgotten what that was, so am now digging it out!!
(With thanks to Calista, and also to Graham Holton for starting the catalogue!)
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.
The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has passed 102 million pages, with 102,267,306 pages available at the time of writing.
The following are the latest Scottish and Irish additions over the last 30 days:
Scotland:
Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express 1986-1999
Kelso Chronicle 1882
John o' Groat Journal 1985, 1995-1999
Inverness Courier 1993-1994
Highland News 1994
Gourock Times 1915-1966
Fife Herald 1996-2000
Sunday Mail (Glasgow) 1986-1987, 1991, 1993-1999
People's Friend 1929
Glasgow Herald 1909
Ireland:
Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser 1881-1883, 1885-1892, 1894-1901, 1916-1929
Freeman's Journal 1763-1765, 1771, 1775
Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner 1965
Roscommon Journal, and Western Impartial Reporter 1865-1925, 1927
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.
Scribe AI is now available on the MyHeritage mobile app, making it possi1ble to analyze historical documents and photos instantly — right from your phone.
In case you need a refresher: Scribe AI transcribes handwritten and printed text, translates records, and interprets images to extract meaningful genealogical insights. Whether it’s a document, an old photo, or even a gravestone, it turns complex material into clear, structured information you can actually use. Since its release, Scribe AI has been highly popular in the genealogy world and has received enthusiastic praise.
ScribeAI Mobile
With this mobile release, you can simply scan an item on the spot and get insights immediately. This is especially useful when on the go visiting archives, relatives, or cemeteries.
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.
My next 5-week course for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com), entitled Researching Scottish Ancestral Crisis, starts on Monday 18th May 2025.
For some ten years or so, Pharos offered two Scottish themed courses, Scottish Research Online and Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers. In the first course, we've shown how to access certain records for Scottish research online, whilst the second course has taken things further by showing how to access records not just online, but in archives. At the same time it has also shown how various aspects of Scotland worked, as a means to locate records offline and online that might help when the OPRs don't.
In this third course, we now turn things seriously up to eleven...! In the past, records were often kept documenting various crises on a range of fronts, and in this course, I not only explore those scenarios, but also explain how the country worked, as well as the types of records generated, and crucially, how to access them.
If you have done the previous two courses - or feel yourself to be somewhat further along with your research experience and at the relevant level - I hope you can sign up to this course, which I hope, as ever, will be both fulfilling and fun!
The following is the course description:
Researching Scottish Ancestral Crisis
As in our own lives, many of our Scottish ancestors had to overcome great adversity on occasions to simply make it through the day. Illness, death, bigamy, abandonment, accidents, eviction, victimhood, ethnic cleansing, and so much more a dramatic range of experiences across a series of lifetimes. And whenever such crises emerged, somebody was usually close to hand with a quill and ink to bear witness. In so doing, a great documentary legacy was created that can greatly help us to understand the true lives of our forebears, and the struggles that led to who we became today.
Many challenges and hardships were faced across time. There were the laws of the local parish church and the punishments awaiting those who breached kirk discipline, diligently recorded in the kirk session and presbytery papers, but additional courts existed elsewhere in society, from the Crown and the burghs to the local justices of the peace and trade incorporations. Records of the churches and heritors, as well as the post-1845 poor law records, can detail the struggles of those who struggled to avoid poverty, whilst documents such as letters of horning and warrants of poinding, as well as sequestration and cessio bonorum, can detail the persecution and stigma of being a debtor or a bankrupt. In other areas, the court records can also reveal some of the ingenious methods by which people could avoid inheriting the debts of their predecessors.
The darkest moments of the soul, from mental health issues and illness, are revealed in historic asylum and hospital records held in archives across Scotland, whilst cases of murder and suicide can be uncovered in court processes, newspapers and broadsheets. Dramatic moments of rebellion, when our forebears drew a line in the sand against a perceived tyranny or democratic deficit, can be found in contemporary records of the Covenanters, the Jacobites, the Chartists, the Suffragettes, crofters, and those cleared from the land to make way for more profitable sheep, from the forfeiture of lands and prosecutions to the folk songs of many who were forced to emigrate.
This course will reveal the many areas of Scottish ancestral hardship that have been documented over the last few centuries, and explore how to access the relevant records. It follows on from two previous Pharos courses, Scottish Research Online, which explores websites offering some of the more basic records for Scottish research, and Scotland 1750: Beyond the Old Parish Registers, which takes students to more advanced records found offline and online, and which flags up the importance of using catalogues. Although not compulsory, it is recommended that both courses are completed prior to studying Researching Scottish Ancestral Crisis.
Lesson Headings:
* Law and Order * Family Events and Relationships * Poverty and Debt * Medical Issues * The State and the People
Each lesson includes lesson notes, activities and forum exercises for students to complete during the week and a one-hour live tutorial (text chat or Zoom) with the tutor and the rest of the class. Times for the tutorials are set at the beginning of each course by the tutor.
