RootsChat.Com

For 14 years we have been indexing Scottish genealogy records. For many years we focused on the south of Scotland, but last year we launched the Scottish Indexes website as our focus was moving to the whole of Scotland.

With the help of a small army of volunteers, we have begun to index mental health records and paternity records.

We have been indexing prison records, non-OPR pre-1855 BMDs and pre-1841 census records.

These records however are the tip of the iceberg! The number of amazing records that can help you trace your family tree is astonishing! Only a tiny fraction are available online.

The problem is that some cannot be easily indexed by inexperienced researchers and these records can also be time-consuming to index.

Our new initiative is ‘Sponsor an Index’! We’re pleased to say that the response has been very positive so far and we have already begun indexing some records and putting them online.

The first set of records to go online was an index to the first few years of the Kelso Dispensary, which is a full transcription of the original record. Next to go online was the start of an index to the eighteenth century ‘Register of Deeds’. These volumes contain marriage contracts and other genealogy gems which are very hard to find without an index!

You can search our indexes for free on www.scottishindexes.com. Once you find what you’re looking for you can use the reference number to look up the item for free in the National Records of Scotland.

I hope these new records help you to trace your family tree!

Emma


http://scottishindexes.com/sponsor.aspx

As requested on this board our volunteer has begun indexing 'paternity' cases from Lanark Sheriff Court.

Today we have added ‎Lanark‬ Sheriff Court Paternity Decrees 1842-54 to our free online index. These are cases where the mother of an illegitimate child could take the father to court for aliment or maintenance. Before 1855 they are often the only clue to the identity of the child's father. After 1855, when the father's name may be on the birth certificate, these cases can add a lot more detail than a birth certificate can tell you.

Our index is free to search and now contains over 9000 cases from across Scotland. To learn more about finding paternity cases in Sheriff Court records swing by our Learning Zone: http://scottishindexes.com/learningcourt.aspx

You can search all our records from our home page or just search the paternity cases from here: http://scottishindexes.com/courtsearch.aspx I hope somebody finds an ancestor lurking in these records.

Emma

We're asking you to get out and about with your cameras this summer. We would like you to visit places and take a modern-day photograph which is based on an historical photograph.

You can either use one of your own family photographs that was taken over 30 years ago, or choose one from our flickr archive (which is over 30 years old).

Each month from April to August we'll be giving away a goody bag to the winner!

Learn more on our blog: http://scottishgenealogyblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/thenandnow.html

We've added an index to Banff Prison Register for the year 1848 to our free online index: http://www.scottishindexes.com/prisonsearch.aspx

More years should follow shortly!

Emma

Hello,

We have added an index to Dumbarton Prison Register covering the years 1828-1840 to our new website, www.scottishindexes.com.

As with all our indexes they are free to search and there is no login required. We try to make our indexes as comprehensive as possible so you can find your ancestors easily.

Once you find an entry relating to your family in one of our indexes you will be given the full National Records of Scotland reference number. You can then either order the entry online or visit the National Records of Scotland and see the original for yourself.

Here is an entry for William Black who was sent to prison in 1833 aged just 7 years of age: http://www.scottishindexes.co.uk/prisontranscript.aspx?prisonid=310100917

I hope this new record set proves to be helpful.

Emma