The Family History Society of Buchan

Registered Scottish Charity SC035593

INTRODUCTION

So you have found yourself looking for Scottish ancestors! In regards to genealogy you are about to be pleasantly surprised as Scottish statutory records are more comprehensive than any other British records. As an Englishman it pains me to say it but Scottish BMD records are far more detailed and very easily accessible than English and Welsh records.

Scottish records can be viewed, yes - viewed on line for a little as a £1.00 each (30 Credits cost £6 and only 5 credits are required to view a BMD record). There are no more searching Indexes and then having to pay upto £25.00 for the certificate. These records are an image of the original entry and they can be stored, and printed off. More on this subject under the paragraph “Scotland’s People”.

SPOUSES

In Buchan it is common for a wife to be recorded under her maiden name. On many memorial inscriptions, census records and even BMD certificates, you will find a lady’s maiden surname as the only surname used. This is well worth remembering when searching for female Scottish ancestors.

OLD PARISH REGISTERS

Old Parish Registers contain the records of the established Church of Scotland. They can be a bit of hit or a miss. It was up to the local Church as to what was recorded. On the good side, a great deal of Scottish OPR’s survive, as opposed to the England which lost many to WW2 bombing and a later flooding of the Archives. As a genealogist there is no better advice than to view the original OPR images on ScotlandsPeople or at your local Registrars Office or local library.

Even then the OPR’s might be as brief as the one shown below. It dates from 1837 but gives very little information other than the names of the couple and the date they were married. Here we see Amelia’s marriage to James Milne.

Scotlands People and local Registrar’s only have the birth/christening and marriage OPRs available but there are some death OPR surviving which can be viewed at Family History Societies or local libraries. These are listed on our Links page detailing which Aberdeenshire and Banffshire OPR’s survive. Before spending your credits by looking up OPRs on the Scotland People web site, try a quick search on the LDS Family Search web site first can often be very fruitful and of course free.

OPR 232/0030/0259 Peterhead 2 Nov 1837 - (c) Crown copyright

STATUTORY RECORDS

In Scotland statutory records started in 1855, some 18 years after the rest of the UK. These records initially contained a great deal of information not included in other BMD records. By 1856 the records office had had a rethink and a great deal of information was removed. In 1861, another rethink had more information included. They remained in that format until the last few decades.

If you find an ancestor born, married or died in 1855 you should consider yourself very lucky indeed. If you have more than one event occurring in 1855 please expect to be shunned at family history meetings. It’s the genealogical version of winning the lottery.

What can you expect to find on an 1861 or later birth certificate? All the information you would expect but also Scottish records include the place and date of the parent’s marriage. In addition, the mother’s maiden surname is included. This is invaluable when researching previous generations.

On many memorial inscriptions in Buchan it is common for a wife to be recorded under her maiden name. Occasionally in census records and even on BMD certificates, you will find a lady’s maiden surname as the only surname used. This is well worth remembering when searching for female Scottish ancestors.

Although the digitised images of BDM are primary evidence some inaccuracies are inevitable. The head of the house or other informant may have been at sea or working away and didn’t make it back to Buchan to register the event so another relative or neighbour could have carried out the registration and entered details from recollections of conversations with the deceased.

Statutory records can be accessed through Scotlands People or local Registrar’s Offices.

There are 12 computerised Registrar’s Offices in Aberdeenshire and they have full access to Scottish BDM’s, OPR’s and Censuses from 1841-1901. The hourly charge is set by General Register Office for Scotland and you can either note down the information or purchase 50p prints for historical entries (B 100 + years, M 75 + years and D 50 + years) and £8.50 for recent entries. Visit the website for Office contact details www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/registrars or email registrars@aberdeenshire.gov.uk for further information.

Scotlands People web site is probably the best government run genealogical resource currently available. A user has to buy a minimum of 30 credits for a cost of £6.00. You spend these credits initially searching for information then for viewing the resultant images. You may buy an official copy of the image for £10 or print off the image for free. There are none of those useless indexes here.

The best way to use the Scotlands People web site is to only search for entries where you already have a good idea of the details - perhaps from previously viewed certificates. Ill discipline random searches result in all your credits disappearing very fast. I normally try the LDS Family search or other sites until I know the details required then access Scotlands People to obtain the images.

1875 Marriage certificate with the brides mother’s details listed as Amelia Milne M/S Abel (dead) We know from the gravestone that Amelia died in 1872, she never saw her daughter Jane marry.

To date we have a feeling for Amelia Abel’s life but we never knew who her parents were as they were not identified in the OPR entry for her marriage. On viewing her death certificate we find that Scottish death certificate lists the deceased parents (where known). From Amelia’s death certificate we find for the first time her parents were William and Jane Abel nee Gillan.

1872 Death certificate for Amelia Milne married to James Milne with Amelia parents listed.

Amelia and James went on to have three children together and a large number of grandchildren including Amelia Abel Grieg. Her mother is shown as Jane Grieg m/s Milne.

1876 Statutory Birth Image showing the registration of Amelia’s Granddaughter Amelia Abel Greig - with her mother’s maiden surname (M/S Milne) and the date and place of the parents wedding (1875 June 19th - Peterhead)

With the birth certificate information we now know the date and place of young Amelia Abel Grieg parent’s wedding. This is confirmed by their marriage certificate shown above. The additional information shown on a marriage certificate are the bride’s mother name and her maiden surname.

That concludes a case study of Amelia Abel highlighting the information expected to be found on Scottish certificates. Any member wishing to learn more on this subject please feel free to approach the Family History Society of Buchan and we will be pleaded to help

SCOTLANDS PEOPLE

This web site is probably the best government run genealogical resource currently available. A user has to buy a minimum of 30 credits for a cost of £6.00. You spend these credits initially searching for information then for viewing the resultant images. You may buy an official copy of the image for £10 or print off the image for free. There are none of those useless indexes here.

The best way to use the Scotlands People web site is to only search for entries where you already have a good idea of the details - perhaps from previously viewed certificates. Ill discipline random searches result in all your credits disappearing very fast. I normally try the LDS Family search or other sites until I know the details required then access Scotlands People to obtain the images.

That concludes a case study of Amelia Abel highlighting the information expected to be found on Scottish certificates. Any member wishing to learn more on this subject please feel free to approach the Family History Society of Buchan and we will be pleaded to help

Alan Fakley

Copyright (c) 2008 Family History Society of Buchan

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