Where to find Scottish records

If you have Scottish ancestors, you are fortunate in that the records provide lots of information.

The online resource for Scottish vital records is scotlandspeople.gov.uk  (SP)

SP is the only place to see the original birth, marriage death (BDM) and census records for Scotland
- other than going in person to the Scottish Records Office SRO in Edinburgh, the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, or the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock (£15 per day plus any photocopying)

Sites like Ancestry and Findmypast only have transcriptions (someone's interpretation of the handwriting) which are often quite badly done as regards spelling. It is good practice to look at the original. I find Ancestry and Findmypast very useful for censuses and tracking the family over the years. More on censuses here.

First you need to register with scotlandspeople. 

You can do searches for free, but to view or download a record it costs 6 credits (£1.50). Credits are purchased in multiples of 30 for £7.

Don’t “order” a certificate unless you need it for legal purposes or it is a modern record. They cost £12 each and are typed rather than images of the original handwritten document. 

An RCE (Register of Corrected Entries) may give more info e.g. on a sudden death or a later paternity case for an illegitimate birth.

Updated December 2018.