Where to find the best free Scottish resources online
Ayrshire-based genealogist Chris Paton takes a look at 50 free resources to help you unlock your Caledonian family connections
Although Scotland has been a part of the United Kingdom since 1707, it has maintained very separate legal, ecclesiastical and education systems and records to those found in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This separation means that, while Scottish research areas cover similar territories to their sister nations such as inheritance, church records and civil registration, they have often done so in very different ways.
Nevertheless, the basics of genealogical research remain the same, with archives cataloguing and storing records from across the country and family history societies working to find, record and preserve hidden gems found elsewhere. And as with the rest of the UK, Scotland also has a long tradition of indexing, digitisation and hosting its records online.
If your ancestors were Scottish, there are a range of free website resources to help you with your research, ranging from amateur transcription projects and community projects, to resources provided online by the Scottish Government and national bodies such as the National Library of Scotland.
The following resources – including databases, finding aids and local gems – should give you the tools you need to trace your Scottish ancestry.