Scottish Graveyards Project

If you are looking for links to graveyards in Scotland, this website might be of  help to you:

http://www.scottishgraveyards.org.uk/projects.shtml

I Can't Find My Immigrant Ancestor

Finding our ancestors who left Scotland and emigrated to Canada, America, India, South Africa, New Zealand or Australia can be difficult, but it doesn't have to be. FindMyPast has a database of those leaving the UK.

 They have now extracted those records and placed them on a separate website, Ancestors On Board. Also in this database are businessmen or diplomats who may have traveled regularly between the UK and other points in the Commonwealth.

Although stand-alone, the website links you back to FindMyPast UK to view the image of the ships passenger list. This is a pay-per-view site and each image is 5 credits to view.
www.ancestorsonboard.com

Fife Headstone Transcriptions Added to Deceased Online

Deceased Online has added headstone inscriptions for 18 cemeteries in Fife dating back to 1753. These include:

• Auchterderran Churchyard and Bowhill Cemetery, Fife
• Ballingry Churchyard and Cemetery, Fife
• Beath New Cemetery, Fife
• Beath Old Cemetery, Fife
• Burntisland Cemetery, Fife
• Burntisland Churchyards of Kirkton and St Columbas, Fife
• Crombie Churchyard, Fife
• Culross Churchyard, Fife
• Culross West Kirk and Culross Abbey, Fife
• Cupar Churchyard and St James Cemetery, Fife
• Douglas Bank Cemetery, Fife
• Ferryport On Craig Cemetery, Fife
• Forgan Churchyard, Fife

 www.deceasedonline.com

FindMyPast Has a Christmas Gift for You

As a promotion, FindMyPast.co.uk is giving out 50 free pay-as-you-go credits. This free offer runs from December 26th until Janury 2nd. To activate, click the button that says "claim your credits now" and then use the code: SNOWFLAKE. It's as simple as that.

Happy Hunting

Deceased Online Adds Headstone Collection for Angus and Dundee

Deceased Online has also a new range of Headstone Collections, including 31 burial sites in the Angus region and another 6 cemeteries in Dundee City. You can search under the 'headstone collections' option. http://www.deceasedonline.com/

Giving the Gift of Memories

I remember as a teen, my "aunt" opening up a gift on Christmas. It was a china mug and her response was "just what I need - another dust collector" While her comment seemed callous at the time, I soon came to realize that after a certain age, gifts become less meaningful.

There comes a time when we all realize that after we are gone, the only thing that will remain are the memories that we have created and with that in mind, I always strive to give meaningful gifts to my elderly aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. Everyone looks forward to the annual heritage calendars. Other gifts that have been meaningful have included heritage scrapbooks, family recipe books (along with memories about the items contained within), or DVDs of old photos or home movies.

It can even be as simple as an old, treasured photograph, scrapbooked in a frame that creates the warmth and wonder of the memories associated with it.

Give some thought to the elder people (or the genealogy-minded) in your family or friendship circles and help to re-create fond memories for them this holiday season.

Deceased Online Adds Ayrshire Records

From their announcement:

Scottish transcriptions collection increases to 16 Ayrshire burial sites

•Deceased Online continues to grow its collection of Scottish memorial inscriptions (SMIs) with the addition of thousands of records in 14 cemeteries, burial grounds and churchyards in Ayrshire

•There are now 16 burial sites with SMIs, dating back to 1611, in the registration county of Ayrshire (comprising East, North and South Ayrshire councils) and these are listed here

•In total, there are now SMIs from over 200 cemeteries, burial grounds and churchyards across Scotland

•SMI data includes photographs of memorials and headstones as well as their carefully transcribed inscriptions

https://www.deceasedonline.com/

Scottish Handwriting

Michael J Leclerc of Movaco's blog has written a great post on Scottish Handwriting. So good, in fact, I wanted to share:

http://blog.mocavo.com/2012/12/scottish-handwriting?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=scottish-handwriting

Give the Gift of Heritage

If you are looking for a special gift for your genealogy sleuth this Christmas, why not give them the gift of connecting with their ancestral heritage. Take them to Scotland. Allow them time in the archives to research their roots. Tour their villages, town, graveyards. Learn the history and culture. Create a memory of a lifetime. Help your genealogist search their roots and discover their heritage.
Non-genealogy partners travel for half price.


http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

Give the Gift of Heritage

If you are looking for a special gift for your genealogy sleuth this Christmas, why not give them the gift of connecting with their ancestral heritage. Take them to Scotland. Allow them time in the archives to research their roots. Tour their villages, town, graveyards. Learn the history and culture. Create a memory of a lifetime. Help your genealogist search their roots and discover their heritage.
Non-genealogy partners travel for half price.


http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

Do You Have Covenanter Ancestors?

