National Library of Scotland Digital Newspaper Collections survey

The National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) is currently running an online survey concerning its digital newspaper collections, which will run until Friday July 26th. Here's the blurb:

Reader Survey of Digital Newspaper Collections

The National Library of Scotland is carrying out research into the accessibility and use of Scotland’s newspapers as they are to be found online. The National Library provides access routes to newspaper eResources to registered Library members. Other digital newspaper collections exist elsewhere either providing online open access to view digital newspapers or closed access behind paywalls.

We will be very grateful to you for taking 3-5 minutes to complete 10 survey questions about your experience of using online newspaper collections and how they might be improved. The information you supply will be used to consider how to enhance access routes to newspapers of interest to Scottish audiences.

Any personal information you supply through this survey will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland for the purposes of handling your feedback. For full information about how we will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy page, in particular our fundraising privacy notice and our feedback and complaints notice.

Thank you.

The National Library of Scotland
June 2019

To take part in the survey visit https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QZT8JCG

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Mary Queen of Scots at the National Records of Scotland

The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) has an interesting blog post by archivist Dr Alison Rosie, concerning documents held at the facility relating to the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary is the subject of a major new movie, Mary, Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, which a in Edinburgh last week.

The article strolls through several documents giving a glimpse of Mary's life upon her return to Scotland in 1561, with letters, accounts of expenses, inventories and other documents, including an account of the assassination of Lord Darnley.

You can read the full piece at https://blog.nrscotland.gov.uk/2019/01/18/from-the-nrs-archives-mary-queen-of-scots-1542-1587/.

And don't forget that Outlaw King is also now available on Netflix, concerning the story of Robert the Bruce!

Chris

My next Scottish Research Online course starts March 11th 2019 - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. For my Scottish and Irish themed books, visit https://britishgenes.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

New Library Search catalogue coming to National Library of Scotland

The National Library of Scotland (www.nls.uk) has a new catalogue coming its way:

Library Search

Library Search is a new National Library of Scotland service which will replace the main catalogue and provide wider access to our collections.

It will bring together, in a single search, details of our printed, manuscript and archive, moving image and digital collections, as well as high quality e-resources and databases from a range of publishers.

Library Search is scheduled to be in place by November 2018.


Included in Library Search are:

• More than five million records from our print collections, including books, maps, journals, newspapers and music
• Almost five million electronic legal deposit items
• Records of 35,000 items from our archives and manuscript collections
• Hundreds of thousands of digitised resources from our collections, including digitised books, maps, photographs, posters, music, and films from the Moving Image Archive
• Millions of articles from full-text newspapers, journals and reports
• Thousands of electronic books, including many reference works
• Millions of records and abstracts from online services, digital archives and databases.

The new service brings several benefits. You can:

• Refine searches by format, subject, year, etc
• Access a wide range of electronic resources
• Request materials for consultation in our reading rooms
• Receive notification when items you've requested are ready for you
• Review your borrowing history.

Further information is available at https://www.nls.uk/catalogues/library-search

Pic: NLS, (c) Kim Traynor. Creative Commons license

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Edinburgh City Archives consultation

Edinburgh City Archives (http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20249/edinburgh_city_archives) is having a consultation on its future service provision. Here's the blurb from its website:

Overview

Edinburgh has a rich 900-year history captured in its City Archives – from old charters to last month’s Council webcasts. But we don’t just preserve the past; we also collect records about life in the city today.

To help the city’s archives reflect Edinburgh as it is now, rather than simply as it was, Edinburgh City Archives is asking residents, visitors, community groups, archives institutions, businesses and other organisations based in Edinburgh their views on:

* How they would like to access and support the city’s archives
* What we should be collecting about Edinburgh now for access in the future.

Why We Are Consulting

As the city evolves, so must its archives. Changes in the city’s people, buildings, businesses, and organisations need to be captured and reflected in its archives.

How we expect to find and access cultural content like archives is also changing due to technology. The same technology is even changing how we create records today and how we will preserve them as tomorrow's archives.

