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There are no videos for 2012 meetings. Handouts are only available for several conference presentations and two monthly meetings. To see these handouts, please log in to your membership account.
Conference 2012
An Introduction to Researching Scottish Family History
Chris Paton
Although Scotland and England have been joined at the hip for over 300 years, since the Act of Union of 1707, Scotland has always maintained its own state church, education system, and most crucially, a very separate and distinctive legal system. In virtually every sphere of record-keeping, Scots did things differently to the rest of the United Kingdom. This introductory plenary session provided a broad overview of the key areas for research within your Caledonian ancestry.
Scottish Civil Records, Censuses & Marriages
Chris Paton
Chris Paton described the nature of Scottish civil records: what to expect in birth, marriage and death records, the registers for corrected entries, overseas British BMD records for Scots and the records not available online but recorded by the civil registration system. Next he explores the census system: the censuses from 1801 to 1901, the differences between the Scottish 1911 Census and the equivalent records for the rest of the UK, and what to expect from the records of the 1939 National Identity Register. Lastly, the marriage records: “Suppose that young Jocky or Jenny say ‘we two are husband and wife’; the witnesses needn’t be many, they’re instantly buckled for life.” Until the mid-twentieth century there were many ways you could be married in the country, some of them not even requiring a ceremony or a church.
Scottish House and Land History
Chris Paton
There are various records that can be used to trace the history of property and land in Scotland. From the twelfth century to the year 2004 the country was feudal in nature, with historic land records that are not only substantially different to those from the rest of the United Kingdom, but are considerably more detailed. This presentation not only decoded the jargon of Scottish feudalism, it also showed you how to trace records for land inheritance, property transactions, valuations, taxes and rentals.
The Godly Commonwealth
Chris Paton
From the Reformation of 1560 until the mid-nineteenth century, the Protestant-based Kirk was Scotland’s shepherd, moral guardian and disciplinarian, its records today providing one of the key resources for genealogical research. But in trying to establish a Calvinist Godly Commonwealth on earth it defied the Stuart monarchs for well over a century, and through its democratic and Presbyterian zeal constantly split into denominational factions over seemingly endless points of doctrine. By the time of its greatest Disruption in 1843, its ancient enemy, Roman Catholicism, was once again back in force, thanks to the Irish Famine. This session looked at 300 years of Scottish ecclesiastical history, then exploreed its implications for the family historian and provided a basic strategy to help search for the relevant church records for family history research.
The Mount Stewart Murder
Chris Paton
The subject of Chris Paton’s latest book, the Mount Stewart Murder, is not only the story of the longest unsolved murder by a modern British police force, it is also the tale of the brutal killing in 1866 of one of his direct ancestors, his three times great-grandmother Janet Rogers, nee Henderson. In this session, he told the story of a Victorian Scottish murder and its subsequent investigation and explored not only how he uncovered this tragedy, but also the bitter sting in the tale, which concluded the story some two decades later.
Scottish Archival and Lesser-known Resources Online
Patricia Whatley
Scotland is a small country with big archives! From the Register of Deeds in Edinburgh’s National Archives to the records of the Comann Eachdraidh Uig in the Western Isles, they hold the keys to many Canadians’ pasts. Records are held in national institutions, universities, learned societies, local societies, castles, museums, cottages and many more places, and genealogists need to find a way into these archives. Fortunately, information is increasingly being placed online. This workshop covered what archives exist, where they are, how to get at them, how to use them and what you might find online. Using the Internet and facsimiles, Patricia examined how Scottish archives can help you find your ancestors and discover the context of how and where they lived.
Monthly Meetings 2012
14 April 2012
Brick Wall Chisel – The Cluster Research Project
Ruth Blair
You have an ancestor and you know he should be found in that particular parish but he is nowhere to be found in the registers – now what? You have two people with the same name, age and living to adulthood, how do you distinguish the two? Are they related?
10 March 2012
Doing Family Tree Research in your Pajamas
Ken McKinlay
This talk covers key aspects of using the Internet to locate and record information concerning your ancestors. What is needed to record and preserve what is found, web sites that are treasure troves.