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Scotland Church Records

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Church records are the main source for accurate information on names, dates, and places of birth, marriage, and death prior to the beginning of civil registration in 1855.

While the next section gives brief explanations and links to online indexes and records, they are best searched after a basic understanding of the main churches in Scotland with their history and available records. For this, see Section 2.4 Historical Background below.

Online Records

Old Parochial Records

  • All Church of Scotland OPRs (Old Parish Records) can be accessed on the ScotlandsPeople website. There is no fee to search for names, but there is a fee of about $2 (US) per original image.
  • Registration in Church of Scotland's registers was costly and unpopular, so many people did not bother to register events at all. Rapid urbanization during the 19th century contributed to the diminishing influence of the Church and a decrease in registration in these areas. For the 19th century onwards, it is estimated that as few as 30% of events occurring were actually being recorded for some urban parishes.[1]
  • The original images can also be browsed for free at FamilySearch Centers and Affiliate Libraries through the FamilySearch Catalog. Microfilm and microfiche indexes are also available. See the article Scotland Old Parochial Registers (OPR) to learn more.
  • FindMyPast has indexed and digitized the records.
  • MyHeritage has also index and digitized the records.
  • FreeReg.org is a site that transcribes records from across the UK. A few Scotland Church Records are included. No images are available.

Kirk Sessions

Non-Conformists

ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk In 1855, the government officially called for all non-parochial (non-conformist) church registers (of all religions outside of the Church of Scotland) to be turned in to the official government archive, now managed by ScotlandsPeople.

The main NRS collections are as follows:
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) (NRS reference CH10), 1569-1983
Methodist Church (NRS reference, CH11), 1661-2002
Episcopal Church (NRS reference CH12), 1549-2003
United Free Church (NRS reference CH13), 1901-1986, including some records of predecessor churches back to 1792
United Reformed Church (NRS reference CH14), 1726-1993
Unitarian Church (NRS reference CH15), 1792-1975
Free Church (NRS reference CH16), 1843-1977, including some records of predecessor churches back to 1823

Contents of the Records

Births/Baptisms

Children were usually baptized within a few days or weeks of birth. Births/baptisms may include:

  • Name and surname of the child
  • Birth and/or baptism date and place
  • Parents’ names, including the maiden name of the mother


Births/baptisms may include:

  • Child’s placement within the family and indication of legitimacy
  • Father’s occupation and residence
  • Names of witnesses

Marriages/Proclamations

Marriages usually took place in the parish where the bride resided. Marriage records usually give:

  • Names of the bride and groom
  • Date and place of marriage/proclamation

Marriages may include:

  • Proclamation of intent to marry
  • Residences and groom’s occupation
  • Marital status
  • Names of fathers
  • Names of witnesses


Some records show a couple’s “intent to marry,” also called the proclamation of banns. Usually the intent to marry was proclaimed in the parishes of both the bride and groom. The marriage was usually recorded only in the parish in which the marriage actually took place.

Deaths/Burials

Few burial records were kept before 1855. It is important to know that many women, when their husbands died, reverted to their maiden names and were buried under that name.
Deaths/burials generally include:

  • Name
  • Date and place of death or burial

Deaths/burials may include:

  • Occupation
  • Age at death
  • Names of relatives
  • Residence
  • Mortcloth dues (fee paid for the use of the funeral cloth or pall draped over the casket or body during the funeral ceremony)
United Presbyterian Church at Stonehouse, Scotland.jpg

Historical Background

For more background information on churches in Scotland, including a historical timeline, read the article Scotland Church History.

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian church) has been the recognized national church of Scotland since 1690. It is not a state or "established" church (although that latter description has found its way into various official documentation such as marriage registers); that independence from the state was eventually acknowledged in the Church of Scotland Act 1921.

The two main types of records are Old Parochial Registers (OPR) and Kirk Session Records. OPR's list baptisms, marriages and burials. Kirk Session records are the records of the Church Courts. They often list information relevant to genealogy. Additional records to utilize can include Blotter Registers and Neglected Entries Register (considered to pertain to civil registration, but many entries start well before C.R. even began--1809-1860).

Non-conformist

Churches which are not part of the Church of Scotland are often referred to as nonconformist. By the 19th century a majority of the population was non-Conformist. There were two categories of so-called nonconformist churches in Scotland:

  • Dissenters or sometimes called seceders or seccesionist -- Those who seceded from the main church but were still Presbyterian in form. Such dissenting churches included Associate, Covenanters, Burghers, Anti-burgher, Free church, Reformed Presbyterian, and later in the 1800's the United Presbyterian and others.
  • Nonconformists -- Those who were not Presbyterian in form, such as Episcopal, Methodist, Quaker, Baptist, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), or Catholic.

Nonconformists had their own congregations, with different boundaries to the Church of Scotland and kept their own records. However, before 1834, nonconformist ministers were not authorized to perform marriages as clergyman; after 1834 they could perform marriages if the banns had first been read in the parish church. Total authority was granted in 1855. In the context of Scots Law as it applied until 1939, this affected, only in practice, the mode of marriage because until then any declaration of marriage in front of witnesses was valid although many might have failed to be recorded.

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.

Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.

  • Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
  • To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
  • Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
  • A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
  • If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
  • See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.


Research Guidance

FamilySearch Wiki Help for Non-Church of Scotland Church Records Research


Online Tutorials on FamilySearch:

  1. ↑ "Guide to Old Parish Registers", Aberdeen City Libraries, https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2019-09/Guide%20-%20OPRs.pdf, accessed 24 March 2024.
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