Fiona’s Finding Service Scotland

Fiona Sinclair
3 / 6 Langton Road
Edinburgh Scotland
UK EH9 3BP
www.FionaMSinclair.co.uk 
fnsnclr@gmail.com

Searches all Edinburgh sources, including many not available online
Over 20 years research experience. All Edinburgh sources covered.

Those sources not available online include
● Recent Births, Marriages & Deaths
● Non-conformist Births, Marriages & Deaths
● Censuses which are not yet on FreeCEN
● Wills
● Property transfers
● Professional records (apprenticeships etc)
● Criminal records (Were they transported ? Want to know why ?)
● Monumental inscriptions
● City street directories
● Electoral rolls
● Church records (e.g. for paternity cases)
● School and University records etc.

Willing to tackle problems such as common surnames (which is not economically feasible for those using pay-per-view sources) and living relatives (who cannot be found using online sources).

Try me for your brick walls – I have (occasionally) managed to trace ancestors who changed their names, found the parents of people who died before 1855, etc.

See my webpage for further details and examples.

Service

How does my service differ from other providers of similar services ?
Advantages

• It is cheaper than many of them.
• My service is flexible to suit your needs and requirements, based on what you want me to do, rather than on what I want you to have.
• I always begin by discussing it with you (by email) before you pay any money. You send all the information that you have about the ancestor in question, and I tell you whether that is enough information, and what you can expect for various prices, given how common that surname is in that part of Scotland.
• Other people will not take the case without the subject’s full name, approximate date and place of birth, and preferably parents’ names. I have (twice) traced the ancestors of a man who ran away from home as a boy and changed his name, over a century ago. In both cases, the descendants did not realise that he had changed his name. In once case, a lot of information about his family was passed down to his daughters. In the other case, his Australian marriage certificate gave the street address of his place of birth. See here for the amount of detail required for this type of search.
• I will always inform you if I know that you can get what you want cheaper from some other source. Some of my rivals charge £16 for a certificate which you could have bought for £10 from GROS.
• I will not waste your money doing anything that you could have done for yourself (unless you want me to), but only the parts that you have to be in Edinburgh to do. (Note – if you want me to do Internet searches, I can do so – at my usual hourly rate plus any Internet search fees). In particular, I will supply reports and family trees by email for you to print out yourself, unless you particularly want me to print and post them.
• The emphasis of my service is on providing the information, particularly information which can only be found in Edinburgh, and not on providing glossy colour reports bound in shiny folders which take weeks to produce. I will send you the information immediately by email. (That is immediately after I have done it, not immediately after you have placed the order).
• I will send interim reports at the end of each search session, in case you wish to change the direction of the search after reading the initial discoveries. (It is unlikely that your research will all be done on the same day).
• I will not run up a huge bill for things that you do not necessarily want, then refuse to give you anything until you pay it. You pay in advance, tell me what you want in advance, and inform me if you change your mind about any part that I have not yet done. (Too late if I have already done it).
• If all that you want is transcripts of the information from the documents, you would not have to pay for anything other than that (e.g. expensive certified copies). The time that I have to spend searching for the right documents and transcribing them (plus New Register House’s fee) would be the only cost – not the cost of writing and printing a glossy bound report if you did not want one.
• A written-up report giving the history of your family, with some local history of the area and copies of old photos of what it used to be like can be arranged, as an optional extra. If you do not have access to a printer, I can print it out and air-mail it to you. However, it would normally be cheaper (and quicker) for you to print it out at your end.
• You may have the reports in any or all of the following formats – Word.doc or RTF (ready to print out), plain text (to import into a non-standard word processor), HTML (ready to put straight onto your own web page), or printed out on paper. You may also want a series of linked HTML files (one per person), to put on your web page (or to send to Gendex, GenCircles, etc.)
• You may also have the information as a gedcom file, to splice into your own genealogy research. (Or I can do the splicing for you, at no extra charge, if you send me your original gedcom file).
• My customers also receive a free copy of my own genealogy software. (Not yet commercially available). It uses gedcom, and is compatible with most of the commercial programs. The main differences between this program and those that are commercially available now are:
  o It is written in Java, and will run on any platform which has the Java Runtime Environment installed.
  o If you want it to do anything differently, or anything extra, just tell me. Especially for customised output formats.
  o You can do entry and editing of data, drawing and printing of family trees and generation of linked HTML web pages and reports – all in one program.
• My work for you is confidential. Although I reserve the right to publish elsewhere the results of my searches, I will not include information about you, anything that your ancestor did after emigrating or anything about living people. If your ancestors turn out to be an embarrassment to you, I will not tell anyone that they are YOUR ancestors. (You, of course, are free to do whatever you choose with the information).
• I am not a Mormon, and will not try to alter the religion of your ancestors.