Edinburgh City Archives needs to understand how and where it needs to adapt its services and priorities to meet these challenges. Each response to this consultation will help us plan how we make sure that the city’s archives are accessible and reflect Edinburgh properly in the years to come.


Responses are welcome from Individuals, Groups, Organisations and Archives Services (based within or near Edinburgh).

Top subvmit to the consultation, please visit https://consultationhub.edinburgh.gov.uk/bi/archives/.

The consultation runs until October 26th 2018.

(With thanks to the National Records of Scotland)

Chris


For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

National Records of Scotland now wifi enabled

I have been reliably informed that the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) now has wifi on site. Not a lot more to add really.

WIFI....!!!!!!!!

Archivists do move in mysterious ways.

I suspect this isn't a flag pole in the picture above, but a large antenna...! :)

(With thanks to Lorna Kinnaird)

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Ancestry adds Edinburgh and Liverpool electoral registers

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added electoral registers for Edinburgh and Liverpool to its site:

Edinburgh, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1832-1966
https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61486
Source: Poll Books for Councillors for the City of Edinburgh/List of Burgh Voters for the City of Edinburgh/Register of Voters for the City of Edinburgh and the Burgh of Leith. Edinburgh City Archives, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Liverpool, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1970
https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61319
Source: Liverpool Electoral registers, Burgess rolls and Voters Lists, Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool, England.

For both collections, note that no registers were produced during the war years 1916, 1917 and 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944.

Ancestry has also added Anglican church records for the English county of Worcestershire:

Worcestershire, England, Extracted Church of England Parish Records, 1541-1812
https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61551
Source: "Electronic databases created from various publications of parish and probate records."

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.
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Service improvements at ScotlandsPeople

The ScotlandsPeople Centre posted an update last month (which I have only just seen) on some recent improvements with the online site and the hub facility in Edinburgh:

• Online seat booking - customers online can now book and pay for a seat in the ScotlandsPeople Centre.
• More than one hundred forename abbreviations were added to the name variant database in December 2017, improving the chances of success if you use name variants search option in the forename field when searching. Abbreviated forenames occur commonly in certain records, such as church registers, early census returns and early valuation rolls and less commonly in others, such as statutory registers and legal records. If you come across a variant of a forename in the records that is not being included in the search results, please tell us and give us an example of a record which contains it.
• The 1935 valuation rolls were released on 10 October 2017 with 2.7 million indexed names and addresses for owners, tenants and occupiers of properties throughout Scotland.
• More than 30,000 Other Church Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials were added to the site on 26 June 2017.
• For earlier improvements and issues resolved see below under other work completed.

For more information, including news of forthcoming improvement work and projects, visit the full post at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/what-we-are-working-on.

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Rogues Gallery crime exhibition at NRS Edinburgh

In partnership with Edinburgh City Archives, the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) is hosting an exhibition from October 25th - December 1st 2017 entitled Rogues Gallery: Faces of Crime 1870-1917.

The exhibition will include the case papers from the trial of poisoner Eugène Chantrelle, as well as photographs and records documenting the development of the use of forensic photography in criminal investigations.

The exhibition will be in the Matheson Dome at General Register House, Edinburgh, with admission free. Further details are available at https://blog.nrscotland.gov.uk/2017/10/17/rogues-gallery-faces-of-crime-1870-1917/. 

Chris

My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Edinburgh 1544: Virtual Time Binoculars

Smart History, a virtual spin out from the University of St Andrews, has created a digital reconstruction of Edinburgh from the early 16th century, as part of a project called Edinburgh 1544: Virtual Time Binoculars. Here's the blurb:

In May 1544 an English army gathered on the outskirts of Edinburgh. Led by the Earl of Hertford (brother to Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour) the English had orders to ‘burn Edinburgh town’, and leave the Scottish capital ‘so razed and defaced’ that ‘there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God’.

Fortunately for the residents of Edinburgh, the English failed to fully achieve their aims. A combination of Edinburgh’s natural geographic advantages, and determined defence by gunners based at the Castle, frustrated much of the English efforts. After harrying the Scottish capital for less than two weeks Hertford’s forces withdrew.

