Scotland's People

I've just signed up to Scotland's people and I am amazed that how easy it was to find my ancestors.
Within 25 minutes I had Wedding certificates that enabled me to trace back to 1850 when public records began .

I can go back further using the church records but although I can find a couple of death entries , these carry no other information apart from the name, place and date of death.

It's also possible that my ancestors settled here as the occupation of the oldest ancestor was a sailor .

Any tips on how to go about digging further?

I have only just started last night so hoping that I will become more experienced as time goes by.

How much did it cost you?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ColinNish

How much did it cost you?

---

I have spent £15 so far but I still have a document to open on my credits .

£15 well spent imo. Great few days.

Kinda stuck just now as the wedding certs from 1828 don't have the Grooms parents names.

Not stuck actually , just passed the easy it .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sleeping giant

I have spent £15 so far but I still have a document to open on my credits .

£15 well spent imo. Great few days.

Kinda stuck just now as the wedding certs from 1828 don't have the Grooms parents names.

Not stuck actually , just passed the easy it .

---

My Wife & Daughter done searches on our families, they really got into it & found some fascinating info, family occupations etc.

They also went to Register house to look up stuff & staff were really helpful too. The UK registrations were fine but they got a bit stuck. My Great Granda was born & married in Co Mayo & moved to Uphall, unfortunately we cant get his Irish background unless we take a wee trip 😄

Same with my Gran, she was born in Montreal, again, if we want anymore info we would need to visit Canada 😄

All fascinating stuff though 👍

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sleeping giant

I've just signed up to Scotland's people and I am amazed that how easy it was to find my ancestors.
Within 25 minutes I had Wedding certificates that enabled me to trace back to 1850 when public records began .

I can go back further using the church records but although I can find a couple of death entries , these carry no other information apart from the name, place and date of death.

It's also possible that my ancestors settled here as the occupation of the oldest ancestor was a sailor .

Any tips on how to go about digging further?

I have only just started last night so hoping that I will become more experienced as time goes by.

---

I did this a couple of years back and it was pretty good. I only got to about the same point as you though, started to become more difficult to make out the handwriting on records etc and then I just couldn't find any more.

It's actually quite emotional.
There was obviously a high infant mortality rate in the 1800's.

Find my past is a good site too.
It's run by the church of later day saints but has church records for births etc going back to the 1500's.

I've also noticed that people's actually ages fluctuate a little depending on the record.
I have also found other entries in a mis spelling of my surname which are definitely my family.

Some records are very hard to read so it's no surprise that there will be mistakes in the digital form .

Really interesting though.

Still struggling for a date of birth and parents names for my great great great Great grandad who was married in1828.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ColinNish

How much did it cost you?

---

You only pay for the documents that you actually view. Most documents cost 6 credits and 30 credits cost £7.50.

So, for example if you know that your great grandfather was born around 1885 you can enter his name and a range of years (say 1880 to 1890) and you'll get a list of birth certificates that match those criteria. You can then identify which certificates are most likely to be his and pay to see them. They give his parents names, occupations and date of marriage, so that can lead you on to research their ancestors, and so on. I've found a definite link back to 1795 and a probable one to 1745.

I've also found where some ancestors died, searched where they were likely to be buried and actually visited their graves - those date back to the mid 19th century. It was a far more moving experience than I expected. Also if any relatives died in the wars, the Commonwealth Graves Commission is a good place to search - I found a great uncle who died at Gallipoli and my brother has been over there to pay his respects.

If you're in Edinburgh, you can visit the Scotland's People Centre at Register House in person, and it costs £15 for the day. This gives you unlimited access to the stuff you buy credits for online plus records up to the present day, which you can't search online. Definitely worth it if you can get here, and you've worked out what it is you need to look up. My experience was that, without much of a plan, I got completely overwhelmed and lost the first time I went - fine if you don't have specific goals, though. It's worth booking in advance.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/resear...speople-centre

Very interesting. Thanks for the info.

I started tracing my fathers side a few years back using Scotland's People and a we trip to register house. I Knew my great grand parents had come over from Ireland about 1900.

I'd been to Dublin regularly for many years so took a we session at the register office in Dublin a few years back. Got it back to the mid 1800's. I put it on the back burner and keep meaning to go back. There's a similar site, Rootsireland that i'm registered with but have not embarked on any research yet.

It can get tricky reading stuff and also to sift through the returns you get if you aren't sure of certain dates. You have to pay to view the wrong ones!

Once you get going you get a good chain of being able to get parent details and rough dates of birth from birth and marriage certificates that help keep the thing going back.

I managed to get into relatives that must have been born in the 1700s but it sort of stops there as you can't get their records.

Like one of the posts above I've also managed to pinpoint when and where (and how) my great grandfather died in WW1 and also where he is buried. I intend to pay a visit.

I've spent a lot of time trying to trace my grandpas history as he fought in both ww1 and ww2 but haven't had much success. Jack Alexander was very helpful but unfortunately a trip to London was needed to find out more. I did find a lot of info about his father my great grandpa who originated from Perth, moved to Lasswade and opened a grocer shop. I checked the address on streetview via Googlemaps and you could just make out a very faded sign on the stonework above the window of which is now flats saying ice cream and tobacco. Checking the census info it must of been the norm to take in lodgers in those days if you had the space to supplement income, my great grandpa rented the local barman a room,smart cookie my great grandpa. :greengrin

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by s.a.m

If you're in Edinburgh, you can visit the Scotland's People Centre at Register House in person, and it costs £15 for the day. This gives you unlimited access to the stuff you buy credits for online plus records up to the present day, which you can't search online. Definitely worth it if you can get here, and you've worked out what it is you need to look up. My experience was that, without much of a plan, I got completely overwhelmed and lost the first time I went - fine if you don't have specific goals, though. It's worth booking in advance.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/resear...speople-centre

---

I'm booked in for Monday. Looking forward to it.

How does it work with printing out records? It's 30p a printed copy but can I just print them there and then and pay when I'm finished?

There are some records I have found in their website that I can't view as I have to "order certificate". Can I view these when I'm in ?

I'm miffed with Edinburgh Parish :-) Imagine not recording the grooms age or parents in 1828.WTF?
I'm assuming they only listed living parents as the spouses dad is named.
No ages though.

I have gambled on opening some death records from a range of possible death dates but the 3 I have opened give no other information other the date of death , cause and place.
No spouses names or children who signed the certificate like records from the mid to late 1800's.

I'm desperate for the trail not to end there.
When I'm in on Monday , I plan to open up every death record for his name and possible death year range.
There are some possible birth records for birth year range ish but these won't really tell me anything as I don't know his parents names.

I'm really enjoying it.
Ancestry.co.uk is a fantastic tool as it gives possible links to people on your tree.
Signed up for a 2 week free trial and got lots of information about my wife's ancestors in Sunderland.