Scottish Ordnance Survey Name Books exhibition

From the latest ScotlandsPeople newsletter:

From Ae to Zetland: Scotland in the Ordnance Survey Name Books

A free exhibition about these fascinating records of Scottish places and people is marking the completion of a big project to put all the Name Books on the ScotlandsPlaces website. It opens on Friday 6 December, when the last books will become available online.

Starting on the Isle of Lewis in the 1840s, the Ordnance surveyors took in Ae in Dumfriesshire during the 1850s, covered the rest of the mainland and the islands from the 1850s to 1870s, and finally reached Zetland (Shetland) in 1877-78. The Name Books include all the names of man-made and natural features that are shown on the first Ordnance Survey maps of Scotland. They also list the 'authorities' who informed them of spellings and meanings, which provides a potential source for family historians.

The free exhibition runs at the National Records of Scotland, Register House, 2 Princes Street, Edinburgh from 6 December until 31 January 2014.

To find out more about the Ordnance Survey Name Books and to view two examples (from parishes in Old Deer in Aberdeenshire and the Isle of Mull), visit http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/Content/Help/index.aspx?r=2225.

(With thanks to ScotlandsPeople)

Chris

My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.