Parish Registers were instigated by Thomas Cromwell from 1538 in the reign of Henry VIII, recording every wedding, baptism and burial. There are gaps in the records for a variety of reasons, such as the civil war, but these records are a prime source for building family trees. From 1597 a copy of the records had to be made and sent to the Bishop. Sometimes the Bishops' Transcript may contain more information than the original, so it can often be worthwhile tracking down both. For more information on Parish Registers there is a brief history on the Wikipedia Parish Register page.
After 1837 Civil Registration was introduced and the Local BMD and GRO BMD records become the primary source.
| Classification: | Baptisms, Births, Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Family Search Records Collection |
| Link: |  |
| Description: | Family Search Records Collection - Scottish Data |
| Extra Info: | Check the coverage for areas covered so far. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Monumental Inscriptions, Parish Records |
| Title: | Internet Archive |
| Link: | http://archive.org/ |
| Description: | Internet Archive |
| Extra Info: | Has many scanned books, including some parish registers. Click on texts and then search the archive. Note baptism and baptisms give different results. |
| Classification: | Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Marriage Registers for Gretna Green, Scotland |
| Link: | Marriage Registers for Gretna Green, Scotland, 1794-1895 |
| Description: | Marriage Registers for Gretna Green, Scotland, 1794-1895 |
| Classification: | GRO BMD, Banns, Baptisms, Births, Burials / Cremations, Census, Deaths, Marriages, National, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Scotland's People |
| Link: |  |
| Description: | Scotland's People |
| Extra Info: | Official Government Source of genealogical data for Scotland. |
| Classification: | Baptisms, Burials / Cremations, Marriages, Parish Records, Wills / Probate |
| Title: | Scottish Genealogy Databases |
| Link: | http://web.archive.org/web/20080602101740/http://w... |
| Description: | Scottish Genealogy Databases |
| Extra Info: | The site is no longer running but is archived. Also includes surname specific databases. If the site doesn't load clicking on the word impatient often works. |
| Classification: | Banns, Baptisms, Births, Burials / Cremations, Census, Deaths, Marriages, Parish Records |
| Title: | Scottish Indexes - Helping you trace your Scottish family tree |
| Link: | https://www.scottishindexes.com/ |
| Description: | Non-OPR Births/Baptisms, Banns/Marriages and Deaths/Burials, 1841, 1851, 1861 Census Indexes |
| Extra Info: | Full details of the coverage can be found on their Record Sets page. |
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