If you are searching for a Scottish ancestor the process is

31 Pages·2011·2.67 MB·English

SEARCHING
FOR SCOTTISH
ANCESTORS
If you are searching for a Scottish ancestor
the process is slightly different.
To view a birth certificate for a Scottish ancestor,
you can search for them in the birth indexes of
the Scotlands people website. You can then view
an online copy of the actual certificate.
31 bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY
LOGGING ONTO 1. Open your web browser and type www.scotlandspeople.
WWW.SCOTLANdS gov.uk into the address bar. Press enter.
pEOpLE.GOV.uK
2. You need to register on the website to be able to access its
records. Click on Register Now. Complete the registration
form – the fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory.
Enter your email address and create a Username and click
Register your account now.
Normally you would have to buy credits to access the records,
but for this guide we have created an area on the website
where you can view the records for free. You will be able to
access this by clicking on the bbC First Click logo on the
homepage of the Scotlands People website.
3. You will receive two automated emails from Scotlands People
confirming your registration, one containing your chosen
Username and the other your initial password. The
password can later be changed to something more
memorable via the My details section of your account.
4. Return to the homepage and enter your Username and
Password and click .
FINdING THE bIRTH • The records held on the site are listed on the left of the screen.
RECORdS ON THIS Find the pink heading Statutory Registers. Statutory
WEbSITE registers are the official registers of births, marriages and
deaths in Scotland. Click the births option.
bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY 32
SEARCHING
FOR SCOTTISH
ANCESTORS
pERFORMING We are going to search for an ancestor called Caroline Geddes.
THE SEARCH She was born in Banffshire in about 1903 and her parents were
Alexander and Elizabeth.
1. Click in the box beneath Surname and type in Geddes.
2. Click in the box beneath Forename and type in Caroline.
3. Select a year range for your search. You think Caroline was
born in about 1903, but it is wise to give a margin for error
because our ancestors were not always as precise about ages
and dates of birth as we are today. Therefore click in the
first Year range box, which currently reads 1855, delete
this date, and enter instead 1901. In the second
Year range box, delete 2009 and enter 1905. Your search
should now pick up everyone called Caroline Geddes born
in Scotland between 1901 and 1905.
4. Click on near the top of the screen.
Geddes
Caroline
1901 1905
ExAMINING YOuR 1. The results of your search are shown beneath the
SEARCH RESuLTS box. In this case, you will see that Your search has found
ANd VIEWING THE 1 match.
dIGITISEd IMAGE
33 bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY
2. Normally you would click on the View (1 credit) option, but
to view the image for free, click instead on the BBC First Click
logo on the homepage of the Scotland’s People website.
3. The following information (among much else) appears on the
certificate: Caroline Geddes was born on 31st May 1903 at
Buckie in the county of Banff. Her parents were Alexander
Geddes, a house carpenter, and Elizabeth Geddes, whose
maiden name was Robertson. MS stands for Maiden
Surname. Alexander and Elizabeth married on 22nd August
1902 at Seafield.
4. Close the image when you have finished.
bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY 34
SEARCHING
FOR SCOTTISH
ANCESTORS
FINdING THE Just as for a birth certificate, you can search for your ancestor in the
MARRIAGE RECORdS marriage indexes and can then view an online copy of the certificate.
ON WWW.SCOTLANdS
We are going to search for the marriage certificate of Caroline’s
pEOpLE.GOV.uK
parents, Alexander Geddes and Elizabeth Robertson.
• Click on Marriages under Statutory Registers.
If the search box contains details of your last search, click on
the button.
pERFORMING Again, you need to complete the search box with the information
THE SEARCH that you know.
1. C lick in the box beneath Male Surname and enter Geddes.
In the same way, enter Alexander under Male Forename,
Robertson under Female Surname and Elizabeth under
Female Forename.
2. C lick on .
Geddes
Alexander
Robertson
Elizabeth
35 bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY
ExAMINING YOuR 1. Again, the results for your search appear beneath the
SEARCH RESuLTS box. You will see that Your search has
ANd VIEWING THE found 1 match.
ORIGINAL IMAGE
2. Normally you would click on the View (5 credit) option, but to
view the image for free, click instead on the BBC First Click logo
on the homepage of the Scotlands People website.
3 T he following information (among much else) appears on the
certificate: Alexander Geddes, a joiner and bachelor, aged 24,
married Elizabeth Robertson, a shop assistant and spinster, aged
24, on 22nd August 1902 in Seafield in the County of Banff.
Alexander’s parents were William Geddes, a master joiner, and
Jessie Geddes, maiden name Duncan. Elizabeth’s parents were
Alexander Robertson, a farmer, and Jessie Robertson, maiden
surname Auckland.
4. Close the image when you have finished.
bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY 36
SEARCHING
FOR SCOTTISH
ANCESTORS
NExT STEpS The information on the marriage certificate would allow you to
search for birth certificates for both marriage partners. For example,
if Alexander Geddes was 24 in 1902, he was probably born around
1878. You might therefore continue by searching the birth records
for 1876 to 1880.
However we are going to pursue other records just now.
SEARCHING The Scottish census contains similar information to the England
THE CENSuS and Wales census and is available for the same years, 1841 - 1911.
We are going to continue using the Geddes example as we
search the 1911 census.
FINdING THE • L ook for the green heading Census records on the left
1911 CENSuS ON of the screen, and click on the particular census you want
WWW.SCOTLANdS to search – 1911.
pEOpLE.GOV.uK
37 bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY
pERFORMING We are going to search for Caroline Geddes. We know from her
THE SEARCH birth certificate that Caroline was born in Buckie in 1903 and her
parents were Alexander and Elizabeth. This information should enable
us to identify her correctly on the 1911 census.
1. If the names of the previous search are still in the search box,
delete them.
2. C lick in the box beneath Surname and enter Geddes.
In the same way, enter Caroline under Forename.
3. Enter an approximate age for Caroline. If she was born in 1903
she should be about 8 in 1911. It is helpful to leave a margin for
error when searching the census, as the information given by our
ancestors was not always absolutely accurate. Therefore in the
Age Range boxes enter 6 to 10.
4. C lick on .
Geddes
Caroline
6 10
ExAMINING YOuR 1. Again, a line of text has appeared beneath the box, telling you
SEARCH RESuLTS that one census return matches the information you provided.
ANd VIEWING THE
2. To see a digitised image of the result, click instead on the
dIGITISEd IMAGE
BBC First Click logo on the homepage of the Scotlands People
website. Normally you would click on the View (1 credit)
option.
3. You are now viewing the 1911 census return showing Caroline
Geddes and her parents. They are near the bottom of the page.
bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY 38
SEARCHING
FOR SCOTTISH
ANCESTORS
ExAMINING YOuR 4. How much information about the Geddes family can you read?
SEARCH RESuLTS What is Alexander Geddes doing for a living? Were both parents
ANd VIEWING THE born in Banffshire? Examine the whole census return.
dIGITISEd IMAGE
5. Close the image when you have finished.
This is the last record we are going to look at on Scotlands People,
so when you have finished, click on the box at the top
right hand corner of the screen.
39 bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY
NExT STEpS There are plenty of other records relating to Scottish
ancestors, including the First World War Service Records
you have already explored.
Notes
bbC FIRST CLICK FAMILY HISTORY 40