Births, deaths and marriages

If you are coming to Edinburgh to see Scottish birth, death and marriage records in person, then you should visit the National Records of Scotland. They are the official source for these documents. If you can't visit in person, some of these records are available for a fee on their Scotland's People website.

Parish indexes and records

The recording of births, deaths and marriages — known as statutory registration — began in Scotland in 1855. Before 1855 the records for members of the Church of Scotland were known as the 'old parish registers'. Parish registers and pre-1855 records relating to members of other churches are held at the National Records of Scotland (see their Scotland's People 'Church registers' guide). Individual church headquarters may be of some help too.

Gravestones

Gravestones can tell us when a person was born and when they died. They might also show if they were married, had children, where they lived, or what job they did.

We have an index of monumental inscriptions which can help you find gravestone inscriptions of your ancestors. These are helpful for gravestones pre statutory registration only, so up to 1854 rather than modern cemeteries. Not all cemeteries have been surveyed.

Also see 'A list of published & unpublished monumental inscriptions held by the Scottish Genealogy Society' by Angus Mitchell, Mary Mitchell and Marjorie Stewart.

Statutory Death Registers of Scotland

The McKirdy Index on microfiche alphabetically lists records from the Statutory Death Registers of Scotland.