For many of us Anne Reid is a familiar face on our TV screens. Perhaps we remember her as Valerie Barlow from Coronation Street, or Jean in Dinner ladies?Or it may be from the more recent series of programmes in which she stars along side Derek Jacobi as Celia Dawson in Last Tango in Halifax.
Acclaimed British actress Anne Reid MBE, is the next of the celebrities to feature in the Who Do You Think You Are? programmes. In her episode she discovers that her family tree features ancestors who were employed as solicitor’s clerks in Liverpool, but who came originally from Scotland. Tracing this respectable line further back in the records she comes across a Scots schoolmaster and becomes upset to find out that he ended up marooned on the other side of the world having served a sentence for fraud that saw him transported to Australia from Scotland.
Read TheGenealogist's full article here...
Further to the merger a couple of years ago between the National Archives of Scotland and the General Register Office for Scotland, it appears there is finally one cohesive website with information about both organisations in one convenient place under the name of 'The National Records of Scotland'.
Tim Ellis, the new Registrar General of the Archives, has just announced that the NRS now has a more dedicated main portal site up and running at http://nrscotland.gov.uk. This web address previously led to a site that told you there had been a merger and contained links to the old GRO and National Archives websites. Now there is substantially more information available to view on the new site on areas such as Valuation Rolls and Census Information for example. To find out more trythe following link.
The National Archives have recently made a podcast available to download for those interested in Scottish history around the time of William Wallace.
The talk featured on the podcast is given by leading historian John Reuben Davies, who has published a number of works on Scottish and Welsh ecclesiastical history. He covers the time of crisis in Scotland following the death of Alexander III leading to the eventual conquest by Edward I. The podcast can be found by clicking on this link.
If your family history involves tracing relatives from Scotland, it could be worth reading up on some advice and guidance from a recognised expert. Scottish Genealogy by Bruce Durie is the comprehensive guide to tracing your family history in Scotland, and is written by one of the most authoritative figures on the subject.
The work is based on established genealogical practice and is designed to exploit the rich resources that Scotland has to offer.
All people who claim Scottish ancestry will find something in this book to challenge and stimulate. Informative and entertaining, this updated edition is the definitive reader-friendly guide to genealogy and family history in Scotland. It's currently available at Genealogy Supplies at a reduced price so well worth a look.
