Did your ancestors work the land?

If your ancestor was a farmer, shepherd or agricultural labourer you may be able to find information in estate records. 

Families who owned large estates would need their own records. These might record who were their employees, or who rented their farms. These records can be useful when you are researching your family history. For example, it’s not unusual for a farm to be rented by generations of the same family. This can be crucial information for periods when there are no census records or there are gaps in church records.

Valuation Roll, Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotalnd (1896-97)

In general, you are more likely to find records of farmers and shepherds than agricultural labourers. This is because the farmer would often sublet the cottages on a farm to workers, in fact, the cottage would probably come with the job. In this case, your ‘Ag Lab’ may not appear in the estate records. Having said that, records of this nature vary so if you are up against a brick wall it may be worth checking.

Step one is to find out the name of the estate and who owned it. There are a few ways to go about this. One way is to look at the Valuation Rolls, some of which are on ScotlandsPeople. They will tell you who owned a property, who was the tenant and who lived in it. Not all small properties are listed in the early years and they only go back to 1855. Although they were produced yearly, ScotlandsPeople has generally added the volumes ‘between the census years’ like 1855, 1865, 1875 etc. 

Another way to find out is to search the newspapers, this is particularly helpful for farms. If a farm was available for rent it will be listed in the newspaper and tell you which estate it was on. This is also interesting as it will tell you a bit about the land your ancestors farmed. 

Maps from the National Library of Scotland can also be very helpful. Ordnance Survey maps are good but there are also a growing number of estate maps available: https://maps.nls.uk/estates/

The Register of Sasines records heritable property being transferred.

In some cases, you may need to use property records. As these are not online, I try to use the other means already mentioned, but here is some information about Scottish property records: https://www.scottishindexes.com/learningsasines.aspx

Once you know which family owned the farm you can search for their estate records. The National Records of Scotland and National Library of Scotland both have large collections so they can be a good place to begin. 

Archives across Scotland also have their own collections of estate records. Either go to the archive for the area your ancestor lived or search the Scottish Archive Network catalogue: https://www.scan.org.uk/.

The National Register of Archives is another good place to look. The National Register of Archives for Scotland (NRAS) was established by the Scottish Record Office (now the National Records of Scotland) in 1946 to compile a record of papers of historical significance in private hands in Scotland. You can search this catalogue here: https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrasregister/welcome.aspx

One thing to remember is that often these records still belong to the family. Think of your small family archive, perhaps you have photographs of your great-grandparents or letters written to your granny. These are precious and belong to your family. Even if the letter mentions somebody else it’s still your letter and it’s up to you how it is used. It’s the same with estate records, they still belong to the family. Many estates allow access but they are not public records. This means that some may have restrictions on copying and publication. Make sure you find out what these are. 

The archives of the National Trust for Scotland

I was privileged to hear a most interesting talk at the Galloway Family History Fair yesterday, it was regarding the archives of the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).

Ian Riches, the Trust’s archivist, began the talk by outlining the history of the NTS. He quoted Sir John Stirling Maxwell, a founder member of the NTS, who said; “The National Trust for Scotland serves the nation as a cabinet into which it can put some of its valuable things, where they will be perfectly safe for all time, and where they are open to be seen and enjoyed by everyone.”

This has certainly proved true, the NTS has large estates, stately homes, castles, large gardens, small gardens, tenement houses, paintings, furniture and, of interest to all of us, archives!

A large component of the NTS archive are the papers relating to properties whilst they have been in the care of the NTS, the business of the Trust if you like. It takes 400 boxes to contain the minutes of the NTS! These will certainly be of great interest to anybody researching the history of a property in the care of the NTS.

Haddo House

As well as paperwork relating to the organisation they also have estate papers for some properties. Ian told us about how 18th and 19th century estate papers were found in a coal bunker at Haddo House! If your ancestor worked on the estate these could be really useful. Thanks to the work of the Trust these have been preserved for the benefit of everybody who needs to access them. Note however that not every property has an archive, the papers may still be with the family or they could have been deposited at the National Records of Scotland.

One of their great archives is on the Scottish island of Canna where, amongst other things, they hold sound recordings dating from the 1930’s that were collected by John Lorne Campbell. Thanks to the work of the NTS you can hear these recording online. If your ancestors lived on Canna or a neighbouring island you may be privileged to find a recording made by them, but even if this is not the case, still take time to listen to the voices of the past and imagine the lives your ancestors led.

To round off this fascinating talk, Ian showed us some true treasures from the NTS archive. One was a journal written by John Ross, a supply teacher on St. Kilda, and the other was a diary kept by Alice MacLachlan, a school teacher on St. Kilda and the wife of Peter MacLachlan, the minister there in 1909. These firsthand accounts were fascinating to read and we were delighted to hear that the trust plans to digitise these treasures and make them available online in the near future. You can see a wee glimpse into the diary contained on the first page of this PDF from the NTS.

Perhaps reading this you think it would be useful to your research to investigate what theTrust holds which could help you. Work is underway to create an online catalogue, a mammoth task! In the meantime contact Ian Riches and he will do what he can to help you.