Once a day on the Blair Archival Research Facebook page a new post is shared. There is a theme for each month and November’s was Scotland. You will get bonus posts relating to the theme but only on the Blair Archival Research Facebook page these will not be posted on the monthly blog review.
November 1
The topic for November is Scotland. Scotland has a lot of information available online. The first place for anyone researching Scotland to check is ScotlandsPeople. You will need to register to search the indexes and purchase credits to view the images.
November 2
ScotlandsPeople not only have online databases they have helpful resources to aid you in your research.
November 3
ScotlandsPeople is a pay per view website but you get the images of the records which is almost as good as seeing them in person. Sometimes there are mix ups but in my experience they have always been quick to fix them and offer assistance.
November 4
You find census records, civil registration, OPRs and Catholic baptism registers at ScotlandsPeople but you will also find Wills and Testaments from 1513-1925.
November 5
The National Library of Scotland has an online database of maps.
November 6
The NLS also has an online database of Post Office Directories.
November 7
The NLS have many choices in their digital gallery to help you learn something new about Scotland and your ancestors. It is a great place to fill in some of that background for your family history.
November 8
Did you know that there are settlements of Scots in Argentina? You can find out more at “The Scots in Argentina (including Argentine and Chilean Patagonia) 1800-1950.”
November 9
You can find more Scottish Directories at Internet Archive.
November 10
The National Library of Scotland has a page called “Scots Abroad: Stories of Scottish Emigration” where you can find out more about the experiences of Scottish emigration.
November 11
The Scottish National War Memorial honours nearly 150,000 Scottish casualties from the First and Second World Wars and other campaigns after 1945.
November 12
The University of Aberdeen has a Scottish Emigration Database which has records of 21,000 passengers from 1923 and 1890 to 1960. They left from Greenock and Glasgow to non-European ports.
November 13
The National Archives of Scotland have a list of guides to help you with very specific records.
November 14
A rather obscure database is “Historic Hospital Admission Records Project (HHARP)” which has a database of records for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow and it covers the period from 1883 to 1903. You can search admission records by name and year of birth.
November 15
Trying to find a place where a specific record might be held? The Scottish Archive Network is an online catalogue for 52 archives around Scotland.
November 16
The Scottish Archive Network has a great Research Tools section.
November 17
You can find digital images of the “Glasgow Herald” at Google News.
November 18
If you are looking for information on burials in Scotland then try Deceased Online. They cover most of the United Kingdom and the list of cemeteries in Scotland is growing daily. This is a pay per view website. You can click on Database Coverage to see what cemeteries are included.
November 19
Don’t forget to join the local family history society for the town or county where your ancestors came from in Scotland. They are a wealth of information and not everything is found online. The Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society is a good choice.
November 20
The National Museums of Scotland have the Scottish Life Archive. Their aim is to collect and preserve items relating to Scotland’s “material culture and social history.”
November 21
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland (1791-1845) is a good resource for Scottish research.
November 22
Electric Scotland is a place to find some reference material. They have books, history, gazetteers and many other items. The site is rather full visually and sometimes you get pop ups but don’t let those put you off because you may find something really interesting.
November 23
If you have Orkney ancestors then check out Find Your Orkney Ancestors.
November 24
One gem I found in my research was “The Diary of Thomas Scott of Dalkeith his voyage to Australia on the ship “Skelton” from 13th June to 27th November 1820.” I have collateral lines that went to South Australia in 1825 and 1830. This gives me a small idea of the kinds of things they went thorugh on their way to Australia.
November 25
“Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry” Third Edition by Kathleen B. Cory Revised & Updated by Leslie Hodgson is a good book to help with your Scottish research.
November 26
Another good book is “In Search of Scottish Ancestry” by Gerald Hamilton-Edwards. Both yesterday’s book and today’s are older books but they are good resources to help you find out about the different Scottish records.
November 27
Chris Paton has a book called “Discover Scottish Church Records” which should be in everyone’s library.
November 28
Another of Chris’ books is “Researching Scottish Family History.”
November 29
I like Dave Moody’s “Scottish Local History An Introductory Guide” it helps with the background research to your Scottish family history.
November 30
As I have said with other countries you always need a good gazetteer. I use “The Gazetteer of Scotland 1882” by Rev. John Wilson.
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Thanks for the book mentions Ruth – hope you have a good Christmas!
Chris
You are welcome Chris. Good luck with the new book “Tracing Your Irish Ancestors on the Internet.” I hope it is a huge success and ready for Who Do You Think You Are? Live. Merry Christmas to you and yours.