Scottish civil birth records

This is part of a series of articles; the intention is to provide an overview of useful family and local history records in existence, covering the period 1066-1485. Each article can be enjoyed as a s

Q Is it possible to have a death in a workhouse with no subsequent death certificate in 1885? I have the record from Ancestry of the death. Mary Ann Arnold born 1854, death May 1885 (maybe Mar 1885),

QMargaret Woodhall (née Smithson), born c1827 Liverpool (according to the 1851 census), was the sister of my great grandfather, James Murray Smithson, born c1835 in Edinburgh. Their father was William

The statistics are terrifying. The burial entries in most parish registers from the 18th and 19th centuries show an appallingly high rate of infant and child mortality. Looking at some registers recen

It all started with an email. Regular reader Lee Passmore was having difficulties finding out what had happened to one of his three times great-uncles, a man called Bryan (or Brian) Dean, and he wante

The British merchant service was renamed the Merchant Navy after World War 1 to mark the vital role its sailors played in wartime. That role continued in World War 2 as merchant ships carried troops a