First, find the parish
Scottish records are arranged by parish and registration district. With a common surname, the parish is what tells your family apart from the others.
Inside Scotland, two records point to it. From 1851 the census gives the county and parish of birth. And from 1861, a birth entry gives the date and place of the parents' marriage, which leads you to the right parish register.
Don't know the town yet? It is usually written on records in the country where your ancestor arrived: naturalization papers, ship lists, draft cards. Build your research plan to see which ones fit your dates.
Statutory registers from 1855
Registration of births, marriages and deaths became compulsory in Scotland on 1 January 1855, for every religion.
| Record | What it gives |
|---|---|
| Birth | Date, time and place of birth; father's name and occupation; mother's name and maiden surname; date and place of the parents' marriage (except 1856 to 1860) |
| Marriage | Ages and usual residences of both parties; for each, the father's name and the mother's name and maiden surname |
| Death | Father's name and occupation, mother's name and maiden surname, marital status |
1855 is a special year. Entries cover two pages. Births add the parents' ages and birthplaces and the other children of the family. Marriages add birthplaces and former marriages. Deaths add the place of birth and the children, with their names and ages.
Some parish registers continued after 1855: if an event from early 1855 is missing, check them too.
How ScotlandsPeople works, and what it costs
ScotlandsPeople is the official site of the National Records of Scotland. Searching the indexes is free once you open an account. You pay only to view and save images, with credits worth 25p each, sold in bundles.
| Record image | Credits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Birth, marriage or death register | 6 | £1.50 |
| Census return | 6 | £1.50 |
| Church register entry | 6 | £1.50 |
| Valuation roll | 2 | £0.50 |
| Will or testament | 10 | £2.50 |
The 1881 census transcriptions are free to view. In Edinburgh, the ScotlandsPeople Centre at HM General Register House (2 Princes Street) gives access to all digitised records and indexes, including modern records, for a seat fee of £15 a day, booked online at least 24 hours ahead.
Before 1855: Old Parish Registers
The Old Parish Registers of the Church of Scotland cover 1553 to 1854. The oldest is from Errol, in Perthshire (1553). They are on ScotlandsPeople, and the originals are held by the National Records of Scotland.
- Coverage is patchy. No parish recorded every event; in some urban parishes as few as 30% of events were written down. Some parishes start only in the early 19th century, and a few have no surviving records.
- A baptism gives, at best, the child's name, the date, the parents' names, the residence, the father's occupation and witnesses. Burials often give only a name and a date.
- Catholic registers: about 700 survive, the earliest from 1703; most begin between the 1790s and 1829.
- Other Presbyterian churches, such as the Free Church, kept registers from 1716; they are still being added to the site.
Census returns, 1841 to 1921
ScotlandsPeople has the Scottish censuses from 1841 to 1921, indexed by name with images of the enumeration books. The 1841 census only says whether a person was born in the county, in England, in Ireland or abroad; from 1851 it gives the county and parish of birth.
The 1921 census, taken on the night of 19 June 1921, was released in 2022: more than 200,000 images of 4.8 million individual records. It is the first to record orphanhood, dependent children and workplace. Censuses are closed for 100 years.
Closed periods and official extracts
Online, the images of the statutory registers are released after a fixed time. Each January, one more year is added.
- Births: after 100 years
- Marriages: after 75 years
- Deaths: after 50 years
For a more recent entry, order an official extract (certificate) through ScotlandsPeople: £12, £10 for each additional copy of the same certificate, dispatched within 15 working days, or the next working day with priority processing. The ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh also gives access to modern records.
Leaving Scotland
Scots left for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and other parts of the British Isles. There is no central record of emigrants, but some schemes left lists:
- The Highland and Island Emigration Society helped almost 5,000 people leave western Scotland for Australia between 1852 and 1857. Its passenger lists are at the National Records of Scotland (reference HD4/5) and free to view on ScotlandsPeople.
- A state-aided scheme in the 1880s settled emigrants from Lewis and Harris in Manitoba, Canada.
- Outward passenger lists from UK ports survive from 1890 to 1960 (The National Archives, BT 27), searchable on Findmypast. Earlier departure lists are rare.
Sources
- ScotlandsPeople, Statutory registers guide
- ScotlandsPeople, Statutory register of births
- ScotlandsPeople, Statutory register of marriages
- ScotlandsPeople, Statutory register of deaths
- ScotlandsPeople, Our charges (credits per record)
- ScotlandsPeople, Our charges (bundles, free searching)
- ScotlandsPeople, FAQ on charges (free 1881 transcriptions)
- ScotlandsPeople, Ordering certificates
- ScotlandsPeople, Visit us (ScotlandsPeople Centre)
- ScotlandsPeople, Church registers guide
- National Records of Scotland, List of Old Parish Registers
- ScotlandsPeople, Census returns guide
- National Records of Scotland, 1921 Scottish census released
- National Records of Scotland, Emigration records
- ScotlandsPeople, Emigration and immigration guide
- The National Archives, Passenger lists research guide
- FamilySearch Research Wiki, Scotland Emigration and Immigration