Disadvantages

• There is a minimum charge of £10 per customer. (I have to pay fares and search fees by the day, not by the hour), so do not ask me for just one certificate. (Who wants to stop after one anyway ?)
• I do not start the work until the first payment has been received. (That is mainly because I start giving you interim reports immediately. My rivals who start the work first and run up a bill give you nothing until the final report).
• I can only take payment in foreign currency if it is by PayPal – not non-UK cheques.
• Although I am a qualified researcher with 20 years research experience, my Ph.D. was not in genealogy. (Note – you do not need to be a genealogist to look through dozens of birth certificates to find the few children with the right parents). My previous work in mesh connectivities and networks might not strike you as relevant, but it is not so different actually.
• My service is provided in Scotland. That means births, marriages and deaths taking place in Scotland only. I can look up the English indexes for you, but it is not possible for me to see an English certificate without buying it at full price.
• I do not do cemeteries, burial grounds, tombstones, etc. I can look up burial records and gravestone inscriptions, but do not ask me to visit the grave.
• If it turns out that any of your ancestors came to Scotland from England or Ireland at an earlier stage, I will probably not be able to trace them further back. The English online records are rather inadequate (so far), and most of the Irish ones were lost in a fire in 1922.
• I can’t do anything for you other than search through records and libraries. I am only a Finding Service. I can’t find your cousins and look up their family bible. I only find things that are here in Edinburgh. However, there are a lot of things here in Edinburgh which can only be found by somebody searching in person. You will not be able to get those things from non-Edinburgh sources.

Results

Realistic expectations – ancestors

• It should not necessarily be expected that the birth record of the original Scottish-born ancestor will turn up automatically, even if the descendants have provided a name with approximate date and place. Many emigrants take the opportunity to change their name, age, occupation, etc. Many people born in the same area at about the same time are given the same name. The ease with which the first birth certificate can be found depends on the accuracy, as well as the fullness, of the information provided.
• It is usually a simple matter to trace from a post-1855 birth certificate back (however many generations) to ancestors who were alive in 1855, even allowing for variations in spelling of the surname.
• Before 1855, there was no compulsory registration of births, marriages and deaths. If your ancestors did not bother, there may be no earlier records, apart from the scanty information on the 1841 & 1851 census returns and post-1855 death certificates.
• The death certificates of the people who were alive in 1855 may be time-consuming to find (especially for common surnames), but this may give useful information about their parents. (Which may be the only information available, if their birth registration can’t be identified). Scottish death certificates give far more information than English ones regarding the parents and spouses of the deceased.
• It may be possible to find the birth and marriage registations of the parents of the older generation of 1855. This may take you back as far as the late 1700s, if some of your family died of old age after 1855.
• Earlier than that, it is a matter of chance whether anything was recorded at all, and it was not usual for the marriage records to contain enough information to identify the grandparents of the children of the marriage, even if they did use the child-naming traditions. Unless there is some other source of information (newspaper announcements, marriage contracts, wills, property transfers, informative and well-preserved gravestones, etc.), that may be the end of the line. Only affluent families tended to have these.
• Education only became compulsory in 1872, and before that many working class families could not afford to have their children educated (i.e. not earning while at school). Illiterate people do not announce their births, marrriages and deaths in the local newspaper, or record them in a Family Bible. They may also not see any need to have them recorded in the Parish Register, especially if they live in a small village some way from the town where the Parish records are kept.

You may choose either to follow:

• Your paternal line – i.e. your father’s father’s father’s father’s father’s … only.
• Your bloodline ancestors – 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great …
• The gaps in the research that you have already done

Note that some lines may be traceable back much further than others. Owing the the amount of intermarriage that went on, you might find that your maternal ancestors lead back to some prominent person with the same surname as you, even if your paternal ones do not.