"Wonderful topics to research and presentation and ideas of where to go to look for answers regarding these topics. Have learnt so much over the 3 courses and now have lots to do in updating and following through on the course materials and what I have learnt. Already looking at different ways of research and finding out heaps more. The 3 courses are so great and full of information and Chris is excellent in the Chat section with not only giving questions for us to reply to but also the answers."
"It was an excellent continuation of the previous course and really made me look at genealogy in a much broader way. Chris is a very encouraging tutor and willing to answer all questions. He has such an extensive knowledge of genealogy."
"The course content...amazing"
"All course materials were professional and thorough. Chris did a lot of prep work to make sure that we received the best information needed to be successful."
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.
Something I only discovered tbis week is that the catalogue cards from the Keane Index from 1891-1909 are now available to view via the National Library of Ireland's catalogue at https://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000923169?recordID=vtls000929125, thanks to the efforts of the library and the Irish Manuscript Commission.
The Keane Index provides the only current means to identify information held within the records of the Irish Land Commission, which the Irish Government has stubbornly locked away in a warehouse in Portlaoise, where they currently remain out of the reach of researchers. The Land Commission papers details the acquisition of lands by the general public from the landed gentry after the collapse of the landed estates system following An Gorta Mór from 1845-1851. Amongst the papers are deeds, wills, and other extraordinarily useful records for family history purposes.
The Keane Index comprises of 36,000 cards, that leads to information about properties contained within 35 bound volumes, all at about 400 pages each. The index allows researchers to search by county, estate, or individual name.
And maybe, one day, when the Irish Government wakes up on this, we'll get to see the actual Land Commission records themselves (many for the north after Partition are already accessible at PRONI)...
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.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland announced a while back that they were developing a new front of house website, but today they have confirmed on their Fwcebook page when it will go live: PRONI is delighted to announce that our new website will be launched on Thursday the 30th of April. The redesigned website will offer clearer navigation that makes it easier to explore our collections, plan a visit, and access a wide range of resources!
This was first raised several months ago at the PRONI Stakeholder forum, where it was confirmed that the new site will mean several new URL addresses for web pages.
I look forward to seeing the new site!
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.
The day has come - the 1926 Free State census for Ireland has finally been released after 100 years at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-1926-census/. I have already made several searches in this today, uncovering various situations for my family and that of my wife, and it has been a pleasant search experience, with no site crashes, and an excellent presentation of the resources, which are free to view. This is one area where the Republic of Ireland really does trump the UK, in making its public documents available free of charge, as can also be witnessed through its birth, marriage and death records platform at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie.
The equivalent census for Northern Ireland, taken on the same night, has sadly not survived, but something that I learned during the week is that even if it had done so, it may well have not been released. This is because, unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland astonishingly does not have a 100 year census rule for privacy, thanks to an act of the Stormont parliament from 1969. The same fate awaits the 1937 Northern Irish census, which means that unless a specific law is passed for it to be released, it just won't be. If we want to see it, we'll have to start lobbying our politicians to get their acts together! You can read more about this in an interesting blog post from Professor Marie Coleman of Queen's University Belfast at https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/qpol/the-lost-northern-ireland-census-of-1926.
In the meantime, what details are included in the 1926 Free State census? You can find the answers to this at https://nationalarchives.ie/search-the-1926-census-2/census-1926/. It's not quite as detailed as the 1911 census, but it is nevertheless another very useful document for family history research.
Have fun exploring!
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.
We want to let you know about a change to our booking options for visitors to the Scotland's People Centre in Edinburgh.
Current legal regulations mean we are unable to continue offering half-day bookings. We know that this option has been popular, so we’re working to reintroduce it in future.
In the meantime, full-day bookings remain available at £15. We are also introducing a limited number of free two-hour sessions for personal research.
Comment: Where there's a will, there's always a way.
Update: I messaged ScotlandsPeople to clarify what the issue was, and with which piece of legislation. This was its response:
Hi there: A recent review of the legislation governing our fees indicated that our earlier interpretation should be revised. We’ve now stopped taking bookings for half days while we work to request an update. We’ll highlight here on Facebook and on the Scotland’s People website, if we are able to reinstate our half-day service. You can find the full regulations here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2006/575/contents?commentary-key-6a0e41cca2699729e0a99d1981758138
(With thanks to ScotlandsPeople)
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.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (7 April 2026) —RootsTech 2026, the world’s largest family history celebration, successfully held its 16th annual event and offered new content in 23 languages. Hosted by FamilySearch, the event drew millions of people in person and online from 235 countries and territories and all 50 states. It offered more than 500 classes, keynotes, an expo hall with more than 200 exhibitors, and the popular Relatives at RootsTech interactive discovery activity. This global experience had millions of participants who made new family connections and viewed millions of ancestral relationships online. Find and share this announcement in the FamilySearch Newsroom.
FamilySearch hosts RootsTech as part of its purpose to help individuals discover more about their heritage and make more family connections—past, present, and future. Although RootsTech 2026 has concluded, many of the sessions are now available on demand for free at RootsTech.org. Users can explore thousands of free online classes and create personalized watchlists of their interests to continue learning and discovering year-round. The RootsTech Online Expo Hall will be available until August 2026.
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.
