Scottish 1905 Valuation Roll now online

The 1905 Valuation Roll for Scotland has now been added to the ScotlandsPeople website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk). The valuation rolls were returned on an annual basis for the whole country from 1855 onwards, and gave details of proprietors, occupiers and tenants of property in Scotland, and additional details such as rateable value, feu duties etc. ScotlandsPeople has already released the returns for 1915, and will continue with every tenth year back to 1855.

There's more on the release at http://media.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/vr1905_pressRelease.html

(With thanks to Chris Halliday @scotsgen)

NB: Information on these and other Scottish house and land records are explored in detail in my book Discover Scottish Land Records, available from Unlock the Past at www.gould.com.au/Discover-Scottish-Land-Records-p/utp0283.htm

James Keir Hardie's return from 1905, Old Cumnock (by kind permission of the Registrar General for Scotland)

UPDATE: By the way, don't think of these records as one hit wonders every ten years - they were compiled on an annual basis. They have been digitised from 1855/56 to 1955/56, and indexed every tenth year up to 1915/16, and then every 5th year thereafter. After 1958 many rolls have not been microfilmed, and original volumes still need to be consulted. They can all be consulted at the National Records of Scotland, and on a local basis copies of many holdings are also kept in the relevant regional archive. They were eventually replaced by the political disaster that was the Poll Tax. Not every collection is complete in local archives (in Glasgow, for example, they are held from 1913 onwards), but you may find useful substitutes such as burgh assessment rolls, which were similar in what they recorded. Looking up valuation rolls is one of the services I offer, and full details on these and other records can be found in the above-mentioned book!

UPDATE: Additional coverage - www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-21234335 (BBC); www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/scotlandspeople-adds-1905-property-records-to-help-trace-scottish-ancestry-1.66273 (Courier); and www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scotland-property-records-released-1561515 (Daily Record).

Chris

Pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet, through Pen and Sword (30 April 2013), or purchase early at Who Do You Think You Are Live 2013 in London. For my other genealogy books, please visit  http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html; whilst for my online Scottish based genealogy courses please visit the Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd site.