Up till now (I suppose like a lot of people) my researching has largely been confined to the services offered at new Register House either online or by attending in person. No way do I fool myself that I have exhausted what's on offer there.
I am planning a two/three day trip to Edinburgh in October and wonder if it is time to look at the National Archives next door. I believe that I might find some of my family fornicators in the Kirk Session records - they came from Banffshire!
I have seen that there is a catalogue online but my toe in the water attempts suggest that you could easily drown in the mass of information much of which might be quite irrelevant for my purposes. I also know that it's best to have an idea of what you want as they need 24 hours notice to access much of the material.
Can anyone give me a beginners guide to how I might make best use of a day or so there?
Andrew
Branching out
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LesleyB
- Posts: 8184
- Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
- Location: Scotland
Hi Andrew
Almost all the Kirk Session records are now on "Virtual Volumes" on the PCs at NAS so no advance notice would be needed for those.
I'd also tend to have a look at the guides to their records to see if anything else looks like it would be of interest.
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/default.asp
The Sasine abridgements are also on the PCs now - these record property changing hands, so if no property was owned, there will be no mention, but it is surprising who turns up, and if there is a mention, the sasines can be remarkably informative e.g. I've confirmed a couple of family relationships in the sasines from the late 1700s which would have been difficult to confirm any other way.
Take pencils and a notepad. The staff are very helpful and wll be happy to advise on how to use the archives and where to find things. It takes a bit of getting used to! I usually have a "reserve" plan - so if X or Y is not available or is one of those things which needs ordering, or if something which I though may be fruitful turns out not to be, I have something else to go and look at! I'm sure you could probably spend many happy hours in the Kirk Session records.
It is worth getting to know how the online catalog works too so that you are well prepared - it is not the fastest of databases but can be useful for pinpointing items worth looking at for a particular person or area. Not all their holdings are on the online catalogue though...
And yes, you are right, the sheer amount of information is a bit daunting!
(but in an exciting way!)
Also see
http://www.nas.gov.uk/searchRooms/preparing.asp
http://www.nas.gov.uk/searchRooms/default.asp
Best wishes
Lesley
Almost all the Kirk Session records are now on "Virtual Volumes" on the PCs at NAS so no advance notice would be needed for those.
I'd also tend to have a look at the guides to their records to see if anything else looks like it would be of interest.
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/default.asp
The Sasine abridgements are also on the PCs now - these record property changing hands, so if no property was owned, there will be no mention, but it is surprising who turns up, and if there is a mention, the sasines can be remarkably informative e.g. I've confirmed a couple of family relationships in the sasines from the late 1700s which would have been difficult to confirm any other way.
Take pencils and a notepad. The staff are very helpful and wll be happy to advise on how to use the archives and where to find things. It takes a bit of getting used to! I usually have a "reserve" plan - so if X or Y is not available or is one of those things which needs ordering, or if something which I though may be fruitful turns out not to be, I have something else to go and look at! I'm sure you could probably spend many happy hours in the Kirk Session records.
It is worth getting to know how the online catalog works too so that you are well prepared - it is not the fastest of databases but can be useful for pinpointing items worth looking at for a particular person or area. Not all their holdings are on the online catalogue though...
And yes, you are right, the sheer amount of information is a bit daunting!
(but in an exciting way!)
Also see
http://www.nas.gov.uk/searchRooms/preparing.asp
http://www.nas.gov.uk/searchRooms/default.asp
Best wishes
Lesley
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LesleyB
- Posts: 8184
- Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
- Location: Scotland
Hi Andrew
Also see :
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 5794#75794
Hot off the press!
Best wishes
Lesley
Also see :
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 5794#75794
Hot off the press!
Best wishes
Lesley