Address
2 Princes Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YY
Telephone
0131 535 1314
Websites
Notes
The National Records of Scotland (NRS) was created on 1 April 2011 by the amalgamation of the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) and General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). National Records of Scotland (NRS) combines the work of the two bodies, including the ScotlandsPeople family history website and centre. The purpose of NRS is to collect, preserve and produce information about Scotland’s people and history and make it available to inform current and future generations.
All family research takes place at the Scotlands People Centre in Edinburgh which provides access to GROS digitised material along with records from the National Records of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon.
The National Records of Scotland holds the records of the pre-1707 Scottish crown, parliament and government as well as the records of the post-1886 Scottish Office and Scottish Government. The Research section of the website advises users of what records are held at NRS and what records are not. The section also has links to a series of research guides and links to the NRS catalogues and indexes.
Specifically they hold:
- Probate records including testaments and inventories from 1500-1993 with digitised copies up to 1901 available at ScotlandsPeople.
- Poor relief records.
- Registers of deeds and sasines.
- Services of heirs.
- Court records including records of the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, sheriff courts (including adoption records) and commissary courts.
- Tax records.
- Apprenticeship indentures.
- Militia records.
- Kirk session records other than the baptism, marriage and burial registers. Most Church of Scotland registers are held by the General Register Office for Scotland. Other church records include Kirk session, presbytery and synod records for the Church of Scotland; records from the Free Church and various dissenting or ‘seceding’ congregations; records of the Scottish Episcopal Church and copies of the records of baptisms, marriages and burials for Roman Catholics before 1855.
- Valuation rolls for all Scottish counties and burghs from 1855 to 1995.
- Map collection including maps, plans, architectural and technical drawings from government departments, nationalised industries, transport systems, courts, churches, private and corporate bodies.
