Wills and Testaments - A Treasure Trove of Family History Information

Wills and testaments are an excellent way to find out more information about your ancestors. They can tell you about the types of belongings that people owned such as tools from their job, furniture, savings etc. Depending on the time period, it might also list property that is owned.

So in Scotland, what is a will and what is a testament?

A testament is basically a list of all the person's property and may also include a valuation of these items.

A will is the statement made before a person dies explaining how they wish their goods to be disposed of once they have died.

• If someone dies and has a will, it is know as a testament testamentar.  
• If there is no will then it is known as a testament dative.

Where do we find testaments in Scotland?

Testaments made from 1514-1925 have been digitally imaged and they are available to see online at Scotland's People.  They also give a good explanation and examples of testaments.  You can search for free i.e. you do not pay 1 credit to look at the summary of your search results in the way you do for some of their other records.  If you want to look at the detail of a specific record, then you will be charged to look at the record.   Records often have several pages of information but there is a standard charge to look at the whole document no matter how many pages.  If you visit a Scotland's People Centre then you will be able to look at these images too.

From 1926 up until records from 10 years ago, you need to visit the National Records of Scotland search rooms in Edinburgh.  Before visiting, it is worth checking their website for all the details that you will need to know to be able to perform a search.  It is also advisable to contact them prior to your visit to check the availability of records.

If you are looking for a testament that is less than 10 years old then you need to contact the Commissary Department, Edinburgh Sheriff Court, 27 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LB.

For more advice on wills and testaments contact us at kintree@ymail.com.

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The Pros and Cons Of The New Online Northern Irish Records Search

In April, PRONI, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland's launched an online search facility for Northern Irish BMDs.

There were hints beforehand that the site would be the same as Scotland's People but it has a different look and feel to it.  There are positives and negatives compared to Scotland's People but the important thing is that it now gives remote access to a whole array of Irish records to everyone who cannot visit Ireland.

What Records Are Available Online?

The facility is to search for Northern Ireland only and so covers the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone and includes -

• All statutory birth, marriage and death records from 1864
• Non-Catholic Marriage Indexes from 1845
• World War II death registration 
• Search and view townlands for Northern Ireland

The same rules apply as on Scotland's People's online records

• birth registration over 100 years old
• marriage registration over 75 years old
• death registration over 50 years

How Does It Work?

Access the site online at https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk/

You will see that it tells you that you can search without registering and for free.  This is slightly misleading.

You can indeed do a free search but to look at the results of that search, you need to register for the site. However, given that you are there to look for records, it should not matter that you have to register.

You will also need to buy credits to look at the search results.  However, the biggest plus is that you can buy a credit for 40p and as long as you have one credit registered, you don't need to buy any more to search. The searches themselves are free so it won't use up this one credit to search.

Search Results

You will receive a list of basic results of your search and then it is up to you what amount of further detail, you require.

• Basic Search Results - Sometimes it will be enough to look at the free search especially if you are only only wanting to confirm information. Certainly, we have found there is more information given than on a Scotland's People initial search. 
• Enhanced option - This gives you a few more details of the record (costs 1 credit)
• Full option - This will show a copy of the image along with a transcription (costs 5 credits)
• Order Certificate  - You can also order a copy of the certificate.  You cannot use credits to do this and it will cost £8 for the certificate.  If you do decide to go down this route and are looking for a pre 1922 certificate then it will also be available from the GRO in the Republic of Ireland.  It is always keeping an eye on prices as it might work out cheaper to order from there. At the time of writing, prices there ranged from 4€ - 20€.

In our opinion, most of the time, it will be better to pay for the Full option as this will give you all the details available in the same way that the images on Scotland's People do.  It's worth trying different options though to see what you think.  As it only costs 1 credit to look at an enhanced image, it might be worth a try when you start so you get a feel for the information.  Remember first to click on the links above for full information on what the options will give you.

Using The  "Variant" Option

One of the options when putting the name into the search box is to use "variants".  We have not found this useful however.  Having already got several certificates in the past prior to this online facility, we used these in our initial free searches to test how useful the variant spellings feature was.

We put in the spelling from the certificates into the search boxes and it did bring us the correct results. However we did run into a problem.  Using "Ramsay" as an example - Altering one letter from Ramsay to Ramsey brought us results with only the new spelling we had entered so we did not see the record we had searched for initially using the spelling "Ramsay".  If you have used Scotland's People then you will know how useful the various options for alternative spellings can be.  Perhaps we have been unlucky (on several occasions) but we would advise that it is always worth manually trying all spelling variations if you don't come up with any results for which you are looking.

Credits

The biggest advantage over Scotland's People is that you can buy 1 credit only rather than having to buy 30 credits at a time as you have to on Scotland's People.  Also the initial searches don't cost you anything. Clearly there is a need to give them your card details which some people don't like however it is part and parcel of accessing information these days.

