Births, Marriages & Deaths
Civil Registration
The official recording of births, marriages and deaths by the government, known as civil registration, began in Scotland on 1 January 1855. Births, marriages and deaths are recorded by local registrars around the country and the details are forwarded to the Registrar General for Scotland where the information is collated into national indexes.
For a detailed look at civil registration in Scotland see:
An introduction to British civil registration
FamilySearch Wiki on Civil Registration in Scotland
Online Indexes
Scotland’s People
This is the official government website for Scottish genealogy with all births, marriages and deaths indexed up to 2006.
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
The IGI, which is available on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints FamilySearch website, has some early entries extracted from the civil registration indexes:
Other Indexes
McKirdy Index
This index covers deaths for some Scottish counties and is held on microfiche in the Genealogy Centre on the 1st floor:
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
The Scottish civil registration indexes 1855-1956 are also available on microfilm through Family History Centres.
Ordering Certificates
Scotland’s People
Certificates can be downloaded from the Scotland’s People website for a fee.
Certificates for some date ranges have been microfilmed and are available through Family History Centres. See the FamilySearch Scotland Civil Registration – Vital Records Research Wiki for full details of microfilms available.
General Register Office for Scotland
Certificates can also be ordered from the General Register Office for Scotland. See their website for details of cost and how to apply.
What information can I find?
Scottish birth, marriage and death certificates contain more information than those for England and Wales. In particular, certificates issued during the first year of civil registration, 1855, are incredibly detailed. For more information on what information you can expect to find please see our handout:
Information found on certificates for Australian states, New Zealand and the British Isles
Please note that the information recorded on certificates depends on the knowledge of the person who was informing the registrar. Therefore, some information may be missing or incorrect.
How do I find births, marriages and deaths before 1855?
Our Parish Registers page explains how to find baptisms, marriages and burials in church records.
Page last updated: Tuesday 24 January 2012
