This page is to keep track of the most useful online resources to help with the search for my North East Scottish ancestors and the places they came from. None of the following are subscription sites and apart from Scotlandspeople all are free to access.
Census Transcriptions
FREECEN free and best for 1841 – Aberdeenshire complete to 1871 other counties VERY patchy
Find My Past free for 1881 (you need to register)
Dictionary of occupational terms and their codes for the UK 1921 Census
Births, Marriages, Deaths, Census and Wills
For searching up to about the 1870s – FamilySearch
For certificates including wills – Scotlandspeople this in the only place online to find images of Scottish records including the census of 1911. The images are cheap to view and download (about £1.50 to view a record – English records cost almost seven times this amount)
LIST of the extant OPRs with notes (PDF)
A history of civil registration in Scotland from its beginning in 1855 until the Second World War. (from Glasgow University)
An understanding of the records prior to 1855 can be found HERE (from The National Records of Scotland)
Scotland Genealogy -WIKI – VERY useful.
Webster’s analysis of the Scottish population in 1755 (PDF)
Maps and Photos
National Library of Scotland a truly amazing resource. The two maps directly below are a delight.
Old Angus 1678
Ardglassie, Rathen 1583 -1614
Geograph this site aims to cover every square kilometre of GB
Scottish Parish Maps zoomable map of Scotland with outline of each parish.
Photopolis Old Dundee in photos
Dundee City Archives – over 4,000 photos of a bygone Dundee and growing!
Dundee in the 50s and 60s
Britain from Above dating from 1919 to 2006, the collection presents an unparalleled picture of the changing face of Britain in the 20th century.
Canmore buildings, archaeological, industrial & maritime sites across Scotland
GENUKI good for parish maps – select the County THEN the maps…
Great Reform Act Plans and Reports, 1832 Detailed maps and reports of 75 towns in Scotland for the purposes of implementing the Reform Act (Scotland) of 1832.
Parishes
Scottish Statistical Accounts – Old (1791 to 1799) and New (1834 to 1845) These detailed parish reports cover a vast range of topics including agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs.
Scotlandsplaces national databases to access historical resources relating to
places throughout Scotland (some tax records also). This was a subscription site but now FREE.
The Kirk
Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Biographic details of every minister since the reformation.
FASTI – indexed by Minister and Parish
Scottish Church Heritage
Timeline of the evolution of the Churches of Scotland since the Reformation
The Disruption of the Kirk in 1843 there is a brief overview at Wikipedia you can also download a book called the Annals of the Disruption (large file) here.
1851 Religious Census
Directories and Newspapers
Post Office Directories 1793 to 1911
The Glasgow Herald good but not complete coverage of the Glasgow Herald from 1806-1990. (you can search by date only as the newspaper is not indexed)
Pigot & Co.’s new commercial directory of Scotland for 1825-6
Books and Journals
The HathiTrust digital collection:millions of book titles from libraries around the world
JSTOR a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources (register for limited free downloads)
Occupations
Scottish Mining This provides information on the history of Scottish mining, compiled from old reports, gazetteers and newspaper articles. Another mining site here
Shipping Lloyds’ register of ships (most years of the 19th century covered) allows the possibility to look for masters, owners etc.
Sugar Workers This covers Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Archives
Friends of Dundee City Archives
Friends of Dumfries and Galloway Archives
Aberdeen City Archives and Silver Vault
Scottish Archive Network with a link through to the 1852-1857 Highlands and Islands Emigration Society Passenger Lists
National Records of Scotland catalogue
Memorial Inscriptions and Burial Grounds
North East Scotland, Highlands
Perth Burgh, Inverness
Getting Organised – Templates Excel Format
Family Group Sheet BLANK
Family Sheet couple 16_17 of Family Group Sheet for couple 16 _17
Screenshot of Folder for couple 16_17 plus a wee bit on how I organise my documents
Eight Generations Blank
This allows you to use a spreadsheet to record 255 relatives and print them out on one sheet of A4. I use the FREE to download OpenOffice like 160 million other folks!
Eight Generation Chart in Progress
Writing up Your Story – Examples in PDF Format
My Maternal Grandmother’s Story -the FRASERS. I find this write-up boring but I’m not sure how to make it more engaging plus it still needs a good edit!
Page 12 of my Russell’s and 12 Mini Pages (shows how I use the ‘Snip Tool’)
I found this example on the web it is very professionally done and may be exactly what some people are looking for. (Thanks to Bobby for sharing)
OnLine Support Sites
Rootschat some seriously knowledgeable and friendly folk – just join in!.
Genealogy stack Exchange just ask a question no need to join.
The Maxwell’s site – strong on The Borders.
ABEL strong on Angus and Kincardineshire
Family History and Local Study Groups
North Perth, Aberdeen and the NE, Tay Valley, Fearn Peninsula, Sutherland , Scullomie (Sutherland), Shetland
Libindx the Local Heritage Service’s index to sources of information about people, places and subjects relating to Moray.
Scots Language and Handwriting
Dictionary of the Scots Language
Tutorial in the paleogeography of Scottish Documents
Scots Language Centre
Aberdeenshire
Alford (photos)
Pollable People in Aberdeenshire 1696 Vol 1 (contains index) and Vol 2
Scotland’s Health
Health in Scotland 1840 to 1940
Jen's Jardin 