Parish Registers were instigated by Thomas Cromwell from 1538 in the reign of Henry VIII, recording every wedding, baptism and burial. There are gaps in the records for a variety of reasons, such as the civil war, but these records are a prime source for building family trees. From 1597 a copy of the records had to be made and sent to the Bishop. Sometimes the Bishops' Transcript may contain more information than the original, so it can often be worthwhile tracking down both. For more information on Parish Registers there is a brief history on the Wikipedia Parish Register page.
After 1837 Civil Registration was introduced and the Local BMD and GRO BMD records become the primary source.
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Family History Books via Family Search |
| Link: |  |
| Description: | Family History Books via Family Search |
| Extra Info: | More than 40,000 digitized genealogy and family history publications from the archives of some of the most important family history libraries in the world. Read online for free. Includes some parish register transcripts. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Births, Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Family Search Records Collection |
| Link: | |
| Description: | Family Search Records Collection - Scottish Data |
| Extra Info: | Check the coverage for areas covered so far. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Monumental Inscriptions, Parish Records |
| Title: | Internet Archive |
| Link: | http://archive.org/ |
| Description: | Internet Archive |
| Extra Info: | Has many scanned books, including some parish registers. Click on texts and then search the archive. Note baptism and baptisms give different results. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Census, Deaths, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Lanarkshire Miscellany |
| Link: | http://web.archive.org/web/20090109023703/http://w... |
| Description: | Lanarkshire Miscellany |
| Extra Info: | An archived copy of a site no longer available. Most information is still available. Includes MidLothian Testaments |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Midlothian Data from Ancestry |
| Link: | Midlothian Data from Ancestry |
| Description: | Midlothian Data Collection from Ancestry |
| Extra Info: | Includes Extracted Parish Records. |
| Classification: | Burials / Cremations, Census, Deaths, Monumental Inscriptions, Parish Records |
| Title: | Monkie Website - Records from around Scotland |
| Link: | http://www.monikie.org.uk/ |
| Description: | Monkie Website - Records from around Scotland |
| Extra Info: | Look under Family History Interest and also Arlene's Lists. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Open Library |
| Link: | http://openlibrary.org/ |
| Description: | Open Library - Scanned Books Online |
| Extra Info: | Includes full images of many books of transcribed parish registers. Use the search facility and select e books only. Can also search within book text easily. |
| Classification: | Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Parish Registers of Edinburgh |
| Link: | http://archive.org/details/registerofmarria33edin |
| Description: | Parish Registers of Edinburgh - Marriages |
| Extra Info: | Online book. Marriage registers 1595-1700. |
| Classification: | Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Parish Registers of Edinburgh |
| Link: | http://archive.org/details/scottishrecordso23scotu... |
| Description: | Parish Registers of Edinburgh - Marriages |
| Extra Info: | Online book. Marriage registers 1701-1750. |
| Classification: | Burials / Cremations, Parish Records |
| Title: | Parish Registers of Edinburgh for the Chapel Royal or Abbey of Holyrood House |
| Link: | http://archive.org/details/scottishrecordso14scotu... |
| Description: | Parish Registers of Burials in the Chapel Royal or Abbey of Holyrood House |
| Extra Info: | Online book. Burials 1706-1900. Published 1900. |
| Classification: | Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Parish Registers of Holyrood House / Cannongate |
| Link: | http://archive.org/details/scottishrecordso34scotu... |
| Description: | Parish Registers of Holyrood House / Cannongate |
| Extra Info: | Online book. Marriages 1564-1800. Published 1915. |
| Classification: | Burials / Cremations, Parish Records |
| Title: | Parish Registers of Restalrig - Burials in the Churchyard |
| Link: | http://archive.org/details/scottishrecordso20scotu... |
| Description: | Parish Registers of Burials in the Churchyard of Restalrig, Parish of South Leith, Edinburgh |
| Extra Info: | Online book. Burials 1728-1854. Published 1908. |
| Classification: | GRO BMD, Banns, Baptisms, Births, Burials / Cremations, Census, Deaths, Marriages, National, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Scotland's People |
| Link: |  |
| Description: | Scotland's People |
| Extra Info: | Official Government Source of genealogical data for Scotland. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Scottish Genealogy Databases |
| Link: | http://web.archive.org/web/20080602101740/http://w... |
| Description: | Scottish Genealogy Databases |
| Extra Info: | The site is no longer running but is archived. Also includes surname specific databases. If the site doesn't load clicking on the word impatient often works. |
| Classification: | Banns, Baptisms, Births, Burials / Cremations, Census, Deaths, Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Scottish Indexes - Helping you trace your Scottish family tree |
| Link: | https://www.scottishindexes.com/ |
| Description: | Non-OPR Births/Baptisms, Banns/Marriages and Deaths/Burials, 1841, 1851, 1861 Census Indexes |
| Extra Info: | Full details of the coverage can be found on their Record Sets page. |
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