Statutory records

Statutory recording began in 1855 (1837 in England) but Scottish records give good information e.g. both parents’ names.

In 2018, you can view on scotlandspeople.gov.uk the images of
births from 1855 - 1917   (100 year cut off)
marriages from 1855 - 1942  (75 year cut off)
deaths from 1855 - 1967 (50 year cut off)

For records after these cut off points, you can view them by going in person to the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock or the Mitchell Library in Glasgow or the Scotlandspeople Centre in Edinburgh. (Please phone ahead to book and check opening times.) You won’t be able to print them, but you can make notes. You can also order a copy online at £12 each.

Births will give parents’ names and the date of the parents’ marriage.
Illegitimate births may only give the mother’s name but in some cases the father will sign the certificate as well as the mother.

Marriages will give the type - i.e. what denomination of church, or by declaration, names, ages, whether single/married/widowed, occupation of the man at least, addresses, names of parents, names of witnesses, clergyman and date registered. Note that previously marriages in Scotland usually took place in the bride’s home or in the manse rather than in church.

Deaths will give name, age, name of spouse, occupation, time and place of death, name of parents, cause of death and the name of the informant, relation to the dead person and address.

1855 was the first year of statutory registration and BDM records in that year give more information than later records e.g. all children are listed on a Death Certificate, birthplace of parents on a Birth Certificate. Worth getting for the extra information.

RCE Register of Corrected Entries - a note in the margin of a statutory record notes an RCE. Most commonly associated with a sudden death - the result of coroner’s report. Could also be a note of a bigamous marriage or a change of name on a birth certificate. An RCE costs an extra 2 credits

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.