Genealogy Research

Tracing your ancestors can be a very interesting and rewarding pursuit, albeit time-consuming if you do your own research. A useful place to start for Coigach is Some Coigach Genealogy. 

Employing a professional researcher may seem expensive, but their expertise may produce results more quickly, or at least start your quest in the right direction. Advice can be sought at the High Life Highland Archive Centre, Bught Road, Inverness IV3 5SS (tel: 01349 781130 or email: genealogy@highlifehighland.com or visit https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives/family-history-centre).

If carrying out your own research, there are a large number of websites, some free and some by subscription, where you can exchange information with other people. Be aware that some family trees contain incorrect information and should be checked before being accepted as fact.

There is a vast amount of information stored on-line, which includes:

• Civil Registration (i.e. Births, Marriages and Deaths since 1855)

In 1855, the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths became compulsory. These records are the first step back in time and can substantiate the recollections of living relatives.

The birth certificate gives the names of parents, the father’s occupation, and the child’s birth place. Early certificates also give the date and place of marriage of the parents. The 1855 certificates give additional information such as the names and ages of siblings.

The marriage certificate gives the names of both parties, their normal addresses before marriage, the names of both sets of parents with the mother’s maiden name, details of where the ceremony took place which was often in a house or hotel, and the names of witnesses who were often related.

The death certificate gives the person’s age and place of death, as well as the name of spouse if married, occupation and names of parents including the mother’s maiden name. The early certificates also give the place of internment, which may link to a memorial stone and further family details.

The death certificates are potentially very useful as a person dying in 1855 aged 85, would have been born in 1770, providing information which could pre-date the Old Parish Records.

All of these records are stored in the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), but can be searched on-line through a website called Scotland's People, which makes them easy to access. By purchasing ‘credits’ for a small fee, it is possible to search the indexes and print out images of the birth, marriage or death certificates.

• Census Returns (every 10 years from 1841 to 1921)

Once the Civil Registration certificates have shown you where someone was living, it is possible to add more detail using the National Census Returns. For family history research, the first useful census in Britain was carried out in 1841. The census was repeated at ten years intervals up until the present day, and the census returns from 1841 to 1921 are available though the Scotland's People website. Under the 100 year rule to protect personal privacy, the 1931 census, for example, will not be released until 2031.

The 1841 census shows the names and occupations of the people living at an address, although sometimes an address is not given, just an entry number. It also states whether the person was born in the parish, or not. Age is given but, apart from children, it was rounded down to the nearest 10 or 5 (i.e. age 69 became 65). In addition it is not unusual for unmarried women to forget a few years for good measure. Married women are often recorded under their maiden name, which is useful when searching for marriages.

The 1851 census and later ones have the advantage of giving a head of household and showing the relationship of other people (e.g. son, niece, mother-in-law, boarder, servant – this being an employee such as a farm worker). The later ones also give information about the number of windows in the dwelling and whether people are bi-lingual. Some common occupations tend to be written in short-handed (e.g. hlw for a hand-loom weaver).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has produced searchable CD-ROMs for the 1881 census. The two CD ROMs for Scotland (Northern and Southern Scotland). The Gairloch Heritage Museum holds a copy, as does the Highland Archive and Registration Centre in Inverness.

Gairloch Museum has microfilm copies of census returns for the parishes of Gairloch, Applecross and Lochbroom from 1841 to 1891.

• Old Parish Records (i.e. Births, Marriages and Deaths before 1855)

Before 1855, each parish church was expected to keep a register of the births, marriages and deaths. These documents, called the Old Parish Records (OPRs), are kept by the General Register Office for Scotland, and are available on-line at Scotland's People, in the same way as the Civil Registration and Census Returns.

Gairloch Museum has microfilm copies of the OPRs for Gairloch (and Poolewe), Applecross and Lochbroom, as well as for Alness, Glenshiel, Lochalsh and Lochcarron.

Gairloch (66):

births / baptisms 1781 – 1853 , marriages 1798 – 1854

and for Poolewe 

births / baptisms 1835 – 1852 , marriages 1833 – 1849

Applecross (58):

births / baptisms 1797 – 1854 , marriages 1797 – 1854

Lochbroom (75):

births / baptisms 1798 – 1854 , marriages 1799 – 1854

The International Genealogical Index (IGI) can be searched for free, although some of the entries are incorrect and should always be checked against the original entry in the OPR.

• Wills and Testaments

A free search of the indexes of Wills and Testaments for Wester Ross is also available at Scotland’s People, but there seem to be very few wills and testaments for this area.

• Gravestone Inscriptions

The best resource for finding out if there is a local gravestone associated with your ancestors is: www.rosscromartyroots.co.uk

• Maps

Maps are also useful in trying to identify where people lived. The National Library of Scotland has a large number of maps on-line, some dating back to the 1600s and 1700s, including William Roy’s Military Survey 1747 – 1755. This map indicates where there are dwellings and cultivation, but should not be taken to indicate individual dwellings.

Peter May, an Aberdeenshire surveyor, was appointed by the Commissioners of the Forfeited Estates to survey the lands of the Cromartie Estate, that included Coigach, in 1756. The map can be viewed here.

The most accurate, early map of the area is the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1875, with a scale of six-inch to the mile. This is available on-line from the NLS as an historic layer over the Google map here.