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Scotland Edinburgh

Guide to Edinburgh history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
Edinburgh (Listeni/ˈɛdɪnbərə/ Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital city of Scotland. As such, it has a significant role to play in the governance of Scotland within the United Kingdom.

Edinburgh is a city, the seat of a university, and the metropolis of the kingdom of Scotland, situated in longitude 3° 10' 30" (W.), and latitude 55° 57' 29" (N.).

Edinburgh is situated in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. As such, it is ideally situated for marine access to the Firth, and thence to the North sea. The castle built on Arthur's Seat is a formidable piece of engineering, making it almost impossible to besiege. Thus Edinburgh was always a defensible location.

It's lowland location makes for easy transportation by all types of carriers. When the first bridge over the Forth was built in 1890, it secured for Edinburgh key transportation routes to the north and north west of Scotland.

The earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area is from Cramond where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp-site dated to c. 8500 BC.

At some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its exact location has not been identified, it seems more than likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock or Arthur's Seat or Calton Hill.

The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, though the precise date is unknown. By the middle of the 14th century, the French chronicler Jean Froissart was describing it as the capital of Scotland (c.1365), and James III (1451–88) referred to it in the 15th century as "the principal burgh of our kingdom".

In 1706 and 1707, the Acts of Union were passed by the Parliaments of England and Scotland uniting the two kingdoms into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Scotland has remained a part of the UK, with efforts to ensure independence as recently as 2014 AD failing.

The New Statistical Account of Scotland (pub. 1834-45) offers uniquely rich and detailed parish reports for the whole of Scotland, covering a vast range of topics including history, agriculture, education, trades, religion and social customs. The reports, written by the parish ministers, are available online at http://edina.ac.uk/stat-acc-scot/. Click on ‘Browse scanned pages’ then search the parish reports for your parish of interest. Also available at the

Edinburgh is situated in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. As such, it is ideally situated for marine access to the Firth, and thence to the North sea.

The castle built on Arthur's Seat is a formidable piece of engineering, making it almost impossible to besiege. Thus Edinburgh was always a defensible location.

It's lowland location makes for easy transportation by all types of carriers. When the first bridge over the Forth was built in 1890, it secured for Edinburgh key transportation routes to the north and north west of Scotland.

Cemeteries (Civil)

 * Edinburgh cemeteries and crematoria


 * Edinburgh cemeteries


 * Find a grave in Edinburgh


 * find Edinburgh graves

Church Records
From early times, Scotland became a Christian Country. However the type of Christianity practiced was much more rigorous than was practiced south of the border; Calvinism and Presbyterianism.

In 1638, King Charles the First's attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Subsequent Scottish support for Charles Stuart's restoration to the throne of England resulted in Edinburgh's occupation by Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth of England forces – the New Model Army – in 1650.

Today complete religious freedom is practiced albeit with still a large measure of Calvinism. The Church of Scotland claims the largest membership of any single religious denomination in Edinburgh as evidenced by a religion census of 2010.

Parishes
Scotland does not have parishes as such. The following list is as close to a list of parishes that can be found:

High Churches:


 * St Giles Cathedral
 * The Old Church (South aisle of St. Giles')
 * Tolbooth Parish
 * Trinity College Chapel
 * 1685 Lady Glenorchy Chapel
 * 1785 New North Church
 * Tron Church
 * 1673 Scottish Baptists, and Original Burghers.
 * Magdalene Chapel Cowgate
 * New Grey Friars
 * 1721 Old Grey Friars
 * 1722 St. Andrew
 * 1785 St George Episcopal Chapel
 * St. George - 1814
 * Lady Yester's Parish - 1647
 * St. Mary - 1824
 * St. Stephen - 1828
 * Canongate - 1688
 * St. Cuthbert - Gardner's-crescent
 * Chapel Morningside
 * Chapel Greenside Leith Walk
 * St. John

Non Conformists
Many other Christian groups meet regularly in Edinburgh. These would include:

Marthoma Congregation of Scotland
 * Carrubers Christian Center
 * Chinese Evangelical Church
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Greek Orthodox
 * Jehovah's Witness
 * Methodists
 * Presbyterian
 * Roman Catholic
 * Seventh Day Adventist

Non Christian groups include:


 * Buddhist
 * Muslim
 * Sikh

Civil Registration
Government or civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths (also called statutory records) began on January 1, 1855 in Scotland. Each parish has a registrar's office and large cities have several. The records are created by the registrars and copies are sent to the General Register Office in Edinburgh. Annual indexes are then created for the records for the whole country. See the article on Scotland Civil Registration for more information and to access the records.

National Records of Scotland:


 * Address: Ladywell House
 * Ladywell Rd
 * Edinburgh EH12 7TF, UK
 * Phone: +44 131 334 0380


 * National Records of Scotland

Scottish Registrars Office:


 * Address: Leith Library
 * 28-30 Ferry Rd
 * Edinburgh EH6 4AE, UK
 * Phone: +44 131 529 5520


 * Edinburgh Registrar Office

Local Histories

 * Edinburgh, a History of the City by Michael Fry


 * Edinburgh through Time by Liz Hanson


 * Edinburgh, the Town Below the Ground


 * Edinburgh History


 * Local Histories; Edinburgh

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Google One World map of Edinburgh


 * Old Maps of Edinburgh


 * Edinburgh street map


 * National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh Gazetteer


 * Scottish Places Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * Edinburgh Evening News


 * The Scotsman


 * Edinburgh Daily Record

Societies

 * Scots Genealogy


 * Midlothian Genealogy


 * Scottish Genealogy


 * Edinburgh Genuki


 * Ancestry.com; Edinburgh

Archives
The National Records of Scotland


 * Address: H.M. General Register House
 * 2 Princes Street
 * Edinburgh, EH1 3YY


 * National Archives of Scotland


 * Edinburgh City Archives


 * University of Edinburgh Archives