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TRACING YOUR FAMILY TREE

If you don’t know where you come from, you won’t know where you’re going is a frequently quoted observation and one that has a particular resonance today, when there has been a marked upsurge in interest in genealogy, with increasing numbers of people curious to trace their family roots.

Main sources for genealogical research include official records, and the key to unlocking the detail they contain is obviously a family surname, one that has been ‘inherited’ and passed from generation to generation.

While a number of private enterprises offer, for a fee, in-depth genealogical research on your behalf, one excellent resource for names with a Scottish connection is provided through ScotlandsPeople  (www.Scotlandspeople.gov.uk) – an exclusive partnership between the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms and the National Records of Scotland.

Launched in 2008 and with its headquarters at 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh, this official Scottish government resource offers a wealth of information on family history.

While its indexes can be consulted free of charge, digital images you find in the indexes can be accessed on a ‘pay-for-view’ basis, while the headquarters also provides a dedicated ‘search room’.

It is thanks to the meticulous recording over the centuries that details of key moments in the human experience such as births, marriages and deaths have been recorded. 

These are all held in the Statutory Registers, and are collated from original sources including Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of births, baptisms, marriage banns, deaths and burials recorded by parishes of the Church of Scotland before what is known as civil registration  (also recorded) in  1855.

Roman Catholic Registers also provide valuable information that includes communicants and converts.

Providing what ScotlandsPeople describes as ‘a snapshot of the people at a particular address on a given night’, Census Returns have been carried out every ten years since 1841.

On the year in question, the information provided by the householder was as at midnight on, for example, June 6, 1841, March 30, 1851, April 3, 1881 and April 2, 1911.

In addition to providing the names and ages of all residents of a particular address, the returns also record occupations, where applicable.

Closed to public scrutiny for 100 years, it will not be until 2021 that the 1921 census returns will be released.

Wills and testaments are also a source of background information – with the will the document drawn up by someone in order to settle their affairs before they die, and the testament the document drawn up after death to enable an executor to wind up the deceased’s affairs.

But before embarking on a search of the Statutory Registers in order to trace your roots, it is worthwhile as a starting point to attempt to source and examine, if available, old family correspondence such as letters and even postcards and again – if available – family Bibles that record births, baptisms, marriages and deaths.

Oral testimonies, from the lips of family members, particularly the elderly, can also be mined for treasures they may contain – affording a snapshot of the bygone lives and times of our forebears.

A useful resource for surnames particularly identified with England and Wales is https://www.gro.gov.gov.uk/gro/content, for Northern Ireland https://www.gov.uk/general-register-office-for-northern-ireland and, for the Irish Republic, www.irishgenealogy.ie.

Meanwhile, from feed-back over the years from our readers throughout the world, Lang Syne has found our clan and family histories can also provide an excellent starting point in the exciting quest to trace your forebears