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

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

Mandatory death registration started in 1855. Before this, deaths and burials can be found in church records (mainly the Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic Church). However, churches recorded deaths and burials less frequently than baptisms and marriages.

Additional Databases and Online Resources
ScotlandsPeople ($) is the premiere website for Scotland death records. The site requires the user to register in order to search the index for free. It costs a small fee to view any image. ScotlandsPeople is the only site with the images to Scotland church and vital records; all other sites only have indexes to these records. The Family History Library has these records on microfilm and as digital images available to view only at family history centers.
 * 1553-1855: Church Registers - Deaths and Burials
 * 1855-1943: Statutory Register of Deaths

Additional Records with Death 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 deaths
Success with finding deaths records in online databases depends on a few key points:
 * Your ancestor's name may be misspelled. Try the following search tactics:
 * Try different spelling variations of the first and last name of your ancestor.
 * Try a given name search (leave out the last names).
 * Try broadening the name search, such as using wildcards or searching for similar sounding names (instead of exact matches only).
 * Example: check "Name Variants" on FindMyPast, "Sounds like" or "Similar" on Ancestry, and "Fuzzy matching" or "Name Variants" on ScotlandsPeople


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

Known Record Gaps
Records Start Mandatory death registration started in 1855. Before this, deaths and burials can be found in church records (mainly the Church of Scotland or Roman Catholic Church). However, churches recorded deaths and burials less frequently than baptisms and marriages.

Records Published

Records Destroyed Some church records may have been lost or destroyed, although more specific information is not known. Civil registration records are generally complete.