Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry through Church and States Records: A Guide for Family Historians

Despite its Union with England and Wales in 1707, Scotland remained virtually independent from its partners in many ways, retaining its own legal system, its own state church, and its own education system. In Tracing Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records, genealogist Chris Paton examines the most common records used by family historians in Scotland, ranging from the vital records kept by the state and the various churches, the decennial censuses, tax records, registers of land ownership and inheritance, and records of law and order. Through precepts of clare constat and ultimus haeres records, feudalism and udal tenure, to irregular marriages, penny weddings and records of sequestration, Chris Paton expertly explores the unique concepts and language within many Scottish records that are simply not found elsewhere within the British Isles. He details their purpose and the information recorded, the legal basis by which they were created, and where to find them both online and within Scotland’s many archives and institutions. AUTHOR: Chris Paton is a genealogist and writer based in Ayrshire, who runs the Scotland’s Greatest Story research service at www.scotlandsgreateststory.co.uk. As well as contributing to many of the UK’s best known family history magazines, he also writes for his own The GENES Blog at www.BritishGENES.blogspot.com, and regularly gives talks to family history societies across Scotland, the UK and worldwide. His most recent publications include Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd edition), the Mount Stewart Murder: A Re-examination of the UK’s Oldest Unsolved Murder, and A Beginners’ Guide to British and Irish Genealogy.
40 b/w illustrations