Tag: National Records of Scotland (NRS)

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More than a million pages of kirk session and other Church of Scotland court records released on ScotlandsPeople

 

NEWS

Garvald Kirk
Garvald Kirk

ScotlandsPeople announced this week that thousands of volumes of historical records from the collections of National Records of Scotland (NRS) are now available online for the first time.

Images of more than a million pages from the kirk session and other court records of the Church of Scotland can now be viewed and downloaded on ScotlandsPeople. These records contain details of key events in communities across the country between 1559 and 1900 and are one of the most important sources for Scottish historical research.

Read more about this new records release in their news article.

You are able to browse through the kirk session records for free, only using credits when you would like to save an image, as these records are made available without intensive indexing of their contents by personal name, place or other subjects.

ScotlandsPeople have also produced a series of guides to help you understand how to use the records and how to navigate the virtual volumes system.

https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/news-article-virtual-volumes-records-releasedhttps://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/news-article-virtual-volumes-records-released

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Maps and Plans Release from ScotlandsPeople

I read the following news with interest as when I research my Scottish ancestors a map is always useful in understanding their environment.

 

From ScotlandsPeople

More than 2,400 historic maps, plans and drawings from National Records of Scotland (NRS) collections have been made available on the ScotlandsPeople website. Many of the maps show the changing Scottish landscape over time. They also record where people lived or worked, so they can throw light on ancestors’ lives and even suggest new avenues for research. The maps and plans cover certain areas of Scotland, but not the whole of the country. They include both country estates and plans of towns and cities, including for example Glasgow. Most of the maps and plans originate in the records of court cases, Scottish government departments, Heritors’ records, as well as in private collections gifted to or purchased by NRS.

If you would like to find out more, read their maps and plans guide, or search the maps and plans.

The maps and plans collection is amongst the finest in the UK and contains the largest number of Scottish manuscript maps and plans held by any single institution. Spanning four centuries, the collections cover both manuscript and printed topographical maps and plans. They are particularly strong in estate and railway plans; architectural drawings; and engineering drawings, particularly of ships, railway engines and rolling stock. More maps and plans will be added to the ScotlandsPeople website.

Plan of the Carron River from Carron works to Grangemouth - 1797 National Records of Scotland
Plan of the Carron River from Carron works to Grangemouth, 1797
National Records of Scotland, RHP242/2

This plan of the Carron River was drawn in 1797 by John Ainslie, one of the foremost mapmakers of his time. His great map of Scotland, drawn between 1787 and 1788, was a landmark in clarifying the outline of Scotland. The River Carron is almost 14 miles in length; rising in the Campsie Fells it is shown here passing what was one of the most important industrial sites in Scotland, the Carron Works which manufactured cast iron goods, and continuing down towards Grangemouth.

 

Read more at: https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/news-article-maps-and-plans-release

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