The English claimed that following their assaults on Edinburgh ‘neither within the walls nor in the suburbs was left any one house unburnt beside the innumerable bodies, pillages and spoils that our soldiers brought from thence’. The reality was probably more complicated. Although Holyrood and the Canongate seem to have sustained significant damage, the extent of destruction in the heart of the burgh of Edinburgh is debatable.

The Edinburgh 1544 Project reconstructs the appearance of the Scottish capital on the eve of these momentous events. Inspired by a drawing in the British Library made by the English military engineer Richard Lee (who accompanied Hertford’s expedition, and took part in the sack of Holyrood), the reconstruction visualises the historic burghs of Edinburgh and the Canongate as they may have appeared just before Hertford’s forces arrived.

You can explore the groundbreaking reconstruction of sixteenth-century Edinburgh both via this website, and our Virtual Time Binoculars, a new virtual reality app for iOS and android devices.

For more on the project, and to download the app, visit www.smarthistory.co.uk/Edinburgh1544/index.html - and view a short preview video on the site or below:

(With thanks to the National Library of Scotland, via Twitter)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Forthcoming National Records of Scotland talks

Forthcoming talks to be held at the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk):

22 November 2016, 10:00 - 12:00
Treasures from the National Records
Alison Lindsay (Head of Historical Search Room, NRS) talks about the records that NRS offers for researchers: maps, court records, kirk session minutes and other sources reveal the history of the ancient villages that now form part of the western suburbs of Edinburgh. (General Register House) This talk forms part of the Pentlands Book Festival, and places can only be booked via Eventbrite.

25 November 2016, 2.00 – 3.00pm
The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry’s Scottish archives
Crispin Powell (Archivist to Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry). Crispin will talk about the rich archives still held at Drumlanrig Castle and Bowhill House, in addition to the pleasures and challenges of his role as the first professional archivist to look after the Duke’s collections in Scotland and England. Cataloguing, conservation and access are key elements of Crispin’s work, and he will outline the progress that has been made so far, and what plans he and the Duke have for the future. (New Register House)

9 December 2016, 2.00 – 3.00pm
Caring for your family papers
Linda Ramsay, Head of Conservation in NRS, and her colleagues will provide advice on storing, packaging, handling and preserving your family papers, from letters and plans, to photographs and ledgers, including tips on what to do about damp, mould and insects. Come ready with your document dilemmas! (New Register House)

(Originally published at http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/events-talks-and-visits)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

New Statistical Accounts of Scotland website launched

A press release from the University of Edinburgh's EDINA service:

We are delighted to announce the launch of the refreshed Statistical Accounts of Scotland online service at http://stataccscot.edina.ac.uk.

As well as a new intuitive and streamlined interface, the redeveloped service features improved search, transcripts and metadata, making it easier to find relevant information within the accounts.

The new service offers:

* Interactive historical maps
* Contextual narratives that give more information on the accounts and their history
* Parish and county pages listing all related sections within the volumes
* High resolution images

Our not-for-profit subscription service has been enhanced with additional features designed to make it easy to work with the historical texts:

* View your personal search history
* Tag pages, sections and images with keywords
* Annotate pages, sections and images with longer notes
* Browse and filter personal tags and annotations

Over the next few weeks we will publish a series of blog posts giving more details on the new features: you can follow these at http://statacc.blogs.edina.ac.uk/

COMMENT: The Statistical Accounts of Scotland site is the first platform you should bookmark after ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) if doing Scottish based ancestral research. The site contains two detailed descriptions from the 1790s and 1830s/1840s of every Church of Scotland parish, as recorded by the minister, providing essential background context onto which you can paint your ancestral stories.

From an initial exploration, the new site will take some time to get used to. On the one hand, I very much like the searchable interactive map, but I do find the pages take a lot more effort to scroll down through with such large pictures and such little boxes of text. 

Note that the original version of the website is still accesible at http://stat-acc-scot.edina.ac.uk/sas/sas.asp?action=public, though this will be phased out next year.

