Deaths
Online access is restricted to 50 years for deaths, in accordance with GROS policy, to protect the privacy of individuals. However, later records may be accessed from New Register House, Edinburgh.
Old Parish Records prior to 1854 are available but very limited in their existence and the amount of data they offer. Prior to 1855, if people had to pay a fee to record these events they did not bother, nor could they sometimes afford the fee for a mortcloth. The dead were originally wrapped in a shroud and then covered with a mortcloth which was generally black velvet. When coffins became more commonplace the mortcloth was placed over the coffin during the march to the burial site. The parish church owned the mortcloth and rented it out for a fee.
RNE stands for Register of Neglected Entries. These registers were compiled in 1855 to record births, marriages and deaths proved to have occurred in Scotland between 1801 and 1854, but which had not been entered in the OPR's.
In the absence of documentary evidence, proof might be in the form of witness statements put before the sheriff. If he was satisfied that the claim was valid, the sheriff issued a warrant and the event was entered in the Register of Neglected Entries. These appear at the end of the microfilm of the appropriate parish register and are included in the OPR indexes on this site.
Statutory registers contain death records from 1855 to the current year, but only records that are 50 years and older are available for online access. . In statutory deaths, women are indexed separately under both the maiden and married surname(s) provided the informant knew what these were. If you know both maiden and married surnames, enter both on the death search form to refine your search.
Informant of a death was often the son of the deceased although it was also permissible for a relative to be the informant. Names may not be recorded as expected due to illegibility of handwriting and transcription errors.
Records will show the cause of death although some of the terms will be archaic and unknown. Names may not be recorded as expected due to illegibility of handwriting and transcription errors. Other information recorded may be the informant (often a relative and most often the son of the deceased.)
Statutory registers contain death records from 1855 to the current year, but only records that are 50 years and older are available for online access. Women are indexed separately under both the maiden and married surname(s) (provided the informant knew what these were). If you know both maiden and married surnames, enter both to refine your search. TIP: Addresses on these records can be useful when searching for census records.
The maiden surname of the deceased's mother appears on most original statutory deaths entries (if known by the informant).
RCE
You may occasionally come across a statutory image with a note in the margin ‘RCE’ and a reference number. RCE stands for Register of Corrected Entries, or, after 1965, Register of Corrections, Etc.
If, after an entry in a register had been completed, an error was discovered or some other amendment was required as a result of new information, the original entry could not be altered. Instead, each registrar kept a register of corrected entries in which such amendments were written, originally after they had been approved by a sheriff.
The entry may simply confirm the cause of death given on the death certificate, it may expand on the information, or even conflict with the original information. The RCE is usually information gained after a Post Mortem and accepted by the Procurator Fiscal.
Stillbirths were not registered until 1939.
TIP: Addresses on these records can be useful when searching for census records.
Old Parish Records prior to 1854 are available but very limited in their existence and the amount of data they offer. Prior to 1855, if people had to pay a fee to record these events they did not bother, nor could they sometimes afford the fee for a mortcloth. The dead were originally wrapped in a shroud and then covered with a mortcloth which was generally black velvet. When coffins became more commonplace the mortcloth was placed over the coffin during the march to the burial site. The parish church owned the mortcloth and rented it out for a fee.
RNE stands for Register of Neglected Entries. These registers were compiled in 1855 to record births, marriages and deaths proved to have occurred in Scotland between 1801 and 1854, but which had not been entered in the OPR's.
In the absence of documentary evidence, proof might be in the form of witness statements put before the sheriff. If he was satisfied that the claim was valid, the sheriff issued a warrant and the event was entered in the Register of Neglected Entries. These appear at the end of the microfilm of the appropriate parish register and are included in the OPR indexes on this site.
Statutory registers contain death records from 1855 to the current year, but only records that are 50 years and older are available for online access. . In statutory deaths, women are indexed separately under both the maiden and married surname(s) provided the informant knew what these were. If you know both maiden and married surnames, enter both on the death search form to refine your search.
Informant of a death was often the son of the deceased although it was also permissible for a relative to be the informant. Names may not be recorded as expected due to illegibility of handwriting and transcription errors.
Records will show the cause of death although some of the terms will be archaic and unknown. Names may not be recorded as expected due to illegibility of handwriting and transcription errors. Other information recorded may be the informant (often a relative and most often the son of the deceased.)
Statutory registers contain death records from 1855 to the current year, but only records that are 50 years and older are available for online access. Women are indexed separately under both the maiden and married surname(s) (provided the informant knew what these were). If you know both maiden and married surnames, enter both to refine your search. TIP: Addresses on these records can be useful when searching for census records.
The maiden surname of the deceased's mother appears on most original statutory deaths entries (if known by the informant).
RCE
You may occasionally come across a statutory image with a note in the margin ‘RCE’ and a reference number. RCE stands for Register of Corrected Entries, or, after 1965, Register of Corrections, Etc.
If, after an entry in a register had been completed, an error was discovered or some other amendment was required as a result of new information, the original entry could not be altered. Instead, each registrar kept a register of corrected entries in which such amendments were written, originally after they had been approved by a sheriff.
The entry may simply confirm the cause of death given on the death certificate, it may expand on the information, or even conflict with the original information. The RCE is usually information gained after a Post Mortem and accepted by the Procurator Fiscal.
Stillbirths were not registered until 1939.
TIP: Addresses on these records can be useful when searching for census records.