Scotland Church Records

Church records are an excellent source for accurate information on names, dates, and places of birth, marriage, and death. Most people in Scotland before the mid-nineteenth century are listed in church records. Since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until 1855, church records are the best source of family information before that date.

Understanding Churches In Scotland
The Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland) has been the 'established' or state church of Scotland since 1690. The organization of the Church of Scotland is as follows:


 * The General Assembly is the highest governing body.
 * The Synod governs several presbyteries.
 * The Presbytery governs several parishes.
 * The parish is the lowest governing body.

Each local parish (pairish, parochin) keeps records. The two major record types are parochial or parish registers and kirk session records(see details below under Searching).

It may be necessary to know the parish where your ancestor was born, married, or died so you can search parish registers. If you do not know the parish but know the name of a village or town, you may use a gazetteer to locate the parish. (See the “Gazetteers” section of this outline). The gazetteers provide:


 * Maps show parish boundaries to help determine which parish records to search
 * Identify neighboring parishes

Identifying Parishes
The following books contain maps that show parish boundaries:

Civil Parishes and Counties of North East Scotland Showing Overall Dates of Old Parochial Records: Held in Edinburgh and Available Worldwide on Microfilm [Scotland]: Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society [ 198-]. (FHL Map Case 941 E7c)

The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, 2nd ed, Cichester, England: Phillimore &amp; Co. Ltd, 1995. (FHL Book 941 E7pa)

Parish Maps of Scotland,Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1991. (FHL Book 941 E7ch; Fiche 6036350)

Phillips’ Handy Atlas of the Counties of Scotland 1881,London, England: G. Phillip, 1881. (FHL Book 941 E7p; Film 423175)

Nonconformists
Any church that is not the established or state church is referred to as nonconformist. There were two categories of nonconformist churches in Scotland:


 * Seceders -- Those who seceded from the established church but were still Presbyterian in form.
 * Dissenters -- Those who were not Presbyterian in form, such as Baptist, Methodist, or Catholic.

1851 Census of Places of Worship
Popularly called the 1851 Religious Census, this is a resource for identifying what churches existed where in 1851. Read more...

Searching
The term “ Old Parochial Registers ” refers to parish registers kept by the Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland) from the time the church began keeping registers to the year 1855. The amount of information in registers varies from parish to parish. Later records generally give more complete information than earlier ones. Some early parish registers may be in Latin. Scotland has its own version of English, so you may need to use a dictionary to understand some words. (See the “Language and Languages” section of this outline.)

Most parish registers begin after 1650. Some kirk session (parish court) records begin earlier than the parish registers. Kirk session recordsmay have some christening, marriage, and burial records in them.

Before searching parish registers, the International Genealogical Index (IGI) and the Scottish Church Records databases are important sources to use as well as http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. These serve as indexes to the records. (For more information, see Indexes below.)

Christenings (Baptisms)
Children were usually christened (baptized) within a few days or weeks of birth. Christening records give at least the infant’s name and the christening date. You may find:


 * Father’s name and occupation
 * Mother’s first name and often her maiden name
 * Child’s birth data and legitimacy
 * Family’s place of residence or street address
 * Witnesses

Church officials recorded christenings in the parish registers. Therefore, it is necessary to know what church the person belonged to and in what parish the church was located.

Records of civil parishes and a listing of counties of Scotland, including the overall dates of old parochial records, are held in Edinburgh.

Marriages
Marriages usually took place in Scotland in the parish where the bride resided. Marriage records usually give:


 * Marriage date
 * Name of Bride
 * Name of Groom

The records may include:


 * Marital status (i.e., single, widow, or widower)
 * Parish of residence of both parties
 * Groom’s occupation
 * Bride’s father’s name

Church officials recorded marriages in the parish registers. Therefore, it is necessary to know what church the person belonged to and in what parish the church was located.

Records of civil parishes and a listing of counties of Scotland, including the overall dates of old parochial records, are held in Edinburgh.

Additional Information

Some records show a couple’s “intent to marry,” also called the proclamation of banns. Usually the intent to marry was proclaimed in the parishes of both the bride and groom. The marriage was usually recorded only in the parish in which the marriage actually took place.

Caution: The proclaiming of banns is not proof that the couple married.

Another acceptable practice acknowledged in early Scotland was that of the Handfast.

Burials
Few burial records were kept before 1855. It is important to know that many women, when their husbands died, reverted to their maiden names and were buried under that name. Burial records usually give:


 * The deceased’s name
 * Burial date

The burial records may provide:


 * Age at the time of death
 * The name of the spouse
 * The names of the parents
 * Witnesses

Additional Information

Instead of actual burials, the parish registers often list people who paid mortcloth dues. The mortcloth was a cloth used to cover the body during the burial ceremony. However, these lists do not mention everyone who was buried. The rich who donated the cloths to the church and the very poor did not have to pay to use the mortcloth.

If you cannot find burial records, try to find tombstone inscriptions. (See the “ Cemeteries ” section of this outline for more information on tombstone inscriptions.)

[Note: Quoad sacra parishes are those set up for ecclesiastical purposes to take care of those people who could not conveniently attend the parish church. To find records of people living in quoad sacra parishes, you must search the surrounding parishes.]

Accessing Records
The Church of Scotland sent all of its known registers up to the year 1855 to the office of the Registrar General in Edinburgh(for more information, go online to www.gro-scotland.gov.uk and click on the link for Family Records.) The registers have been microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are available at the Family History Library, or can be ordered through Family History Centers. To find microfilm numbers for the registers, use the 'Locality Search' of the Family History Library Catalog online at http://www.familysearch.org under SCOTLAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] – CHURCH RECORDS. For a list of Scotland's counties, with links to parishes and information about their records (including film numbers), click here.

Additional Information

Scottish parish registers were microfilmed twice. In the first filming, some information in the margins of the registers is not readable on the film. The second filming corrected this problem. The later filming also has frame numbers to help you find an entry that was extracted (see Indexes below).

The Union List of Church Records
The staff of the Family History Library has compiled a resource called the 'Scotland Church Records Union List' which strives to identify all pre-1855 churches in Scotland and whether they have surviving records. It also contains brief parish and congregation histories. This information, arranged by county then parish, is available through the wiki by searching for a county or parish of interest. For an introduction to the 'Union List,' click here.