Smallpox in the National Records of Scotland

Smallpox is a word that has inspired fear for generations. Our ancestors suffered with little help and it was not until the 26th of October 1977 that the world’s last naturally occurring case was discovered.

We are the product of generations of ancestors who survived long enough to have children, but we know that sadly many of our ancestors’ siblings did not survive. It is rare to find detailed health records of our ancestors, so although we might theorise that they endured diseases such as smallpox we do not often have any evidence one way or the other.

Clues do exist, though, if you know where to look. One interesting source is the prison registers held by the National Records of Scotland. Victorian prison records are very detailed, and one of the columns on the registers was headed ‘Marks’. In this column, as well as finding details of tattoos or scars, we commonly see written ‘pock marked’, ‘poxpitted’, ‘pock pitted’ and even ‘Marked with small pox’. A person could become pockmarked by various skin conditions, but smallpox was a major cause of such scarring. Depending on the description used, it can be very clear that they suffered from smallpox at some point in their life, information which may not be found in any other record. The image to the left shows William Phillips and Betsy Phillips are recorded as being marked with the smallpox in an 1848 prison register; you can search an index to these records on our website.

Another source of information is the Kelso Dispensary patient records, which are also held by the National Records of Scotland. These records provide a fascinating glimpse into the history of smallpox. Founded in 1777, this charitable institution saw patients with many ailments, and smallpox is frequently seen in the records. Between October 1793 and October 1794 the Dispensary saw 29 cases of smallpox, with one case resulting in death.

Click to see image full size

The records of the Kelso Dispensary document many cases of smallpox. Above we see an entry for Thomas Tenant who died of the disease in 1797. This entry is again from the National Records of Scotland, their reference number for the document is HH71/43.

In 1796 a physician named Edward Jenner discovered that infecting someone with cowpox gave them protection from the much more dangerous smallpox. This was effective because when a person was exposed to cowpox, the human body produced antibodies which helped protect them from smallpox. This was the world’s first vaccine!

The vaccine came too late for poor Thomas, though. Just a few years later, on 10 August 1800, we see the first entry of smallpox inoculation by the Kelso Dispensary. Sadly the names of the children are not listed but these ten children surely have a place in history.

Click to see image full size

As with many new ideas the smallpox inoculation (or vaccination) was not universally accepted. Cartoons of the time depict the fear that the public had at the time, that somehow the cowpox may turn them into a cow! Science prevailed however and the results were clear. In time an improved vaccine was made and the rest, as they say, is history. This terrifying disease now only exists in laboratories, let’s hope it stays that way!

When researching our ancestor’s past we are not content with a lists of names, dates and places, we want to dig deeper and understand the people we are descended from. By looking at a variety of records you can do that too. We are working on a project to index Scottish prison and health records so that you can trace your family tree and find out more about the people behind the names, including the diseases they had to endure. Search www.scottishindexes.com for the names of your ancestors and discover more about their lives.

A page from a prison register

Finding births in the NRS - How the professionals do it!

Update - December 2014

You can now search Quaker births and marriages on our new website www.scottishindexes.com

We’re going to look today at one way to trace your family back that extra generation. We’re looking at a common scenario, no birth in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs). What can you do?

It’s not uncommon in Scotland to trace your ancestors using the census, and have an approximate year of birth and place of birth but you can’t find an entry for your ancestor’s birth or baptism in the OPRs. Of course there are many types of records you could look at, but today we’re going to focus on Church Records in the National Records of Scotland (NRS) catalogue. 

Civil registration began in Scotland in 1855, before that the church was responsible for keeping records of baptisms, marriages and deaths in each parish. There a number of reasons, though, why your search may not turn up any results. Here a few:

• The record was made but it has since been lost, burnt or in some other way damaged. Unfortunately there is not much we can do about this scenario.

• The parish didn’t keep a separate register of births, marriages and deaths for the period of time you are interested in but rather kept details amongst Kirk Session minutes or accounts.

• The family did not attend the Church of Scotland but were members of another church. I have dealt with Quaker records before. Most Catholic registers are now available through Scotland’s People. The family may, though, have attended a ‘breakaway’ church, such as the Free Church.

One simple thing you can do is look at the documents you already have, the post-1855 civil registration birth, marriage and death certificates. On a marriage certificate, for example, according to what religious form was the marriage ceremony performed? It will usually say “according to the forms of the Church of Scotland/Free Church etc.” If a member of the family married in the Free Church after 1855 it would be a good place to start your search in the pre-1855 records.

