40,000 Scottish Mental Health Records

We have been working along with a very hard working team of volunteers and we have now reached a milestone in our project to index Scottish mental health records. We have indexed the first 40,000 entries.

If you have not used these records before you will be amazed by them. Sometimes the stories are sad, sometimes reassuring, but there are so many stories to tell. For example here is an excerpt from the entry of Jean McTavish or McAlpine. Jean was aged 60 and a widow, it seems that the ‘supposed cause’ of her health problem was intemperance. Below is an account of what a doctor observed. It seems she imagined herself to be only 26 years of age, and that she was a bird.

Reading these records makes the people come to life in our minds, I can almost picture poor Jean in front of the official, looking rather older than her 60 years perhaps, but all the while believing she was only 26. Granted, this record does not answer all our questions, but it makes Jean real. It tells us more than the basic records and it preserves the memory of poor Jean for her descendants.

Search at www.scottishindexes.com

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? LIVE SCOTLAND – TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Three-day event coming to Scotland for the first time this summer!

Genealogy enthusiasts can now get their hands on tickets for the first ever Who Do You Think You Are? Live Scotland event taking place at the SECC in Glasgow from 29-31 August.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live Scotland, which is supported by Homecoming Scotland, will help family historians of all levels to unravel their roots and build a picture of their ancestors’ lives. The three-day show will be home to leading experts, informative workshops, archives and museums, major online subscription sites and one of largest gatherings of family history organisations.

Scheduled to tie in with the Scottish ‘Year of Homecoming’, which celebrates the ancestry theme, Who Do You Think You Are? Live Scotland will complement the hundred-plus ancestral, clan and family events that feature in a year-long programme of celebrations of Scotland’s unique culture and identity.

Who Do You Think You Are? Live Scotland will follow the format of the established event that has been held in London’s Olympia since 2006, bringing some of the most popular features to Glasgow’s SECC. Highlights will include:

• Ask the Experts – Bought to you by the Society of Genealogists, the Ask the Experts area will provide an opportunity to get free one-to-one guidance on your family history research. Whether you are stuck finding an elusive ancestor or just need help to get started, this will be the perfect chance to pose specific questions to an expert who can provide invaluable advice. 
• Society of Genealogists’ Workshops – An extensive programme of free workshops by leading genealogists will run over the course of the three-day show. Full details and a timetable will be released shortly.
• Photography Gallery – A free, unticketed service dedicated to the photos of our past, with experts on hand to investigate visitors’ valuable family photos and artefacts.

Andy Healy, Show Director, commented: “Who Do You Think You Are? Live Scotland will be a must-attend event for anyone with an interest in family history. Whether you’re a seasoned researcher or just starting out, don’t miss this exciting opportunity to take your genealogy journey further.”

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said: “I am delighted that Who Do You Think You Are? Live is coming to Glasgow and is one of over 800 events included in the Homecoming Scotland 2014 programme. With Scotland’s rich and enviable culture and heritage, ancestral tourism is hugely important to Scotland’s economy and events like this help to raise the profile and reach an even wider audience.” 

The event is based on the popular television programme, produced by Wall to Wall (a Shed Media Group company), which will celebrate its 100th episode later this year. To date, the series has seen the likes of Alan Cumming, Annie Lennox, David Tennant, Fiona Bruce, David Mitchell and Alistair McGowan trace their family trees to reveal the surprising, extraordinary and often moving stories of their ancestors.

Tickets for Who Do You Think You Are? Live Scotland are available now online at whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com or by calling 0844 873 7330. Advanced single tickets are priced £14 for adults, £24 for a two-day ticket and £30 for a three-day ticket, while children under 16 go free.

With thanks to Carolyn Wray, Immediate Media

Get Your Free Index to Quaker Marriages and Births in Scotland 1647-1874

Update - December 2014

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

With this months issue of Your Family Tree Magazine (Issue 140) not only will you receive an issue bursting with useful information but you will also receive two free downloads from Maxwell Ancestry!

• Index to Scottish Quaker Births 1647-1874
• Index to Scottish Quaker Marriages 1656-1873

Subscribe to Your Family Tree Magazine online today to make sure you will receive your free downloads. This isn’t a one-off either, they give a free download away every month!

About the Indexes

The Indexes to Marriages and births is taken from an alphabetical list of marriages and births recorded in the Digest of Quaker (The Religious Society of Friends) Births, Marriages and Deaths of Scotland, 1647-1874. The Digest can be viewed in the National Records of Scotland (NRS): their reference for this volume is CH10/1/64.

The digest was originally made around 1867 but seems to have been updated until about the mid-1870s. It was created by copying entries from individual meeting registers into one alphabetical volume. The original individual volumes can also be consulted in the NRS.

Marriages

Our index includes the name of the individual, name of their spouse, the year of marriage, monthly or other meeting record location, and the page number in the Digest.

The Digest contains the following headings:

Book, Page, Names of Parties, When and where Married, Residence and Description, Parents’ Names, Residence and Description, Monthly or other Meeting Record.

Before the digest of marriages starts properly there are two pages of marriages which “have been either considered irregular or to have been but imperfectly recorded”. These pages been included in this index; an example of this type of record is given below.

Book: 17

Page: 3

Names: Ormston Jane, Waldie John

Date of Minute: 1749, Novr. 26

Description: [Jane Ormston] daur of Charles (merchant) of Kelso: Fewar and Commissary Clerk

Information given: At Kelso Monthly Meeting a letter was read from Jane Ormston acknowledging her having married contrary to the Rules of the Society. {The first child of this Marriage is recorded in the Parish Register as born 5th September 1750.}

Monthly Meeting or other records: Kelso Mo Mg

Births

The Digest contains 1134 births and has the following headings:

Book, Page, Name [of child], Date and Place of Birth, Parents’ Names, Residence and Description, Monthly or other Meeting Record.