thank you little Nell - Can I ask is it hard for other countries to tap into the family search website.
No, you just need to sign up for a free account.
However, unless you are consulting primary sources (which may be available on the site but not always), the information should be confirmed against the original documents: census returns, parish registers, BDM certificates. Simply accepting an entry in a transcription index (which a lot of databases on FamilySearch are) as the right one because it is in the right area, roughly the right date without looking for some other form of confirmation can lead to false trails. Been there, done that
I really do recommend looking at original sources where possible. For Scottish research, ScotlandsPeople is THE site to use. The indexes on FamilySearch are useful since they are free and you can get a few more details of the content of the original record, before you pay to look at the entry on ScotlandsPeople.
This is a fascinating puzzle you have set us!
Nell