(With thanks to Nicola Osborne and Lisa Otty)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Guide to the UK's Gazette newspapers

Not sure if this has just been published, or if The Gazette is just tweeting about it, but Else Churchill from the Society of Genenalogists has written a useful background guide to the The Gazette newspaper's three incarnations in London, Belfast and Edinburgh at https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100857.

Incidentally, for Irish research I discovered last year that fully searchable copies of the Dublin Gazette (now called Iris Oifigiuil) from 1750-1800 are freely available on the Oireachtas Library website. For further details visit my blog post at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-dublin-gazette-from-1750-1800-is.html.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople Centre closed Tuesday

Following the recent relaunch of the ScotlandsPeople website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), things have not been going so well for the National Records of Scotland with regard to both the online version of the site, and the equivalent system that it hosts at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh, and elsewhere across the country. The latest is a power failure in Edinburgh this morning, which has forced the closure of the centre, which has now just announced the following statement:

Monday 24 October: As you may know, we’ve closed our ScotlandsPeople search rooms today following technical difficulties.

We're sorry for the inconvenience, but the search rooms will now also be closed tomorrow, Tuesday 25 October.

The SFHS (Scottish Family History Service) network and some other users are also affected. We’re working hard to resolve the problems and restore services and will continue to provide updates here and at our Twitter account, @scotlandspeople. Our online services and the historical and legal search rooms remain unaffected.

We'll have a further update for customers as soon as possible tomorrow.

The centre announced a few days ago a fairly hefty list of issues it is trying to address for the new website (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/scotlandspeople-responds-to-technical.html). Having used the service in Glasgow last week, I encountered a few further problems. An image I requested to be rescanned last Tuesday has still not been done almost a week later, and I have had a few issues with locating index entries for some records. When I called the centre today at 12.30pm I was informed by a recorded message that phone queries will be taken only between 9am and 12pm Mondays to Fridays now. I have read many comments from fellow genies in Scotland over the last few days all experiencing the same exasperating failures of service.

This really isn't good enough, especially for those travelling from afar to connect to their Scottish roots.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

New ScotlandsPeople website launch delayed?

ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has just emailed an interesting update:

Service announcement for the ScotlandsPeople website

Last month we contacted you to let you know that our website would be unavailable from Wednesday 7 September 2016 until Monday 12 September 2016. We are writing to let you know that this site downtime has now been postponed to a future date. We will confirm the new dates as soon as possible.

We would like to thank you for your continued patience as we work towards launching a new ScotlandsPeople website. You will be pleased to note that once the new site is launched, all of your credits and saved images from our existing site will be available and accessible.

Thank you.

The team at ScotlandsPeople.


This month the ScotlandsPeople website was expected to be completely relaunched, with the contract held by FindmyPast having expired, and a new development team in to rebuild the platform on behalf of the National Records of Scotland. In the last couple of weeks, however, there have been major issues with the platform at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh (and at satellite access points across the country), which forced the centre's closure on several days. Hopefully the issues causing the ScotandsPeople team problems will be resolved shortly.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople Centre remains closed

Another update from the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh (www.nrscotland.gov.uk/news/2016/customer-notice-service-disruption):

Following a recent problem at one of our buildings we continue to experience technical difficulties at our ScotlandsPeople search rooms. These will remain closed today and Friday 26 August so please check back before travelling.

The SFHS (Scottish Family History Service) network and some other users are also affected. We’re working hard to resolve the problems and restore services and will continue to provide updates here and at our Twitter account, @natrecordsscot. Our online services and the historical and legal search rooms remain unaffected.

COMMENT: The Scottish Family History Service network essentially means all the centres across Scotland that are connected to the ScotlandsPeople database, so there will be problems at Glasgow, Hawick, Inverness, etc. I've read a few tweets and Facebook messages today from folk who will be affected - this is not a great advert for all the tourists making their way here to use the service, here's hoping it gets resolved quickly.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople Centre closed again

Just a quick update on a story from a couple of days ago to say that the ScotlandsPeople Centre (www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/scotlandspeople-centre) in Edinburgh has re-opened its doors again today (Tuesday), following its recent closures due to computer problems.

