IGI coverage gaps

[rupiezucki]

Some areas do not have IGI coverage at certain times.

Example:  Auchtergaven marriage records stop in 1803 and resume in 1823, although there are baptism records covering this time.

I have also noticed similar coverage gaps in other parishes.  Before I go spending my credits on paysites, for records that may not be there either, I would like to educate myself.

Is this because no marriages were done during that period, or that records were lost, or something as simple as there was no priest or curate at that time and they had to go to another town to be married?

If they would have been married in another location, how would I find that out?

Are there other sources for these records that might not have the same gaps?

Thanks in advance!

[CaroleW]

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. It is a pay per view site but searching the index is free

[RJ_Paton]

Auchtergaven appears to be one of those parishes where records have either not been kept or have been lost/destroyed (from Scotlands people Parish register index)

330. AUCHTERGAVEN
330/1 B 1741-1819 M 1742-73   D -
330/2 B 1820-54     M 1823-54   D -

B= births M= marriages D = deaths

[rupiezucki]

Is there any way of finding out whether the records are missing/lost or never existed in the first place?

RJ - Since you're a Paton - you wouldn't happen to have the marriage of James Dow (1774 - 1837) and Jean Paterson 1774 - 1841), would you? It should have been abt 1802.  Their children were born in Auchtergaven.  Their daughter Amelia (Emily) married William Paton in Auchtergaven, 13 Mar 1830, Auchtergaven.  They were living in Carse Green in 1841 and then Jackstown in 1851.

James birth was reg in Auchtergaven.  Jean's dates are approximate and I have no birthplace.

I am trying to tie all of my Patons together to figure out which ones belong and which ones are interlopers, lol.

ICYMI - the Auchtergaven (Bankfoot) monumental inscriptions are online free of charge.

Cheers,

[Forfarian]

Forget about the IGI as far as Scotland is concerned. It was a fantastic finding aid in its day but it is now almost totally superseded.

The listings there are merely an index to some but not all of the original records. There used to be 'submitted' listings as well, but they were of very dubious accuracy.

As for what was omitted and why, it's anyone's guess. Some volumes of records were just not transcribed, without any apparent rhyme or reason. I have read that in some parishes the IGI only contains male baptisms, though I have not come across this myself. There was good coverage of the northern counties, but the further south you get, the poorer the coverage of the IGI.

There is no point in worrying about whether or not records are or are not missing from the IGI. Just go to www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, register and look at the indexes there, which are free of charge. You'll get the same information about pre-1855 baptisms and marriages as you would get from the IGI, but with complete coverage.

With very few exceptions, if it's not on Scotland's People it either never existed at all, or it has been lost. The exceptions are some minor religious denominations.

See attached screenshot, which is from https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//research/list-of-oprs/detailed-list-of-old-parochial-registers-of-scotland.pdf and provides a bit more detail than the item posted by R J Paton.

[RJ_Paton]

RJ - Since you're a Paton - you wouldn't happen to have the marriage of James Dow (1774 - 1837) and Jean Paterson 1774 - 1841), would you? It should have been abt 1802.  Their children were born in Auchtergaven.  Their daughter Amelia (Emily) married William Paton in Auchtergaven, 13 Mar 1830, Auchtergaven.  They were living in Carse Green in 1841 and then Jackstown in 1851.

Sorry no connection, my lot were Irish

[rupiezucki]

Thanks, Forfarian for that link.

The reason I was back in the IGIs was I still have far too many gaps in ScotlandsPeople for my people.  I was hoping that between High Wallis's original site and the archer software site I would be able to reconstruct some gaps.

The Dow Paterson marriage is just one example. 

I always assume that more docs are being transcribed all the time, so I come back every 6 months or so, but rarely find what I need.

I've largely been able to winkle out what I need from the English and the Irish, but the Scots are not giving up their secrets easily.

Thanks again!

[rupiezucki]

Thanks RJ!

Appreciate the info.  My Patons are allegedly originally from Ireland as well.  I've also got Somervilles who were supposedly chased out of the UK into Ireland by Cromwell, and some that were 'cleared' from Scotland into Ireland, and then back again.

Happy hunting!

[Forfarian]

The reason I was back in the IGIs was I still have far too many gaps in ScotlandsPeople for my people.  I was hoping that between High Wallis's original site and the archer software site I would be able to reconstruct some gaps.

We all have gaps of that sort. The further back you go, the bigger the gaps.

In my tree I have 222 couples who were married in Scotland between 1750 and 1799. Of those, 76 are not in any records that I have been able to find. That is over a third.

You can see from the infomation supplied by R J Paton and myself that the 18th century Auchtergaven marriage records are defective.

The point is that, as far as Scotland is concerned, the IGI is an INDEX to what is now on Scotland's People. if the originals do not exist, they cannot be on Scotland's People; therefore if they are not on SP they cannot be in the IGI.

The indexes at SP are regularly updated as and when new material or corrections come to light; the IGI is not.

If you find anything on the IGI that is not on SP, it must be regarded with suspicion until you have tracked down the source. Some listings in the IGI were from extremely dubious sources - there was, for instance, a set of baptism records of the Norse gods, though that has since been removed - and they are not to be trusted unless they can be traced to a credible source.

As for keeping things secret, this is nonsense. There is a complete, free to use, and regularly updated index at Scotland's People containing the same information as the IGI, plus other records - for instance to Roman Catholic registers - that are not in the IGI. And, once you find the index listing, you have instant access to images of the original documents, whereas using the IGI you would have had to go to an LDS Church Family History Centre, arrange to rent the relevant microfilm, wait for it to arrive, and go back to view the film and transcribe the information.

I was a huge fan and admirer of the IGI, despite its shortcomings, but expecting to use it to fill in gaps in the original records is a triumph of misplaced hope over bitter experience.