WHAT’S THE STORY?

PERSONAL records of millions of Scots down through the centuries are being made available online by findmypast.com, the leading family history website.

Our fascination with genealogy shows no sign of diminution, fuelled by such television programmes as Who Do You Think You Are and the constant flow of new records from the past, of which the latest batch is Scotland’s largest so far.

Dating back to 1561 and spanning 450 years of Scottish history, the new collection is of Old Parish Registers and similar church records and contains more than 10.7 million historical documents chronicling baptisms, marriages, burials and more.

Findmypast says: “This vast new online resource will allow family historians across the globe to uncover rare details of their ancestors lives and the stories behind major life events.“

WHO HAS PUT TOGETHER THESE RECORDS?

ORIGINALLY they were mostly compiled by ministers, elders, and clerks in the Church of Scotland and other churches such as the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Free Church and United Free Church. These are now fully indexed and searchable for the first time. To make them available online, Findmypast worked closely with local family history societies, archives and volunteers from across the country.

Names, dates, locations, the names of parents, spouses, children and other biographical details such as occupations, residences and more were transcribed and then digitally converted thanks to the hard work of hundreds of Scottish family historians.

WHAT RECORDS CAN WE NOW SEE?

AS well as parish registers, there are newly published 20th century records that provide vital details of more recent ancestors, allowing users to uncover the details of previous generations and trace their family tree back from there.

Rare “Irregular Marriages” from Kirk Sessions – those not officially recorded by the parish registers and conducted without a ceremony – are now available, and also included are so-called Mortcloth rentals, records of deceased Scots who were too poor to afford a proper burial, having to the hire the cloth that was placed over their coffin.

There are also “ringings of the burial bell”, records of those too poor to even afford a mortcloth rental so instead paid for a ringing of the church bell in their memory.

WHICH FAMOUS PEOPLE NOW HAVE THEIR RECORDS ONLINE?

ROBERT Burns is the most famous person in the newly published records. The Bard can be found numerous times in the records, including his 1759 baptism, the 1785 baptism of his illegitimate daughter with Elizabeth Paton and his irregular marriage to Jean Armour in 1788.

Another writer features: Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped. The record of his baptism in Edinburgh in 1850 confirms a fact that will surprise many of his devotees – he was actually named Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson. Dunfermline-born Andrew Carnegie emigrated to the USA with his parents at the age of 12 in 1848 and became one of the world’s richest men through his steel company and other investments. He then gave away $350 million (roughly $5.2 billion in 2020) to various charities, foundations, and institutions with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education, and scientific research. Carnegie’s baptism and the marriage of his parents can both be found.

Alexander Graham Bell, the Edinburgh-born inventor of the telephone, can be found in the 1847 record of his baptism.

Americans will be intrigued at the inclusion of two of their nation’s Founding Fathers, General Hugh Mercer and the Reverend John Witherspoon. The records document Mercer’s baptism at Pitsligo in Aberdeenshire on January 17, 1726 and also Witherspoon’s marriage to Elisabeth Montgomerie in Beith, Ayrshire on August 14, 1748.