Jonathan Scott finds hidden gems and name-rich collections in central Scotland
There are many archives and local-history libraries where evidence of your Strathclyde ancestors might survive. Modern Strathclyde was one of nine government regions created in 1975 and abolished in 1996. It covers six historic counties (Ayrshire, Buteshire, Dunbartonshire, Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire) as well as parts of two more (Argyll and Stirlingshire).
Fortunately a great deal of research can be carried out remotely via the unrivalled collections at the government website ScotlandsPeople (scotlandspeople.gov.uk), home to statutory registers back to 1855; church registers; census returns; valuation rolls; poor-relief and migration records; kirk-session and other church records; prison registers; wills; and testaments.
The National Records of Scotland’s Hall of Fame is a collection of about 300 case studies illustrating what can be achieved via ScotlandsPeople: nrscotland.gov.uk/research/learning/hall-of-fame. The entry relating to James Boswell (1740–1795), diarist, lawyer and biographer of English writer Samuel Johnson, is an especially instructive example.
Things become a little more complicated depending on the type of record you’re after. Burghs are the foundations of local government in Scotland – the Royal Burghs of Rutherglen and Lanark were among the earliest, established in 1126 and 1140 respectively. The modern region of South Lanarkshire is covered by five burghs, and burgh records can touch on housing, licensing, courts, valuations and taxation.
South Lanarkshire’s Archives and Records Centre in East Kilbride (southlanarkshire.gov.uk/info/200165/local_and_family _history/588/archives_and_records/8) looks after material for the East Kilbride and Hamilton burghs. The records for Biggar meanwhile are held at Lanark Library (www. slleisureandculture.co.uk/info/89/lanark_library), and those for the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen, which include court records back to the 17th century, electoral registers, and the Incorporation of Weavers (1641–1866) and the Incorporation of Masons and Wrights (1636–1758), are at the Glasgow City Archives in the Mitchell Library (glasgowlife. org.uk/libraries/city-archives). The holdings at this hugely important repository can be broadly divided into the City Collections, Special Collections and local National Health Service archives (covering hospitals in Glasgow, Dumbarton, Greenock and Paisley). Some material held here is ava
