Scotland Genealogy Resources

Both sides of my family have roots in Scotland, so it is no wonder I have amassed a list of resources from the areas my ancestors lived.

My father's ancestors lived in Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Ayrshire.  Theirs is a rich and interesting history of goldsmiths, Jacobites and tailors.

Goldsmiths and their Marks

My mother's ancestors lived in Aberdeenshire (Peterhead and Ellon).  They were butchers, farmers and railroad workers and a little harder to trace. I did discover something in the Coates Herd Book about the livestock of Johnathan Whitehead Esq in Methlick where my 2x great grandfather worked as a lad.

Coate's Herd Books

The Scottish Record Society books hold records in different cities. There are baptisms, marriages, testaments, churchyard burials, monument inscriptions,  guild records and apprenticeships, as well as important collections of papers and family records.

I hope you will find something here to help you tell the stories of your Scottish ancestors. If your ancestors lived in a different county, perhaps these links will give you ideas what keywords to search.

For more links, click on the Scotland label from the list on the right. Also try the International label.




Relevant Links

Scottish Record Society

UK National Archives Keeper's Gallery: Jacobite Rebellions

List of persons Concerned in the Jacobite Rebellion, with evidences to prove same

Edinburgh Goldsmiths (PDF)

English Goldsmiths and their marks; England, Scotland, Ireland - 1905

The Chronicle of Perth; a register of remarkable occurrences, chiefly connected with that city, from the year 1210 to 1668

The Dunfermline register; connected with the western district of Fife, the counties of Clackmannan & Kinross, and the Culross district of Perth-Shire – 1833

Perth and Kinross - Family History at the Archive

Aberdeenshire epitaphs and inscriptions 1907

Aberdeen Register of Testaments

Edinburgh Register of Testaments

List of Pollable Persons within the shire of Aberdeen 1696

Commissariot Records of Scotland

Scotland during the Plantation of Ulster: the people of Dumfries and Galloway

The Book of Bruce; ancestors and descendants of King Robert of Scotland

The commissariat record - Register of Testaments (several places)

Peterhead (Aberdeenshire) Almanac 1853

An historical account of Peterhead, from earliest period to present - 1815

Edinburgh marriage register - 1595-1700

Edinburgh marriage register - 1701-1750

Edinburgh marriage register - 1751-1800

Apprenticeships Edinburgh - 1583-1666

Apprenticeships Edinburgh - 1666-1755

A history of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet: w/list of members to 1890

Edinburgh Burgess Guild-Brethren 1406-1700

Edinburgh Burgess Guild-Brethren (A-H) 1761-1841

History of Trade Unionism: The Tailoring Trade, 1836

Territorial soldiering in the north-east o Scotland during 1759-1814

The Tailor, c1800

Glasgow Past & Present Volume 1

Glasgow Past & Present Volume 2

Glasgow Past & Present Volume 3

The guildry of Edinbugh: is it an incorporation (Laws of Guilds)

Measurements - Tradesman's Assistant - Wrights - Edinburgh

Edinburgh Annual Register - for 1813 (Incl BMD)

Edinburgh Records:  Burgh Accounts 1544-1567 Vol I

Edinburgh Records:  Burgh Accounts 1552-1567 Vol II

A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen (Vol I of V)

A catalogue of the graduates in the faculties of arts, divnity and law of the University of Edinburgh since its foundation - 1858

Edinburgh Academy register 1824-1914

History of the 7th Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers: late 4th AD

Records of the Sheriff court of Aberdeenshire (several vols)

Records of the proceedings of the Justiciary court, Edinburgh 1661-1678

Edinburgh list of Poor Law medical officers 1870-1871

Edinburgh Annual Register - several years

Register of ministers, exhorters and readers, and of their stipends 1830

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - several vols

Scotland Mental Health Records Search (ongoing updates)

Parish of Holyroodhouse or Canongate, register of marriages 1564-1800

History of Canongate; w/Notices of the Abbey and Palace of Holyrood 1879

Coate's Herd Books - England, Scotland, Ireland

Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland

Surveyor's book, 1863 Glasgow

History of the County of Ayr; w/genealogical account of the families of Ayrshire Vol 1

History of the County of Ayr; w/genealogical account of the families of Ayrshire Vol 2

Lothian's annual register for the county of Clackmannan

East Lothian County List - 1834, 1837

Monumental Inscriptions in St Cuthbert's Churchyard, Edinburgh 1915

Descriptions of the Sheriffdoms of Lanark and Renfrew 1831

Scottish Immigrant Database

The Book of Ellon

The Scotsman in Canada Vol 1

The Scotsman in Canada Vol 2

An ordinary of arms in the public register of all arms and bearings in Scotland 1893

Slater's... Commercial Directory and topography of Scotland 1852

Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen 1844

Glasgow directories

John Tait's directory for the City of Glasgow ... also Paisley, Greenock, Port-Glasgow and Kilmarnock - 1783-1784

Williamson's directory, City of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith and suburbs; 1773-74

Williamson's directory, City of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith and suburbs; 1775-76

Williamson's directory, City of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith and suburbs; 1784-85

Edinburgh Directory 1797-1798 (w/mileage to cities)

Directory to gentlemen's seats, villiages etc in Scotland 1843

Scottish Post Office Directories

British Medical Directory for England, Scotland and Wales 1853

Scotland's Family - Genealogy resources

Register of Baptisms, Proclamations, Marriages and Mortcloth Dues - Torphichen Parish

Various Scotland Directories

Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh Vol I

Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh Vol II

Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh Vol III w/Index

The Scot's Magazine

Old Scottish Clockmakers 1453 - 1850

Edinburgh Dean of Guild Court 1770-1825

Incorporation of Bakers, Glasgow 1891

Gulda Aurifabrorum; history of British goldsmiths and plateworkers

Old Glasgow Weavers 1908

History of the Incorporation of Cordiners in Glasgow 1883

Records of the Incorporation of Barbers, Glasgow; formerly the incorporation of chirugeons and barbers

Chronicles of the Maltmen Craft in Glasgow 1605-1879

The Darien Papers; Company of Scotland Trading to Africa; w/list of subscribers

Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh (several volumes)

Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh 1891

The Hammermen of Edinburgh and their alter in St Giles Church

History of the Skinners, Furriers and Glovers of Glasgow

Moneys received and paid for the secret service of Charles II and James II 1838

Edinburgh Town Plan 1784

The Old Edinburgh Club, w/list of members, various years

List of members, laws of Medical Society of Edinburgh 1820

Edinburgh Skating Club w/list of members 1865 

Roll of Honour of Murrayfield Parish, Edinburgh 1917

Roll of Honour, writers of the Signet, and apprentices; 1914-1919

The Scottish Mercantile Society's record of Sequestrations 1842

Criminal trials in Scotland 1488-1624

Memoirs of the Caledonian Horticultural Society

Register of the Privy Council of Scotland

List of Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons 1851-1873

A Dictionary and Digest of the Law of Scotland

Electric Scotland







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