If your Scottish ancestor was from the Borders and was illegitimate, there is a probability that the father was taken to court for support, in which case, there will be a Sheriff Court Record. Scottish Indexes have done a tremendous job of indexing the cases and making the information available online.
If your Scottish ancestor was from the Borders and was in an asylum, there are documents available at the National Records of Scotland with regards to their time in the asylum. If you are uncertain about their mental health, Scottish Indexes is another terrific resource for indexed Asylum Records.
The initial search on Scottish Indexes is FREE. Simply enter your ancestors name and a list of all of the records that have been indexed will come up in the results. These results will include:
- 1841-1861 census records
- Mental Health records
- Prison records
- Mental Health records
- Sheriff Court Paternity cases
- Register of Deeds
- Register of Sasines
- Birth/Baptisms
- Death/Burial
- Marriage/Banns
And the good news is that if a record for your ancestor does exist, the Maxwells can carry out the research for you as well (for a fee, of course!)
Have a look and see what online treasures are available for your Scottish ancestor.
http://www.scottishindexes.co.uk/default.aspx
