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The previous page gave a general background to searching for your Scottish roots. This page will attempt to give you your first steps in tracing your family tree. If you believe you have Scottish roots, then strangely enough, the Scottish Records Office will not be your first port of call.

Once you have reached the stage of using the General Register Office for Scotland. You should consider contacting them before making a long journey. Their telephone number can be found at the British Telecom site, which at time of writing, was at www.B T.com.

The registration of births, deaths and marriages since 1855 in Scotland has required compulsory civil registration. Tracing a line of descent back to 1855 can therefore be a relatively straightforward task. The General Records Office for Scotland holds a complete set of statutory registers comprising all the births,deaths and marriages registered since that time. Unless your ancestors left Scotland before 1855 then it is likely that you will wish to start your family Search in one of these Registers.

In the main there are three indexes. The birth index gives it details of a child's name, the year of registration, the registration district name and number, and the register entry number. From 1929 onwards, the mother's maiden surname is also given.

The death index give the deceased's name, age at death, the year of registration, the registration district name and number, and the register entry number. During the years 1855 to 1865 the age at death was not recorded in that old paper index's. However, these ages are gradually being added to the computer index. Separate entries exist for both female married names and maiden names. In addition from 1974, the mother's surname is also included for both male and female deaths. Age given by informants may only be approximate, particularly in my early decades of registration When dates of birth were often unclear especially in the remote areas of Scotland.

The final index which must also be considered is the marriage index. This index gives each party's name, the year of registration, the registration district name and number and the register entry number. From 1929 onwards the spouses surname is also given in full .