Now it’s time to turn to the National Records of Scotland (NRS) catalogue (formerly known as the National Archives of Scotland catalogue). Remember though, it is normally best not to proceed to this is the stage until you have researched thoroughly in the civil registration certificates. You should have a good indication of the parish your family were from and the rough year the event took place.

In the NRS catalogue, record references that begin with the code CH2 are from the Church of Scotland and records that begin with CH3 are records of other presbyterian churches which subsequently re-united with the Church of Scotland, such as the Free Church, United Presbyterian (UP), United Free (UF), Relief, United Secession, Original Secession, Burgher, Antiburgher, Associate and others.

So what are you going to start with? Did your family attend the Free Church after 1855? If you believe they may have done, begin with CH3.

Go to the catalogue

In the “Search for” box type the parish or town name, lets say “Hawick” in this example. In the Reference box, type CH3 and make sure you select “Starts” in that line. This means you will only be shown records starting with CH3, therefore reducing the number of entries you need to look through. Now click Search. So what do you get? Here’s what I was shown:

You now have two options, you can either refine the search by entering dates or just go through all the results.

Either way you’ll have to start to understand the reference numbers. Click on one you like the look of, what do you see?

In my list the sixth entry looks good, it says “CH3/1151 - Hawick, Free Church, St George's - 1842-1882.”

Click on the reference number and you will be given more information.

Do you notice the bit I’ve circled (click image to see it bigger), it says “Level - Fonds”. This means that you are looking at a collection of records, there could be many items within CH3/1151, each with a more specific reference starting with the code CH3/1151. So how do we find out more about the items or volumes within CH3/1151?

What I do is open up a new tab in my browser and open the catalogue again. This time put CH3/1151 in the reference, making sure the option “Starts” is selected, but this time put nothing in the “Search for” box.

You are now shown a list of items within CH3/1151, as it happens in this case there is only 1 but it’s the one we’re looking for: “CH3/1151/1 Title - Baptismal register 1842-82, Marriage register 1843-72.”

Perfect, we’ve found a register of baptisms for the parish. Now, how can I view it?

Click the reference number to go into the detailed description: 

At the top (circled) it tells us “Volume completely imaged”. This means the images can be viewed in the NRS in Edinburgh or any archive centre that has a “Virtual Volumes” link. Also (in the second circle) it says “Repository - Scottish Borders Archive and Local History Centre” This means the original volume has been deposited with the stated Archive, you can therefore view it there too.

You can now go back to your first tab (that’s why we left it up) to work your way through doing the same thing until you have a list of Churches with registers at the NRS for the period of time you need.

The principles of this search can be extended to any parish in any county.

Follow a similar process for the CH2 (Church of Scotland records), search for Hawick within CH2, a quick search shows CH2/1122 are the Records of Hawick, Old, Kirk Session. Go back to the search and just put the reference number in (leaving the “Search for” box blank), and now look through for anything of interest. You must do this stage or you will not see all the entries starting CH2/1122! This is a common mistake. 

Any difficulties, just send me an email and I’ll help you out.

In search of the Old Age Pension records - Part Three

I’m sorry to report that my search is not going well. I do have an idea of what we are looking for and have a greater understanding of how the process worked, but I also have also seen documentation that leads us to believe that valuable information was systematically destroyed.

Let’s start with the positive

With kind permission of the NRS here is an example of the form used to claim your old age pension from when the system commenced in 1909.

Click images to see detail

Considering that civil registration didn’t begin in Scotland until 1855 and that many of the pre-1855 parish registers have been lost, damaged etc. the information that must have been filled in on the forms above could have been really useful. This would especially have been the case in situations where a family member appears to have moved from one area of the country to another or has a common surname. The date and place of birth called for on this form could unlock many family histories.

These form were to be given to the postmaster who was to pass them on to a representative of HM Customs and Excise. This is a governmental department which has been subject to various changes over the years, making it difficult to trace what may have happened to specific records.

As I have discussed in previous blogs, when no proof of age could be presented by a Scottish claimant, a search could be made in the census or marriage records. It seems at first this was done by the GRO themselves; later (and no later than 1919) the searches were made by officials of the Customs and Excise.

