GuidedResearch:Why Can't I Find the Record - Scotland Births

This page will give you additional guidance and resources to find birth information for your ancestor. Use this page after first completing the birth section of the Scotland Guided Research page.

Mandatory birth registration started in 1855. Before this, birth and baptisms can be found in church records (mainly the Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic Church). Although the oldest baptism registers date from 1553, some parishes only have registers beginning in the early 19th century.

Additional Databases and Online Resources

 * 1553-1855: Church Registers - Births and Baptisms  at ScotlandsPeople ($)
 * 1564-1950: Scotland Births & Baptisms 1564-1950  at FindMyPast ($)
 * 1658-1919: Scotland Church Records and Kirk Session Records, 1658-1919  at FamilySearch
 * 1855-1917: Statutory Register of Births  at ScotlandsPeople ($)

Additional Records with Birth Information
Substitute records can contain information about more than one event, and are used when records for an event are not available. Because the substitute records may not be created at the time of the event, it may contain incorrect information. Search for as many substitute records as possible to corroborate information found in substitute records to help improve accuracy.

Tips for finding births
Success with finding birth records in online databases depends on a few key points:
 * Your ancestor's name may misspelled. Try the following search tactics:
 * Try searching for the parents if known. Sometimes a child's first name is not on the birth record.
 * Try different spelling variations of the first and last name of your ancestor.
 * Try a given name search (leave out the last names)


 * Expand the date range of the search.
 * Try searching with the state name only instead of by county.
 * If your ancestor's name is common, try adding more information to narrow the search.

Known Record Gaps
Records Start Mandatory birth registration started in 1908. Some counties began recording births in 1867, although registration was often incomplete. Births before 1867 in this index are from delayed births filed with the county and are only available for a few counties.

Records Published Collection coverage tables show the places and time periods of original records published. Check the coverage table for the collections you searched which did not include your ancestor. Gaps in the online collection may require searches in other records or original birth records at an archive.


 * Ohio Births and Christenings, Coverage Table
 * Ohio, County Birth Records, Coverage Table
 * County birth holdings, Ohio

Records destroyed United States Counties With Records Loss shows which counties and when the loss happened. Zoom in to the state and click on a county marked in red to see date details.