Brickwall Service

Our 2-hour brickwall service is proving very popular. Most people find that on one of their lines they hit a brick wall. It may be that our experience or the access we have to Scottish records is just what you need to break through the brick wall and continue with your journey. If you have a brick wall why not give it a try, you could open up a whole new chapter of your family history. Either email me (just reply to this email) or look at our website for more information.

Was Your Ancestor a Convict?

Every year the Scottish Association of Family History Societies (SAFHS) hold a conference and family history fair. This year the theme is, "Was Your Ancestor a Fife Convict?"

The annual event will take place this year on 21 April 2018 at the Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, Fife. 

One of our genealogists, Emma Maxwell, will be giving the talk, “Finding Your Ancestors' Footprints” and all the talks will revolve around the theme of criminal records. 

As well as the four talks there will be a free ‘Ask the Expert’ area, hosted by the Scottish Genealogy Network. It will be a great opportunity to get some professional advice on how to trace your family history.

To find out more and book your ticket go to the SAFHS 2018 website. 

If you need help to find out what life in Scotland was like for your ancestors get in touch and see how we can help.

Genealogy Beyond the Internet

Every week more records are added to the hundreds of genealogy websites. Find My Past release new records every Friday. We add records as we index them and sites like Ancestry add their own records and index records from a large collection of other websites. Never has it been easier to research your family tree online.

The reality is however that what is online is just a drop in the ocean of the records that are available. In fact, the records that are not online are often the more interesting records.

We have indexed a small proportion of Scottish prison records but there is a lot more work to do! The National Records of Scotland hold some fascinating records, such as property records and deeds which can hold the key to unlocking your family history.

Sometimes though, in the records we have available, we have a clue. If we stop and think about the records we have easy access to we can open up a world of further possibilities.

Here’s an example. A client came to us recently because she noticed from the 1871 census that two of her relatives were in the Mossbank Industrial School. This was a tantalising piece of information, why were the boys there? How long where they at the school for? So many questions.

We were able to tell her that the records of the Mossbank Industrial School are held by the Glasgow City Archives at the Mitchell Library. Sadly there is no online catalogue but their website states that they have got records of pupils.

We were commissioned to go and investigate. We found that very detailed records survive for the school. The two lads were admitted in 1870 and are described as ‘Destitute’. We located another volume of records, this time discharge records and these were the most fascinating. On leaving the Industrial School regular information was sent back and recorded in the register. Here are a couple of entries I liked. “Doing Well, is employed in Mills. Stays with Father at Innerleithen. Had a letter on 23rd January 1874.” “Still doing well. Heard from him on the 31 March 1876”.*

I just love these wee piece of information. From the lads being released on licence in November 1873 right through to 1876 we can see that they did well; where else could we find these details?

The next time you are researching think about what the census is telling you, ask questions and try to find the records to answer them. If you need some help just get in touch and we can help. The above research was done for just £25. Hiring professionals doesn’t have to break the bank but could help you break down a brick wall. 

*This information is taken from items D-ED7/146/5/2 and D-ED7/146/3/1 both of which are held by the Glasgow City Archives.

Using Sasines to Research Your Scottish Family History

Dumfries High Street

Scottish Property Records or Sasines (pronounced 'say-zin') can be a great way to trace your family tree: if your ancestors had property.

When property was transferred through purchase or inheritance a legal document called a sasine was created. As well as telling you where the property or land was they also give the ‘designation’ of the old and new owners. If the transfer is between family members this is particularly useful but even if it’s between unrelated people the clues can help you piece together your family story.

The great thing is that from 1781 Scottish sasine records are indexed. The register begins in 1609 and some counties have indexes before 1780 (there are some records before 1609 but they are incomplete). With the exception of burgh registers the sasines have digitally imaged by the National Records of Scotland.

National Records of Scotland

Obviously until the 20st century most Scottish families did not own property so this is not a resource that is universally useful. If your family did own property though the sasines are definitely worth consulting. You can read more about sasines on the National Records of Scotland website or get in touch and we can search them for you.

Scottish Roman Catholic Parish Records

You can now access Scottish Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms, Marriages and Burials on FindMyPast. These have been available on ScotlandsPeople for a while but for those of us with the British subscription package to FindMyPast these Catholic records will be included in our existing package.

If you’re researching on a budget it’s worth asking if FindMyPast or other sites are available through your local library. One library they are available in is the National Library of Scotland. Also FindMyPast offer a free trial so this could be a great time to start tracing your Scottish family tree.

If you’ve been researching your family tree but you’re a little stuck, come to us and we can help you get over the brick wall and get your research back on track.

The Kelso Dispensary

For the majority of people in 1777 there was no proper health care. Struggling to simply feed and clothe their children, most families couldn’t afford to see a doctor or buy medicine from the apothecary. This meant that of course there was high infant mortality, and countless families left to rely on the parish for poor relief when the man of the house was taken ill, or died.

In Kelso a group of men and women wanted to change this and they founded the Kelso Dispensary. A charitable institution, it was founded by benefactors and subscribers. Each subscriber could ‘recommend’ people who couldn't afford to see a doctor and they would receive free healthcare.

The records that the institution left behind are fascinating. They record who visited the dispensary, which parish they were from, who recommended them, the date seen, the age of the patient, the disease and the outcome of the case.

We think it is fitting that the records of this charitable organisation are the first to be indexed by our ‘Sponsor an Index’ programme. The first 1,743 entries are now online for you to access for free.

We hope that these prove useful to you. If they don’t cover the period needed get in touch about our ‘Sponsor an Index’ programme and together we can get more of these records online.