If there was one thing here that could make it easier, if you have not read through all the information prior to starting and buying credits, you will be unaware of how many credits that you will need to look at the information.  If you don't have enough credits then it simply tells you that you need to buy more but it would be simple to have added the extra information to explain how many credits you need to do a search or the cost of buying an enhanced or full index. Once again, it's worth checking the pages on the different types of indexes (linked above) to see what the costs are.  Even if you know at the moment, it will doubtless change over time.

Warning!

On the site, in the drop down menu under "features" you can view your saved searches however, it only saves your searches for 72hrs! Then you need to search and pay for the enhanced or full index  again!  It is the same for any notes that you make (also in the drop down menu under "features"). 

Remember therefore to make a record of the information or print it off!

Opening Up Results

This will help to open up information about your ancestors from Northern Ireland.  

If you need any further help with searching or would like information on researching you Irish ancestors - wherever they lived in Ireland - then please get in touch for a no obligation chat at kintree@ymail.com.

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Using Valuation Rolls To Unlock Your Family's Story

Many people are aware of valuation rolls but are not sure what they are or what information they hold that can be helpful for family historians. 

The Valuation Rolls were compiled every year from 1855 until 1987. Valuation rolls for the inter-census years 

1855-1856, 1865-1866, 1875-1876

1885-1886,1895-1896,  1905-1906, 

1916-1916, 1925-1926, 1935-1936

1945-1946, 1955-1956

have been indexed along with the years    

NRS, Edinburgh

1920-21, 1930-1931, 1940-1941, 1950-1951. 

At the moment, you can search the 

1885, 1895, 1905, 1915 and 1920 rolls 

on the Scotland's People website and all the indexed Rolls from 1855-1955 can be searched in the National Records for Scotland (NRS) Historical Search Room in Edinburgh. For more information, check on the NRS website.

So why might you want to use the valuation roles?

• They can help to track down ancestors.  This can be especially useful if an ancestor is known to be alive but has not been found on the census.
• It's useful for information on your ancestors for recent years where the census is yet to be released.
• It is also a way of finding out about the history of a house. It can be especially interesting if it is your house! 
• Finding out who were the owners of the property can reveal a lot about your family's history.  Did they own a property or were they tenants? 
• It can reveal if your ancestors were tenants of a house attached to a work place for example.  That can often explain why they might move locally if they go to work for a new employer. 
• If your ancestors owned a property or more than one property, it can give more of an idea of their financial position. 
• It's a way of finding out about the wider community in which your ancestor lived - shops, businesses, churches, schools, hospitals to name but a few.  The social history of the area can be great to build up a picture of your relatives.

For more information on valuation rolls, please contact us for a no obligation chat.

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Top Tips To Get The Best From A Visit To An Archives Or Genealogy Centre

It is great if you can go along to an archive or genealogy centre to research your family history work in person. 

Burns Monument Centre

A visit to look at bmd, census records etc at the Scotland's People Centre in Edinburgh, the Mitchell Library in Glasgow or the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock can save you a great deal of money as you pay a flat fee and can look at as many records as you wish over the course of the day.  

Even if you are not able to go in person due to distance or time isssues, it can still save you money financially to pay a researcher to go on your behalf. Kin Tree provides this service and as experts in family research, we can make the most of your time and money.  

Sometimes there is a need to trawl through records for a certain individual as there is no obvious record when looking online. For example, it's not uncommon  to look through  thirty or so records to find  the correct one for one individual. Often the record can hold the key to your future research but it would cost a fortune online!  

Also, even without any real problems in identifying people, the cost of looking at these records online is far, far more expensive than a day at the record's office.

We can also pool a day's work between a few people who only need a few records looked up.  This can be especially cost effective even if you can visit a centre yourself. Why pay for a whole day when you only need an hour or two? 

If you do intend visiting any archive/genealogy centre it is essential that you go prepared! We have some top tips to make your visit as successful as possible!

• Many centres are very busy and you will need to book a place in advance so check to see if this is the case.

• In some archives, specific archive staff will deal with your requests for information or to look at materials so contact them in advance as you may need to book an appointment with them.

• Check with staff that they have the materials in which you are interested.  For example, in some areas poor relief records are extensive, others have none about specific people and others have patchy coverage.  Staff will be able to advise you what is available.

• Archive material is often kept in storage and staff may need advanced notice that you would like to see it as it may be stored offsite.  

• Don't assume that all archives or genealogy centres operate in the the same way.  Even within Scotland's People records, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Kilmarnock have different rules about how materials can be copied, opening times etc

• If you want to use electronic equipment, it can be helpful to check if there is a power supply that you can use.  This can vary even within the same building!

• A pencil and paper are essentials for family research! Old documents for example, can be very fragile so you may find that you are only allowed to use a paper and pencil to record the information.

• If you are not recording information electronically, remember to bring along blank copies of any potential documents may need eg family group sheets, family trees, bmd forms, census etc.  Other than that, plenty of paper, pencils, rubbers and a pencil sharpener!

• Think about what you are trying to find out, make a plan of what you want to achieve and make notes of any thoughts you have before you go.  These can be helpful for keeping you focussed when you are presented with new and exciting information!

For more information on how we can help you, please get in touch for a no obligation chat.

kintree@ymail.com

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