Genealogist Chris Paton shares expert tips for tracing family in Scotland
On 30 November 2022 the 1921 Scottish census was released on the Scottish government’s records website ScotlandsPeople (scotlands people.gov.uk). It was the ninth decennial census to be made available on the platform, which now covers 1841–1921. ScotlandsPeople is the only website to host digitised images of the enumerators’ returns from each census year, with each record free to search but costing six credits, or £1.50, to view. The cost can soon add up if you are not quite sure which entry concerns your relative, but fortunately some simple steps can make searches more accurate.
The ‘Census returns’ screen on ScotlandsPeople allows you to look for a record using a number of search fields. After selecting which census to target, search options include a surname, forename, gender, age range, the county in which registered, and the district. If you know the name of another individual in the household, it is useful to use the ‘Forename of other person on that census page’ box as well, but bear in mind that this is literally what it means – another entry on the same page, not necessarily within the same household.
Narrow Down The Results
While these search fields are very flexible, they can still produce a vast range of results, potentially expensive to view, but thankfully there is a way to narrow the likely options down further before purchasing. If you know the names of other possible family members expected to be found in the same household, try carrying out a search of the family surname only, without a forename, and selecting only the county and district where you expect to find them. When the list of results appears, now look to the column headed ‘Ref’, which shows the source references for each entry, eg 559/ 10/ 9, which refer to the parish or registration district (559/), the enumerator’s district (10/) and the page number (9). Clicking on the header ‘Ref’ rearranges the results into sequential order. You can now browse down the list and look for your family grouped together, with each member sharing the same reference number from the same page, eg 559/ 10/ 9.
Don’t forget that households sometimes carry over to the next page in a register; so if you find that your family’s reference is 559/ 10/ 9, check that there isn’t a possible family member at 559/10/ 10 also. However, this method may also flag up other households on the same page with people sharing the same surname, but who