Having gone back as far as possible on the provable evidence, (including marriage contracts, wills and newspaper BMD announcements as well as the official registers) there are then two choices available:

• Stop there and give up.
• Work further back on the basis of probability, bearing in mind that you may be following the wrong people (who might well be cousins of the right people). Note that if the marriage record gives no clue as to the parents of the couple, and only one person of that name exists in the birth records of the previous generation for the appropriate location, that does not prove that you have found the right person. There were many more children born than registered, and it was very common for there to be several cousins of approximately the same age with exactly the same name. (As can be seen from the Census returns). Also, spelling of surnames was a matter of arbitrary chance, and some first names were interchangeable (e.g. Janet and Jessie, Jane and Jean, John and Iain, James and Hamish). However, several more generations may be traced back on this principle, as long as it is clearly understood by the client that there is no reason to believe that these are necessarily the right people.

Realistic expectations – living cousins

• Finding siblings of ancestors born before 1855 is easy – assuming that a family who had one child registered did so for all of them. However, their descendants would be VERY distant cousins of yours.
• Siblings of ancestors born after 1855 but before 1901 may be indicated by the Census returns, making it quite easy to trace their births. This is only possible if the family have already been positively identified on the Census.
• Finding birth certificates of siblings born to the same parents after 1855, and particularly after 1901, is simple but time-consuming, especially for common surnames. The post-1855 birth records are not indexed by the parents’ names, so it is a simple matter of looking at the birth certificates of every child of that surname. (The parents’ names are only on the certificates, not in the index). The Census Returns help, in showing whether the families moved to a different area, and how many children there were on the Census dates. However, Census returns are only available up to 1901. After that, it is a simple but time-consuming matter of examining each certificate. Remember that I charge by the hour of searching, not by the number of right ones found.
• This method will not turn up the children of unmarried parents who were registered under the surname of their other parent. It is a matter of chance whether these will be found at all.
• It may be that several days of searching reveals only descendants who died childless, or who disappear from the records on account of having emigrated or died abroad. There is no guarantee that you actually have any cousins living in Scotland. You pay by the hour of searching, not by the number of cousins found.
• In any event, I can only find (at most) the birth and marraige certificates of living cousins, not their current addresses. People moved home a lot more often during the 20th Century than they did previously. Unless your cousins have had a recent birth, marriage or death with a current address on the certificate, you won’t find them.
• I would not recommend this unless there are very uncommon surnames involved. It is probably enough to stick with the siblings and cousins who your ancestor actually knew. (I did once find the living descendants of a Victorian John Smith – but only because they lived at the same address for many decades).
• Actually, the best way to find living cousins is to search the web for the names of your ancestors, hoping that a living cousin is doing the same thing. (I found a previously-unknown third cousin living in Germany because she had put my great-grandparents on a web page, and another in a different branch of the family who was looking for our mutual ancestors in a surname discussion forum).

Certificates

What is on the certificates
Scottish birth, marriage and death certificates contain more genealogical information than is found elsewhere in the world.
The full information is only available on the actual certificate. You will not find all this information on any index, including the LDS’s IGI. This source is a useful index telling you where to find the full information. You then need to find out what is on the complete certificate.

Births and baptisms
Birth certificates from 1855 show:

• Child’s full name and sex
• Date, time and place of birth
• Parents’ full names, father’s occupation, mother’s maiden name
• Date and place of parents’ marriage (not betwen 1856 & 1860, and not always accurate)

However, the Old Parish records from before 1855 may only show the child’s and parents’ names, date of baptism (not always date of birth), parish of residence and whether the parents were married (but not where or when). Some give the village (in rural areas) and/or the father’s occupation. Some give the names of two witnesses. If the parents did not belong to the Church of Scotland, they may not have had the births registered. The registers of other denominations exist, but are incomplete, i.e. they were not all preserved.

Marriages, banns and marriage contracts
Marriage certificates from 1855 show:

• Date and place of marriage, and religion for a church wedding
• Full name, occupation, age and address of bride and groom
• Parents’ full names, fathers’ occupations, mothers’ maiden names (usually accurate, but don’t count on it)

However, the Old Parish records from before 1855 may only show the date and the names of the bride and groom (and sometimes the two witnesses), with only their parish to identify them. Sometimes the husband’s occupation and/or the name of the bride’s father are given. Some give the village (in rural areas) or the street address (in cities). If they have common names, it might not be possible to identify who their parents were. (Even uncommon names may not be unique amongst cousins). If the couple did not belong to the Church of Scotland, they may not have had the marriage registered. The registers of other denominations exist, but are incomplete.