We have again found sample forms: notice that they are perforated. It would appear that one part was kept by the Customs and Excise Department in Edinburgh whilst the other half was sent on to approve (or disallow) payment of the pension.

Where did these forms go?

Reading a file (GRO5/1250) in the NRS on Friday, worryingly called “Destruction of Documents”, I read that many records were systematically destroyed. The reason for much of this destruction was a paper shortage during (and after) the First World War. In fact across governmental departments documents not considered to be of “sufficient public value to justify preservation” were to be destroyed. It’s not looking good...

UPDATE: A followup blog

Excerpt from the National Records of Scotland

I am reading minutes relating to the administration the the Old Age Pension. National Records of Scotland reference GRO5/779.

Under the subject of the Census being returned to Scotland The Registrar General said (as recorded in the minutes) in November 1909:

"Transmits files as to this matter is strongly of the opinion that a case has been established for access being given to the Census Returns and further thinks that Scottish Census Returns for 1841 & 1851 now crumbling to pieces in London, should be transferred to Scotland & housed in the Register House as soon as possible."

To read more about the Old Age Pension read my blog: In search of the Old Age Pension records - Part One

In search of the Old Age Pension records - Part One

It was brought to my attention recently that in Ireland there survive records of 'Age Verification' which drew on the 1841 and 1851 census to prove an individual's age so that they could claim their Old Age Pension.

The Old Age Pension was introduced throughout the United Kingdom (which then included what is now the Republic of Ireland) in January 1909. In order to claim, you had to be 70 years of age or older and you would have to prove you were old enough.

In Scotland and Ireland it could be very difficult to prove your age. In Ireland civil registration of births had not begun until 1864 so nobody of pension age in 1909, who had been born in Ireland, had a birth certificate. Although civil registration of births had began nine years earlier in Scotland it still meant that none of the first applicants for the Old Age Pension had a birth certificate.

What was to be done?

First of all a search could be made in parish records. Sometimes a baptism could be found, but in a number of cases (as you will know if you have ever searched for these) nothing could be found. It was decided that in Ireland and Scotland searches could be made in the 1841 and 1851 census to verify ages.

Ireland

This is a very valuable resource in Ireland as in the years that followed most of the 1841 and 1851 census enumeration books were destroyed. The remaining Age Verification forms are a really valuable resource. To read more about this see Chris Paton's excellent blog: Walking in eternity.

Scotland

In Scotland I cannot find these age verification forms. I have been able to demonstrate (contrary to the belief of some) that they did exist in Scotland and I also have some statistics. Here is an extract from a file held by the National Records of Scotland (their reference is GRO5/778):

STATEMENT showing NO. of SEARCHES in CENSUS RETURNS of 1841 and of 1851 on behalf of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD in each month from January 1911 to February 1912.

In the same file (GRO5/778) there is also a copy of a question raised by Captain Murray in the House of Commons on 7 August 1912. The question was: “To ask the Secretary for Scotland, whether he can state the number of persons in Scotland who were in receipt of old age pensions on 1st January 1909, 1st January 1910, 1st January 1911, and 1st January 1912.”

The reply by Mr. Masterman. - “There are no records to show the number of old age pensioners on the 1st January in any year except 1909; but the following figures represent the number of persons who were in receipt of old age pensions in Scotland on 1st January 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912.

On 1st January 1909 64,770
On Friday immediately preceding 1st January 1910 76,037
On Friday immediately preceding 1st January 1911 80,502
On Friday immediately preceding 1st January 1912 94,243”

If the Scottish Age Verification forms could be found they would be really interesting. Whilst they concern a small percentage of the population, it is the percentage of the population that were struggling during their lifetime, to provide proof of their their age. If you are now tracing your family tree just think how useful it would be to have a record from 1909 for these individuals!!

If you have any insight into what has happened to these forms please get in touch.

England and Wales

Civil registration beginning in England and Wales in 1837 meant that some pensioners had birth certificates, but also the parish registers for the period immediately before 1837 are in much better order than in Scotland and Ireland. It therefore seems that the census was not often (if ever) used for the purposes of age verification.

Original Application forms

The Age verification forms should not be confused with the original pension application forms, which every claimant would have filled in right at the start of the process, regardless of whether they had evidence of their age or not. They would be interesting to find too and will be the subject of another blog.

