A new version of FamilySearch, the Church's computer tool for family history research, has been released, and it includes a new resource for Scottish research.
The version, FamilySearch 2.23, goes to all Church-affiliated FamilySearch sites, including the Family History Library and FamilySearch Center in Salt Lake City, many Church meetinghouses, and more than 2,500 family history centers throughout the United States and Canada.FamilySearch 2.23 features the computerized version of the Scottish Old Parochial Records. This new resource file has been titled "Scottish Church Records."
The Scottish Church Records consist of an index of nearly 10 million names. The names were originally listed in parish registers and similar records of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). The index also includes records from a few other denominations. Entries date from the 1500s through 1854, with a few later entries. Information available from the index includes given names; surnames; parents or spouse; gender; birth, christening or marriage dates and places; and source information.
Civil registration - which is government recording of births, marriages and deaths - began in Scotland in 1855. For those seeking information prior to that time, the Scottish Church Records are the most used source and may document as much as 60 percent of the Scottish population during the time period recorded.
Using the Scottish Church Records in FamilySearch, one may search for birth, christening or marriage information for an ancestor. One may also search for spouse or parents. In addition, once the specific parish is identified where one's ancestors lived, one possibly can extend pedigree lines and build family groups by conducting parent searches.
It should be noted that Scottish Church Records do not include death and burial records nor do they include some non-conformist church records (non-Church of Scotland records).
For further information on the Scottish Church Records in FamilySearch, request the document Scottish Church Records from the Salt Lake Distribution Center, catalog No. 34951.
Also included in the 2.23 release of FamilySearch are updates to the Family History Library Catalog and U.S. Social Security Death Index. The compact discs for these updates were released in the last quarter of 1995. The U.S. Social Security Death Index now contains entries through December 1994.