Affluent families may have had a marriage settlement – a separate legal document setting out financial provisions. This may give much useful information apart from the names of the parents, such as who was to inherit the bride’s dowry if she died childless. These are a very useful source of information, which you will not find online or from any LDS source. Unfortunately, they were not always filed at a Court. This might happen after the husband’s death if he died first and the widow wanted to claim her inheritance, or after the wife’s death if her property was to go to somebody other than the widower if she died first. If these exist, there will be a record in Edinburgh of the deed being registered.

Some affluent families may have had marriages or engagements announced in the newspaper, giving more details about the parents of the couple than are shown in the Register.

Deaths and burials
Death certificates from 1855 show:

• Full name and occupation of the deceased
• Details of marriage (if any, not always accurate)
• Date and place of death, and usual home address (if different)
• Age at death (not always accurate)
• Cause of death
• Parents’ full names, father’s occupation, mother’s maiden name (not always accurate – not always known to the informant).

However, the Old Parish burial records from before 1855 are rare, and may only show at most the name, date of death and estimated age, and possibly cause of death and/or address. With common names, it may not be possible to tell which was which, even knowing the approximate age. Those who died away from home may not have been recorded at all. Some record only the name of the next-of-kin who paid the bill for the funeral. For infant mortalities, it is common only to have the name of a parent (e.g. Mary Brown’s child).

Affluent families may have had a notice in a newspaper, or even an obituary. The date of death may also be found from when a will was executed, or when property changed hands on inheritance. Land transfers are not difficult to trace, given the approximate decade and county.

Census Returns
Census returns for 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 show (listed by street address), the members of each household, with names, ages, relationships, occupations and birth parishes. The 1841 Census shows the occupants and approximate ages, but not relationships or birth parishes.

Other Sources

• Aristocracy and Landed Gentry may have kept all sorts of records, passed down with the title or property, which may have been deposited in the National Archives at some point.
• Newspaper announcements of births, marriages, engagements, obituaries and deaths may contain extra information that is not on the official records. (Down to the colour of the bridesmaids’ dresses).
• Wills and testaments may give much information about the family of the testator, as well as the property bequeathed. Many may have a complete inventory drawn up after the death.
• Some families may have a family history written by (or for) some distant ancestor at a time when this was fashionable. (These may not always be 100% accurate, and were often produced to flatter the pretensions of a rich man). Many of these were published in a very small limited edition, and sometimes the only copy left is the one in the National Library of Scotland.
• Some families may have been tenants or employees on an estate whose records have been preserved by their landlord’s family.
• Tenants’ names may also appear on Valuation Rolls produced for Land Tax purposes – though only the head of the household would be named.
• Non-conformist Church Registers that are availabe include Baptist, Congregational, Episcopalians, Free Church, Methodists, Roman Catholic, Quakers, Unitarian, United Free Church and many of the other short-lived Presbyterian splinter-groups. Some are very incomplete. Some may contain lists of members or communicants. These are not necessarily kept in Edinburgh, but if not then the Register House can obtain them.
• Kirk session minutes (of all denominations) may mention many parishioners, though they tend to deal mainly with the parents of illegitimate children. There may be details about where newcomers have moved from, or where emigrants were aiming for.
• Parish Poor Relief records give details of orphans, infirm and elderly, from the days before the Welfare State.
• Electoral Rolls between 1832-1918 listed a person’s qualification to vote – i.e. that they owned or rented property over a certain value. These were not always preserved.
• Many Royal Burghs preserved records of their burgesses, and many guilds preserved records of their members. These may give many details about the person’s admission to the organisation, their apprenticeship, their relationship to existing members, etc.
• Some professions – particularly medical Doctors and Ministers of the Church of Scotland, kept full records of all their members.
• Trade Directories list anyone running a business in the larger cities, from 1750s. They may give more specific details about your ancestor’s occupation than other sources. They may even have an advertisement for his business.
• Some employers, particularly the railway and coal mining companies, kept records of employees. After nationalisation, these were collected by British Rail and the National Coal Board. After privatisation, they were deposited in the General Register House.
• School and University Old Boys’ Directories may give many details about the later careers of their alumni.