General Chat

I am just starting out with my family tree most of my details have come from other family members. Can anyone help with any good web sites etc. Thank Karen Aberdeen

I find Scotlandspeople really good Karen........try it and see......

Hi Karen, Yes Scotlands people is great and you can download the copies of the certs immediately - no waiting, just click View and print off the image; if you click order then they will charge you for it and no need for that. Scotsorigins is the IGI site - no charge for it, but watch the info if it's been submitted by people. For the most part it's straight from Parish Records, but spellings can be iffy so don't stick to the spelling you know! What area are your relatives? If Aberdeen area then join ANESFHS (Aberdeen Family History Society).. They have a superb shop in King Street and all the staff (volunteers) really know their stuff. There is also a Memorial Inscription Index online (ANESFHS then MI) mostly for the 1800's and the full inscriptions are available in booklets. I have most of the booklets so can look up details but the books are only £2.25 each - if your folk are in there you'll want the book! If Fraserburgh area then join Fraserburgh Y*hoo group - I've had lots of info that way...My husband's lot are all Aberdeen-shire, fishing/farming/industrial you name it we've got it! Also try tips board on here - quite a few Scots on here and all happy to help where we can. I have 1881 Census for Scotland on disc and can look up where reqd. Freecen has 1841 census (free of course) and 1851 is there for Aberdeen-shire as well. If you can't find someone in 1851 that should be there then don't panic, a number of images are illegible but apparently it is hoped to digitally enhance the image! There was a thread I think on tips about Scottish research as well. Good Luck, Christine

Thanks for all you're replies. I am looking into my maiden name which is Mann and my mothers maiden name McRobb. Both from Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire. I have looked into joining NESFHS but waiting till January as there year membership runs from January till January so better waiting till I get a full year from them. Tahnks Again Karen

To Just woody I am looking into my Grandfather and Grandmothers trees. Names David McRobb born 1910 in Macduff. And my Grandmother is Agnes Reid born 1920 Old Deer both Aberdeenshire. If there in the books. You're help would be much appreciated,. From Karen

Hi Joan, Go to 'My Details' then scroll down to Image Viewer, select Activex, then Update Details. That should let you view images. I agree they are expensive and I'm limiting myself from now on! I have spent far too much this year already! That said, I do broad searches when the name is unusual and have found other branches of families that way. Even if you don't have credits or they have time expired you can still look at your previous searches and viewed images. Have a try and see if that lets you view, Joan. My PC doesn't like Java and once when Scotsp were doing site maintenance it defaulted to Java - I was not a happy bunny! I know 1881 Census only costs 1 credit but I have the disc set for Scotland and have found entries not on Scotsp. Let me know if you need any looked up, happy to do it.

Too recent to be on the net and not likely to be in the MI index as it's earlier. Any idea of parent's names? or when they married? Birth records are 1855 - 1905, Marriages 1855 - 1930 and Deaths 1855 - 1955 for data protection reasons. But it's possible to find their births from the registrars esp when you have the dates or at least year. Where are you based? Sorry, just saw you're in Aberdeen. The registrar in Bucksburn has all the records for the whole of the North East and St Nicholas House has all the Burial records! You might have to pay at the registrars (for the certificate anyway, but might be £10 per hour as well, can look at a LOT in an hour!), but don't think there's a charge at St Nicholas I found a few Mann's for someone - they were all based in Nairn. Christine x

My Great grandfather David Still 1886? also Mcduff. Great granmother Mary Mair 1890? Old Deer (Poor House). Thats all info I have.

Now you're talking! Will pm you later! I think Old Deer Poorhouse is on Scotlands Family (G**gle it) and I think there's a census list there. I have something on my disc as well. One of the Poorhouses has had a piece on the net - all about how they were self sufficient and the running costs etc. Other place to look is Central Library - and they also have fiche with all the newspapers. Free again but 20p per copy if reqd. That's where I found an almost entire Crew List and the answer to a Family mystery for a certain person called Hassell By Name on this board!!

Found some stuff for you Karen and there's absolutely loads more out there. Have David Still McRobb's death cert, his parent's marriage cert, both their parents' names and places of birth. I'll send what I have and since you're in Aberdeen go to the family history shop or registrars, see what you get. The membership is worth it even for the 6 months, there will be meetings starting again in Sept and they will tell you the best ways to search. All this is on Scotlandspeople and easy to find. Can't find David's parents on 1881 census disc yet but will try Robb instead of McRobb see what I get. On Scotsp site look at the census for 1891 and you might get all David's siblings. Although I found him under David Still McRobb search without the Still middle name, as middle names aren't always on the census.

Just looked in here - reaaly useful info - thanks to everybody.

I have also found the scotlands people site useful but............ spent a long time unable to view images, despite it using my credits.When I eventually was able to view ( I`m not sure what I did, if anything!) the images were there.Also being timed out is a pain, I didn`t want to just keep using credits wildly, but that`s what I ended up doing.Having said that, I`ve still got about 15 credits sitting there till I spend again.