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Scotland Church Records: Difference between revisions
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The staff of the Family History Library has compiled a resource called the [[Scotland Church Records Union Lists|Scotland Church Records Union List]] which strives to identify all pre-1855 churches in Scotland and whether they have surviving records. It also contains brief parish and congregation histories. This information, arranged by county then parish, is available through the Wiki by searching for a [[Scotland Old Counties pre 1974 and New Counties post 1974|county]] or parish of interest. <!--{12088846945560} --><!--{12088846945561} --><!--{12088846945562} --><!--{12088846945563} --><!--{12088846945564} --><!--{12088846945565} --> | The staff of the Family History Library has compiled a resource called the [[Scotland Church Records Union Lists|Scotland Church Records Union List]] which strives to identify all pre-1855 churches in Scotland and whether they have surviving records. It also contains brief parish and congregation histories. This information, arranged by county then parish, is available through the Wiki by searching for a [[Scotland Old Counties pre 1974 and New Counties post 1974|county]] or parish of interest. <!--{12088846945560} --><!--{12088846945561} --><!--{12088846945562} --><!--{12088846945563} --><!--{12088846945564} --><!--{12088846945565} --> | ||
== | == Introduction <br> == | ||
The term ''Old Parochial Registers'' refers to parish registers kept by the Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland) from the time the church began keeping registers up to the year 1855. The amount of information in registers varies from parish to parish. Later records generally give more complete information than earlier ones. Some early parish registers may be in Latin. Scotland has its own version of English, so you may need to use a dictionary to understand some words. Read more in [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Scotland_Language_and_Languages Scotland Language and Languages]. | The term ''[[Scotland Old Parochial Registers (OPR)|Old Parochial Registers]]'' refers to parish registers kept by the Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland) from the time the church began keeping registers up to the year 1855. The amount of information in registers varies from parish to parish. Later records generally give more complete information than earlier ones. For more information see [[Scotland Established (Presbyterian) Church Records|Scotland Established (Presbyterian) Church Records]]. | ||
Some early parish registers may be in Latin. Scotland has its own version of English, so you may need to use a dictionary to understand some words. Read more in [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Scotland_Language_and_Languages Scotland Language and Languages]. | |||
Most parish registers begin after 1650. Some kirk session (parish court) records begin earlier than the parish registers. Kirk session records may have some christening, marriage, and burial records in them. | Most parish registers begin after 1650. Some kirk session (parish court) records begin earlier than the parish registers. Kirk session records may have some christening, marriage, and burial records in them. | ||
=== Christenings (Baptisms) <br> === | === Christenings (Baptisms) <br> === | ||
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If you cannot find burial records, try to find tombstone inscriptions. Read about tombstone inscriptions in the [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Scotland_Cemeteries Scotland Cemeteries] article. | If you cannot find burial records, try to find tombstone inscriptions. Read about tombstone inscriptions in the [https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Scotland_Cemeteries Scotland Cemeteries] article. | ||
'''Note:''' ''Quoad sacra ''parishes are those set up for ecclesiastical purposes to take care of those people who could not conveniently attend the parish church. To find records of people living in quoad sacra parishes, you must search the surrounding parishes. | '''Note:''' ''Quoad sacra ''parishes are those set up for ecclesiastical purposes to take care of those people who could not conveniently attend the parish church. To find records of people living in quoad sacra parishes, you must search the surrounding parishes. | ||
== Indexes == | |||
Before searching parish registers, you should search indexes to the records. These include the Scotland [https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/show#uri=http://search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1771030&hash=Mrd8SMocDIIen2Q83tu%252B82PRagg%253D baptism] and [https://www.familysearch.org/s/collection/show#uri=http://search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1771074&hash=Mrd8SMocDIIen2Q83tu%252B82PRagg%253D marriage] databases found at [http://www.familysearch.org www.familysearch.org] and the Old Parish Registers indexes at [http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ ScotlandsPeople]. | |||
== Accessing Records <br> == | == Accessing Records <br> == | ||