Scotland Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

Description of Record
This index is an electronic index for the years 1561 to 1910.

It is not necessarily intended to index any specific set of records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. This collection may include information previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.

98% of this collection consists of pre 1875 records. Most of the remaining 2% are post 1876 records. There are no Scotland indexing projects currently, so this collection is not expected to change in the foreseeable future.

The index, "Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910," is to be used as a tool to locate and view the original documents. The documents or records record more than what is found in the index.

98% of the names indexed with in this collection are:


 * Pre 1855 Church of Scotland Records
 * Civil Registration 1855 to 1875

2% of the names indexed with in this collection are:


 * Church of Scotland post 1855
 * Denominations other than the Church of Scotland

The primary record classes, pre 1855 Church of Scotland and Civil Registration 1855 to 1875 are not to be considered complete; though, a high percentage of the records are in the index. (95% to 98%)

For over 30 years, volunteer indexers extracted this information from microfilm copies of the original records. In 2001, some of the entries were published on 16 CDs by the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the “British Isles Vital Records Index: England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.” This is an index of some marriages throughout Scotland. The index is not necessarily complete for any particular place or region.

This collection is an index to civil registration and church records. Church records and civil registration were official records and are some of the most reliable sources of information available for those who were born, married, or died in Scotland.

To learn more about these records consult the following wiki articles:


 * Scotland Church Records
 * Scotland Statutary Registers - Vital Records

Record Content and Use
For details about the contents of these records and help using them see the wiki article Marriages Vital Record Index Collections (FamilySearch Historical Records).

How to Use the Record
Upon finding a person in the index, the typical data one would expect to find is a name of those married, Date and Place. Two other relevant items are the:


 * Indexing Project (Batch) Number : The hyperlinked batch number takes you to all those records in that batch which covers one parish for a particular number of years, so you can search just the records in that batch. (There is typically more than one batch number per parish) A website commonly referred to as Hugh Wallis IGI Batch Numbers is a site where you can view and search all the batch number for a Parish.
 * The IGI has been replaced by FamilySearch, and the Historical Records Collection. IGI Batch Number Descriptions help one understand the meaning of the batch numbers. The batch number prefixes related to this collection are 'M'
 * Source Film Number : The source film number refers to a microfilm of an orginal record from which the batches have been created. This is the record that may provide additional information not found in the index. Search the library catalogue using the film number, and if need be order the film through a Family History Center. Reading the hand writing may be a challenge

Related Websites

 * Scotland's People. Subscription website (£) that includes Church of Scotland and Catholic parish registers, as well as Scotland civil registration records.

Related Wiki Articles

 * Scotland Church Records
 * Quick Research Links - Scotland
 * Scotland Statutory Registers - Vital Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"Scotland Marriages, 1561–1910." database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed March 28, 2012), Andrew Shinan and Janet Wilson, 4 December 1811; citing Church of Scotland, Parish church of Kilmarnock, Marriage Records, New Register House, Edinburgh, FHL microfilm 1,041,386, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.