UPDATE 11am: No sooner had I posted this based on an update from the ScotlandsPeople website, than I then discover this on Twitter:

We’re very sorry, our technical problems have reoccurred and our ScotlandsPeople search rooms aren’t open this morning.

Other hobbies are available...! :) Might be worth giving it a day or two before planning a trip.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

ScotlandsPeople search rooms closed Monday 22nd

From ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk):

The ScotlandsPeople search rooms - closed on Monday 22 August 2016

The ScotlandsPeople search rooms will be closed on Monday 22 August 2016 due to technical problems affecting our services.

Our ScotlandsPeople online service and our historical and legal search rooms are unaffected.

We apologise for the inconvenience and will provide further updates when they are available on Twitter and Facebook.

For seat booking enquiries, please call 0131 314 4300.


COMMENT: There's been a few problems last few days apparently, so if you are planning to visit Edinburgh to do research next week, I would keep an eye for further announcements. I suspect this will also affect other centres hostinh the ScotlndsPeople system (it usuall does), such as the Glasgow Registrar's service at the Mitchell Library, and other centres in Kilmarnock, Inverness, Alloa, Hawick, etc - you may wish to contact them in advance if planning a visit also.

National Records of Scotland hosted catalogues seem to be unaffected.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Scottish Genealogy Society classes for 2016

The Edinburgh based Scottish Genealogy Society (www.scotsgenealogy.com) has the following free classes planned for the rest of this year:

17 September
Beginners: This module is just what it says - for beginners. Ken Nisbet, who has many years experience in researching family history will take this class.
Places Available

15 October
Pre-1841 Population lists: Bruce Bishop has expanded and updated his previous talks on this subject and will show where to find them and what they contain.
Places Available

12 November
WWI: Ken Nisbet, our resident expert on all things military, will take this class. Ken will show what resources are available both online and offline to begin and to further your research. However, this talk will be more focused on army records than previously.
Places Available

3 December
Health and history: Using medical records in genealogical research. Health records can be another source of information to help further your family’s history but they are not found on the usual websites, etc. Louise Williams, Archivist will show what these records contain and where to find them.
Places Available

Further details can be found via the society's website.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Forthcoming National Records of Scotland talks

The following talks are scheduled to take place at the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) in Edinburgh:

3 June 2016, 2:00 - 3:00pm
Getting the most out of ScotlandsPeople
Iain Ferguson (ScotlandsPeople) will give a presentation, including hints and tips, on searching the records on the ScotlandsPeople search system. New Register House.

7 July 2016, 2:00 - 3:00pm
An introduction to the NRS maps and plans collections
Jane Brown, Head of Maps and Plans, National Records of Scotland, explores the rich variety of maps and plans held in NRS, the largest collection of hand-drawn plans relating to Scotland. New Register House.

22 July 2016, 2:00 - 3:00pm
Getting the most out of ScotlandsPeople
Iain Ferguson (ScotlandsPeople) will give a presentation, including hints and tips, on searching the records on the ScotlandsPeople search system. New Register House.

Further details at http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/events-talks-and-visits

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts Monday 17th May - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.

Restrictions on NRS sheriff court records

Thanks to Jack Davis via the LinkedIn page of the Scottish Genealogy Network (www.scottishgenealogynetwork.co.uk) for flagging up that the recent decision to restrict access to records at the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) in fact goes considerably beyond divorce records.

The following Sheriff Courts records have in fact been restricted by a one hundred year closure period, as they may "contain sensitive personal data, as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998, the disclosure of which is likely to cause substantial damage or distress to the subject of the data":

• Criminal libels and indictments
• Records of criminal jury trials
• Juvenile court records
• High court circuit trial appearing before the sheriff court
• Divorces
• Family actions relating to children, e.g. separation; affiliation; paternity aliment; custody & access

As with any proposed research at an archive, it is worth enquiring in advance if the records of interest can be consulted.

(With thanks to Jack)

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts Monday 17th May - see http://pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.