UPDATE: Read part two

Illegitimacy and the Sheriff Court

A few months ago we were approached by an individual researching a child born in 1856. Originally the child was registered as Donald Smith, son of Agnes Smith, illegitimate and no father’s name mentioned. The entry has been amended,however, to say that on the 15th day of August 1859 at the Sheriff Court of Aberdeen it was decreed that Donald Ross of Upper Kirkgate, Aberdeen, was the father.

At first glance this seems great, we can identify the father. Unfortunately, though, an inspection of the census and other records did not successfully identify Donald Ross.

The next step was to look at the decree books for the court. Sadly,however, in Aberdeen for this period they are missing. There are court minute books but these simply gave us the date of the decree (which we knew from the birth certificate anyway) and the solicitor of the pursuer, an interesting detail but not terribly helpful. If we had been able to see the decree books it may have told us enough information to identify the father, and it may also have told us when the court case began.

The only other option is to consult the court processes. In a nutshell the processes are the surviving paperwork for each case, and they would therefore likely give an address and occupation for Donald’s father.

The problem: as indexed by the National Archives there are 11 boxes for 1859! Starting at SC1/11/774 I searched these boxes, but I didn’t find it. In consultation with the client we continued to search back through the boxes, and eventually we reached box number SC1/11/749 (25 boxes later).

This was a time consuming search, and many would have given up. Not only did it cost the customer to pay for us to conduct the search but as any individual can only pre-order 12 items into the National Archives from TTH (where these records are out-stored) on any one day, it took a number of trips.

As I said though, eventually we found the record, and what did it tell us? It gave us the address, occupation and mother’s name of Donald Ross. It also contained statements and witness testimonies which gave a very detailed description of the relationship between Agnes Smith and Donald Ross.

Donald Ross appealed the case but lost. The question is, did the court make the right decision? Our customer is now tracing descendants of Donald so a DNA test can prove it once and for all.

If you need help with your research just get in touch.

www.maxwellancestry.com

Parish Records available form Maxwell Ancestry

Records which are not available on Scotland’s People or the IGI

I have just realized through all my blogs about the prison and census projects I have forgotten to tell you about the parish registers that we have been publishing.

Why have we been publishing parish registers I hear you ask?

Are these not available on Scotland’s People and is not the index to many available free on the IGI? Well the answer is that most are, but not all! The IGI and Scotland’s People are mainly based on the OPR’s which should be all we need. However, how often do you search and search to no avail? The OPR’s are excellent but by no means complete and this can be a real source of frustration. There are, however, some other places to look for births, marriages and deaths before 1855!

Some (but by no means all) Kirk sessions contain birth, marriage, and death entries in various forms. The Kirk Session records are not at present on Scotland’s People and by and large this information does not appear on the IGI, therefore is inaccessible to many. The Kirk Session records for much of Scotland are kept at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, although some are held in local archives up and down the country.

Graham thought it may be useful to transcribe and index some of these records. The Castleton Parish register (Roxburghshire) has been for sale on our website for a while now and more are coming. Closeburn (Dumfriesshire) was added last week and one for Galashiels has just been completed. Here is a wee summary for you:

Castleton Parish Register 1707-10 and the Castleton Parish Hearth Tax 1695 £7.99

Parish Register of Closeburn, Dumfriesshire, 1726-1754 £8.99

And soon to be released:

Galashiels Parish Registers: Proclamation Register 1845-1854 and Relief Church Baptisms 1838-1855 £7.99

Our hope is that these will help fill in some of those missing blanks and hopefully help you locate your ancestors.

Here is and excerpt from the Closeburn book to whet your appetite:

19 April 1726

James Kirkpatrick and Agnes Mccaig in Newtown Mains a Son John.

1 June 1726

Archbald Frazer and Janet Kirkpatrick in Auchenleck a Son Daniel.

16 June 1726

James Hainen and Helen Nivison in Kirkland a Daughter Helen.

26 June 1726

Thos. Gibson & Grissel Mcmurdo in Townhead a Daughter Janet.

7 July 1726

Samuel Kirkpatrick & Janet Pagan in Crukup a Daughter Henerata presented by the Mother because of the father's ignorance.

© Kirk Session records — National Archives of Scotland reference CH2/1233/6.

© Transcription and indexes — Copyright Graham Maxwell Ancestry 2010.

Published by Graham Maxwell Ancestry

Cleughside, Kirkpatrick Fleming, Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire, DG11 3NG

info@maxwellancestry.com

www.maxwellancestry.com/publishing