Scottish Adoption Records

The National Records of Scotland

One of our Frequently Asked Questions is: How can I locate adoption records? It comes as a surprise to many people that until 1930 there was no formal adoption process in Scotland. Formal adoption records are closed for 100 years but if you are the child concerned you can access your own records. See the National Records of Scotland’s website for details.

In most cases people ask us about adoption records because they have been researching their family tree and discovered that their ancestor was orphaned at a young age, raised by someone and record these ‘adoptive’ parents as their parents on a marriage certificate or other record.

In many cases the arrangements for an orphaned child were done on a private basis, perhaps the child was taken in by a relative, friend or neighbour. In some cases children were ‘boarded out’. These are usually cases where a child would have been in the poorhouse but rather the parish arranged for a local woman to care for young children, what we would call foster care today. Of course some children did end up in the poorhouse if there was nobody to care for them.

If this has happened to your ancestor, you may well want to find out more about the situation. Poor records are often the place to start. You can find a comprehensive list here, click the link ‘Records_of_the_Scottish_Poor.pdf’. This list, created by Scottish genealogist Kirsty Wilkinson will tell you which records exist and where to find them.

If you need any help get in touch and we’ll see how we can help you.