Tracing your Scottish Ancestry

There is no doubt that the arrival of the Internet has transformed genealogy. All kinds of material from public records, documents, archives and censuses have been made available online to enable people to search directly for their ancestors without relying on paid researchers. Tracing your roots has never been so popular. The magazines, guides, books and a host of other printed resources can complement the search and offer a more portable guide to carry round while searching.

The Scottish Genealogy Society is often the first port of call for searchers: see their site for a good list of publications on the many topics surrounding ancestry.

Alwyn James has been writing on the subject for many years and his Scottish Roots: Step-by-Step Guide For Ancestor Hunters remains a very readable, clear guidebook. Kathleen B. Cory’s Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry is a bestseller and has been updated to take into account the new methods of searching whilst Edinburgh University Press’s Discover Your Scottish Ancestry: Internet and Traditional Resources by Graham Holton and Jack Winch provides a brisk and authoritative round up of all the methods needed for the would-be searcher. They also have an inexpensive title, My Ain Folk: A Beginner’s Guide to Scottish Family History. For those looking for a quick guide there is Simon Fowler’s Tracing Scottish Ancestors, A pocket guide.

The Scottish Record Office weighs in with Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors: The Official Guide, again, a very good choice for those starting off. It has been recently revised for 2007.

For those who have a clan surname there is a plethora of books and resources: Scottish Clans and Family Names; Their Arms, Origins and Tartans by Roddy Martine gives an authoritative overview of the major clans.

Books featured in this article

  • Cover scan of Scottish Roots
    Scottish Roots: The Step-By-Step Guide To Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors Alwyn James
    For anyone interested in researching their family history, 'Scottish Roots' provides a comprehensible step-by-step guide to tracing your Scottish ancestry.
  • Cover scan of Tracing Scottish Ancestors
    Tracing Scottish Ancestors Simon Fowler
    This series guides beginners and experienced genealogists alike through often complex historic records. By understanding how and why records were made and where they are kept the family historian can trace their individual heritage back through time.
  • Cover scan of Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry
    Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Kathleen B. Cory
    Clearly laid out, this guide offers detailed yet straightforward instructions on completing research of your family history, using all the resources available and explains the complexities of the available records and sources.

Other titles of interest

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