ScotlandsPeople – Connecting Generations

If you’re trying to trace ancestors in Scotland, then you’ll want to know all about ScotlandsPeople.

ScotlandsPeople, the official online source of data from civil registers, parish records, censuses and wills and testaments  for Scotland, is a partnership between the General Register Office for Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland, The Court of the Lord Lyon (responsible for coats of arms and heraldry in Scotland) and Internet service providers brightsolid. You can access over 50 million records dating back to 1855 for deaths, 1553 in the case of births and marriages, and 1513 for wills and testaments.

Registration at ScotlandsPeople is free. So are detailed searches of the indexes, although you’ll have to pay to view or download census or register entries and document images; it costs £6 to view 30 entries in the statutory registers, the old parish records or the censuses (these credits last for 90 days), £5 to view one will or testament, and £10 to view a coat of arms.

You can find out more from the ScotlandsPeople website:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/