National Records of Scotland
In 2011, the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) merged to become the National Records of Scotland. http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
There are two physical locations for the National Archives of Scotland:
GROS is responsible for the registration of births, marriages and deaths, divorces and adoptions; running the census; publishing information about Scotland’s population and households; and connecting everyone with Scots' ancestry to information about their past.
Within the New Register House, adjacent to General Register House, the facilities of Scotlands People Centre includes four search rooms and a library. The Centre holds a complete set of statutory registers and Old Parish Registers for the Church of Scotland; historical, family, and local histories; church records; legal and public registers; and adoptions. Birth, Marriage and Death records are on microfilm or microfiche. There is a daily access fee.
Prior to 1855, registration of births/baptisms, proclamations of banns/marriages and deaths/burials was under the auspices of individual parishes of the Established Church (Church of Scotland) and the minister or session clerk kept the records. Fundamentally, the accuracy of dates and names on records was at the mercy of the person relaying the information and the person recording/transcribing that information. With no standard format for recording details of events, many of the older entries in particular were difficult to decipher and the condition of the registers varied enormously, increasing the chances of transcription errors in the indexes.
There are two physical locations for the National Archives of Scotland:
- West Register House, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh which holds Court and government records
- General Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh.
GROS is responsible for the registration of births, marriages and deaths, divorces and adoptions; running the census; publishing information about Scotland’s population and households; and connecting everyone with Scots' ancestry to information about their past.
Within the New Register House, adjacent to General Register House, the facilities of Scotlands People Centre includes four search rooms and a library. The Centre holds a complete set of statutory registers and Old Parish Registers for the Church of Scotland; historical, family, and local histories; church records; legal and public registers; and adoptions. Birth, Marriage and Death records are on microfilm or microfiche. There is a daily access fee.
Prior to 1855, registration of births/baptisms, proclamations of banns/marriages and deaths/burials was under the auspices of individual parishes of the Established Church (Church of Scotland) and the minister or session clerk kept the records. Fundamentally, the accuracy of dates and names on records was at the mercy of the person relaying the information and the person recording/transcribing that information. With no standard format for recording details of events, many of the older entries in particular were difficult to decipher and the condition of the registers varied enormously, increasing the chances of transcription errors in the indexes.