From the National Library of ScotlandBlog: 

“During the seventeenth century, the Scottish Covenanters were fighting for their religious freedoms against the King in London. Many were martyred for their cause and monuments to those who died can be found in many areas of Scotland.  

If you are looking for specific Covenanting ancestors, the ‘Scottish Covenanter Genealogical Index’ by Isabelle McCall MacLean (2007) may be of interest. There is also the ‘Register of the Rev. John MacMillan: Being a Record of Marriages and Baptisms Solemnised by him among the Cameronian Societies’, edited by Rev. Henry Paton (1908). This latter title is a record of the marriages and baptisms of Covenanters during the period 1706-1751.”

 

 

Genealogy Tours of Scotland Newsletter Now Available

The December issue of the Newsletter is now available.

In this issue:

• Only 4 spots left for 2013
• Highlights from 2012
• Ancestral Tourism - preparing for a genealogy holiday
• Travels of a Taphophile
• Part of Edinburgh Castle belongs to Nova Scotia

Enjoy!
Genealogy Tours of Scotland Newsletter Dec 2012

New Record Sets Added to Hebridespeople.com

The new records are for families connected with the Isles of Harris, Berneray and St Kilda. 

From the announcement: 

“The database also allows access to two further unique features - family

notes and family sheets. These take the researcher beyond research

into individual persons to research into whole families. The family

notes give a summary of the family history. They are based on the 1851

census as a datum-line, working back as far as possible – usually to

the generation born in about 1750/60, and forward as far as 1920. The

family sheets are hand-written work-sheets, compiled by Bill Lawson for

each family, showing the lines of descent in the male line, together

with cross referencing of the female line to their spouses’ family

sheets. There is also a gazetteer available, with a summarised history

of each township for those less familiar with Harris.” 

http://www.hebridespeople.com/ 

This is a pay-per-view site where you purchase and then redeem credits to view the documents.

ONLY 4 SPOTS LEFT FOR 2013 TOUR

Spaces are booking up quickly. If you are considering joining the 2013 tour, please reserve your spot soon before the spaces are all filled. The next tour will not take place until 2014.

Travel to Scotland, spend time in the archives and get access to records not available online. Days of research will take place at Scotland's People Centre (you can also book time at the National Archives), the Scottish Genealogy Society and the National Library. There will also be the opportunity for you to visit the local genealogy society in the area where your ancestors lived. Daily fees for these research days are included in the tour fees.  

A Sample Itinerary for the tour includes: 

Day 1: The tour begins today. Today is a bank holiday. Banks, post offices and other government buildings will be closed. The afternoon will be free time to enjoy the city, take a city tour, or to rest after the long flight and 5 hour time change.   

Day 2: Following breakfast, we will be taken to Scotland’s People Centre. Here we will enjoy a Family History Event, which is not only an introduction to the facility but a workshop on Scottish Research as well. Coffee and tea will be provided during this event, which will run the entire morning. You are free to research all afternoon.  

Day 3: Following breakfast, we will return to Scotlands People Centre for a full day of research.   

Day 4:  Following breakfast, we will head to the Scottish Genealogy Society. Here, we will take part in a Family History event to learn about moving forward in our Scottish research. 

Day 5:  Following breakfast, we will be taken to the National Library. Here we will be shown a presentation on what the Library has to offer then given a quick tour. You will require a temporary library card in order to research here.  

The weekend is open for anyone wishing to travel or sightsee.   

Day 8: Arrangements can be made for you to attend the genealogy society in the area where your ancestors lived to provide you with the social history details you won't necessarily get elsewhere. If this is at a distance, you might want to also spend the weekend in the area to gain a better sense of who your ancestors were and then attend the local genealogy society on the Monday prior to your return to Edinburgh.   

Day 9:  Following breakfast, we will return to Scotlands People Centre for a full day of research. The evening will be spent at the Taste of Scotland Show.

 

Day 10: Following breakfast, we will check out of the hotel so you can transfer back to Glasgow airport.  

What better way to truly understand your ancestors than to visit their homeland? Walk where your ancestors walked. Visit the churches they attended. Pay tribute to them at their grave.

http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

 

Scots In Jamaica

If you have Scottish Ancestors who emigrated to Jamaica, you will be interested in this book by David Dobson. Jamaica was a place where Covenanters and Jacobites were once banished to. In the late 1700s as part of the Clearances, highlanders began emigrating, especially those from Argyll. Jamaica was seen as a land of opportunity for merchants, physicians and clergy.

The book includes a number of resources to use in your search for your Scots-Jamaican ancestors as well as ships lists for those who were transported or who emigrated to Jamaica.

The book sells for about $20 and is available through your local bookstore, or through Amazon.