Certificate Details

The information given here covers the details found on the various Statutory certificates, Old Parochial Registers and Census entries. Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions we cannot reproduce real certificates!

• Statutory Certificates (from 1855 onwards)
  • Birth Certificate
    
  • Marriage Certificate
    
  • Death Certificate
    
• Old Parochial Registers (up to 1855)
  • Birth or Baptism Entry
    
  • Marriage or Banns Entry
    
  • Death or Burial Entry
    
• Census returns (1841-1901)

Birth Certificates

In general, a Scottish birth certificate holds the following information:-

• Full name of the child
• Sex of the child
• Date and time of birth
• Place of birth
• Name and occupation of father
• Name and maiden surname of mother
• Date and place of parents' marriage
• Name of informant and relationship to child

There are two exceptions to this:-

• In 1855 the age and place of birth of the parents was also given along with the number and sex of any previous children. No names of previous children were given but it is recorded whether or not they were still living.
• Between 1856 and 1860 (inclusive) the date and place of the parents' marriage was not given.

Marriage Certificates

In general, a Scottish Marriage certificate holds the following information:-

• Date and place of marriage
• Church denomination (for the banns)
• Bride and groom's, name, profession and martial status
• Bride and groom's age and address
• Bride and groom's father's name, occupation and whether deceased
• Bride and groom's mother's name, maiden surname and whether deceased
• Name of minister or priest
• Names of witnesses

In 1855, it also stated whether this was the second, third etc. marriage and gave the birthplace of the bride and groom.

Death Certificates

In general, a Scottish death certificate holds the following information:-

• Full name of the deceased
• Age and occupation
• Marital status and name of spouse if applicable
• Date and time of death
• Place of death and usual residence if different
• Name and occupation of father and if deceased
• Name and maiden surname of mother and if deceased
• Cause of death
• Name of informant and relationship to deceased

There are three exceptions to this:-

• In 1855 the names and ages of any children of the deceased were given. If the children were deceased then their age when they died was given. The burial place was also given.
• Between 1856 and 1860 (inclusive) the name of the spouse (if applicable) was not given. The place of burial was given.
• From 1967, the date of birth of the deceased was included.

OPR Birth or Baptism Entry

The amount of information in an OPR entry varies from parish to parish. For a birth or baptism, you can usually expect to find:-

• Name of child and if lawful son or daughter
• Date of birth and/or baptism
• Name of father and occupation
• Name of mother
• Address

The address given was usually not detailed. In some cases you may also be told that this was the "nth" son or daughter. There may also be names of witnesses but this was not very common.

OPR Marriage or Banns Entry

As with births, the amount of information in an OPR marriage or banns varies. You can usually expect to find:-

• Date of marriage and/or banns
• Name and occupation of groom and his local parish
• Name of bride and her local parish
• Name and occupation of bride's father

OPR Death Entry

You will be very lucky to find an entry in an OPR for the death or burial of your ancestors. If you do, however, the information you can expect to find will be:-

• Name and age of deceased
• Cause of death
• Address

Census Returns

Census returns are available for the years 1841 to 1901. These are actually the census enumerators books and were arranged as households within the parish. They gave the address of the household, and an entry for each member giving the following information:-

• Name and sex
• Relation to head of the household
• Whether married or not
• Age
• Occupation
• Birthplace

The 1841 census has less information. It usually has ages rounded to the nearest 5-years, it does not give relation to head or marital status and only states whether the person was born in the local parish or not.

Other information is given in different years such as number of rooms in the house with windows, whether the person was deaf/dumb or blind and whether they spoke Gaelic or English or both.