UPDATE 18 March 2016: The indexing of volume 1 is now completed. There are now 2,561 entries online! Search online for free: www.scottishindexes.com

Sponsor an Index

The Problem!

Just a few short years ago there was very little in the way of online genealogy indexes. Tracing your ancestry was slow and time-consuming. Today the world has changed, and many people can trace their family tree in Scotland using online records, perhaps getting back as far as 1800 in just a few hours!

Sometimes, though, we hit a roadblock. We may also be intrigued about the lives of our ancestors and want to dig deeper.

Even if we know that records exist that could help us further, if there is no index and we are not fortunate enough to live near the archive where these records are held, it can be very expensive to have someone research our family tree for us. What we need is an online index!

Large companies are working on this situation by indexing a large number of records, then selling subscriptions. This can be useful if the company has a large number of records that you want, but can be frustrating if you sign up to find out they don’t have the records that will help you.

We want to provide a free website, one which gives you the source reference of the original document so that you can go and view the original record for free, or if you can’t visit in person pay just a small fee for the record you need.

The Solution

We are finding that more and more clients ask us to search records that could also be useful to other researchers. This has left us with the conclusion that it may make more sense for individuals to ‘sponsor’ an index. This way the genealogy community as a whole only pays once for the indexing to be done. The index goes online for free and then all your distant cousins can use it too.

How it works

You sponsor an indexer to spend a set amount of time (in 30 minute blocks) to index a record of your choice, with a date range of your choice. That set amount of time will be spent on indexing the record you have chosen, and then the index will be made freely available online for everybody to access. As a sponsor your name will accompany the release of the new index entries, and  will also remain permanently on our ‘Sponsor Appreciation Page’. Additionally, if the new index contains a specific entry you are looking for you will receive it free of charge.

We have a list of records ready and waiting to be indexed, but if you don’t see what you need get in touch and we’ll see if we can index the record you’re looking for.

30 minutes - £7

1 hour - £10

5 hours - £40

Most items held by the National Records of Scotland can be indexed, but there may be additional charges, get in touch and we’ll see what we can do. Search their catalogue to see what treasures they hold that we could help you access.

How much will be indexed?

How much can be indexed in a set period of time depends on the type of records involved. The ‘Notices of Admissions by the Superintendent of the Mental Institutions’ are one of the slowest records to index. A volume (one month) can take up to ten hours! Prison registers are among the quickest, with over 100 prisoner entries being possible in an hour. Once we know the record you are interested in, we can advise as to the amount we can likely index in the time available.

What to do next

Visit our ‘Sponsor an Index’ page on our website and choose how long you would like us to spend indexing the record of your choice. Add that time to the PayPal cart and proceed to the checkout. Once your payment is through I will email you and you can tell us what you would like us to index. You can find the list to pick from here.

Last Day of Who Do You Think You Are? Live - What Not to Miss

We’ve been having a really great time in London, not only seeing the sights, but also enjoying  Who Do You Think You Are? Live. We’ve met some really interesting people at the event, which is the largest of it’s kind in the UK. It was also announced this week that Who Do You Think You Are? Live will be coming to Glasgow at the end of August, exciting news for those with any interest in Scottish genealogy.

It’s been great to be able to meet people face to face rather than just chat on Twitter! Talking in person helps you to understand what motivates people and what they want to achieve. You also discover the special interests that set them apart from other genealogists.

If you’re planning to attend today (Saturday 22 February 2014) here are a few highlights to make sure you catch:

Stand 320

Family Tree magazine are giving away their March edition at the fair. Watch our short interview with the editor to learn more about them.

Stand 530

My Heritage - A great site to share your family tree as well as grow it. Go to their stand to see how it works.

Stand 424

Borders Journeys  - At this stand you’ll find Ian Walker who can organize a tour of your ancestral homeland. Here's a short introduction to Ian and his business.

Stand 310

Family Tree DNA are offering some great deals and of course expert advice. There are a series of talks running throughout the day. If you're new to DNA genealogy the talk at 10:15 may be the one for you: Which DNA Test is Best for You?

Dumfries prison register

We have begun indexing the prison registers for Dumfries. As each year is indexed we will make it available on our website. We have 1841 and 1842 online so far and hope to add 1843 today or tomorrow.

The Dumfries register has some interesting characteristics. For example the description is a lot more ‘human’ than that which we have seen in other prison registers. In many prisons the description/marks column is left blank unless the individual had a tattoo, obvious scar or something similar. In Dumfries however it seems to have almost always have been filled in (for the years we have inspected so far) and gives such descriptions as “common”, “squints”, “stout”, “pock pitted”, “nearly blind in right eye” and even “white spots on his head”! Certainly a way to really learn more about your ancestors… if you dare!

The online index is free and we charge just £5 for a full transcription: Come and search today!

www.maxwellancestry.com/prison

Annie Lennox's Scottish family tree

Last night's Who do you think you are? was really most enjoyable and a great introduction to Scottish genealogy. Featured in last night's show were the Kirk Session records of Braemar parish. These could have been a new type of record to you and perhaps it made you wonder if they could be of use to you. These records hold vast amounts of interesting information as well as containing useful genealogical data, as was ably demonstrated by the National Records of Scotland's Pete Wadley! (I see a glittering TV career in front of him!)

If your ancestor was illegitimate it is definitely worth looking but also if your ancestor was born shortly after the marriage there may be a case of what was termed as ante-nuptial fornication recorded. If you can't search these records personally we can make the search for you, all our searches in Edinburgh start at twenty-five pounds and many Kirk Sessions can be searched for that fee or perhaps a little more. We offer a free consultation and will give you an exact price for any research we suggest. Just email me info@maxwellancestry.com with the information you have and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

For a full review of last night's programe see Chris Paton's blog.