Scottish Genealogy is a great resource for your ongoing family history research. Many millions of records for Scotland are not available online, however, and often must be obtained in person from places like public libraries, civil registry offices, churches, and historical societies in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Many interesting records can also be found at ScotlandsPeople, The British Library, National Archives of the UK, and Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. If you need assistance locating records that you don't have access to, the experts at MyGenealogist.comare ready and able to assist with your research. With an extensive network of researchers in places like Edinburgh, London, and Salt Lake City, they are ready to assist you with your research in Scotland and elsewhere.
There is only so much that can be accomplished online. The internet is a great place to start your research, but if your ultimate goal is to build a well-documented family history over many generations, you will at some point need to visit local archives and libraries in places like Edinburgh, Salt Lake City, and elsewhere. There are literally billions of genealogical and historical records in the United Kingdom that aren't yet available online and may never be. It's hard for many us to travel to archives and libraries in Scotland, especially when living in another part of the UK or even another country. Having a local researcher available to assist you with finding court records, property deeds, family wills, estate files, published histories, and other types of records can be a great help to your ongoing research.
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City is another great repository of records and the largest of its kind in the world. The collection houses billions of records for all areas of the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. Records relating to your Scottish ancestors can be found at many archives, libraries, historical societies, and government offices throughout the country. There are also many great historical resources available online.
Local Resources
Many Scottish family records can be found online and at various archives and libraries located throughout the United Kingdom. Many millions of records aren't yet available online, though, and many of these are awaiting your discovery at the local level at courthouses, historical societies, churches, council offices, cemeteries, and elsewhere in Scotland. To find these and other records, click on the links below to find more information about the specific counties where your ancestors lived in Scotland. You'll find information on these pages that will lead you to the specific documentation you're searching for.
It is important to keep in mind when doing research that the names and boundaries of certain areas in Scotland have changed over the past few hundred years. Your ancestors may have lived on a certain farm in one county and when borders were redrawn records relating to your family history might have been located in another area entirely. When searching for land, court, tax, and other records it is also a good idea to search for these records in adjacent areas. Following is a complete list of Scotland's 32 council areas along with their formation dates, county seats, and names of parent counties.