Course Enrollment: SC-101 Scottish: Old Parish Registers

Optional Print Course Material: Scottish: Old Parish Registers

*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.

Before the introduction of Statutory Registration in Scotland, the most easily accessible source of information about our ancestors is the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland.  

This course will examine in detail the pleasures and pitfalls of the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) and the extent to which they survive. The various indexes to the OPRs and sources to find copies of the OPRs will be examined.  

The course will cover the main categories of records for christenings, marriage banns and deaths; and will consider irregular marriages and discuss the major alternative sources for death records: local authority burial records and Monumental Inscriptions.   

Course Length: 6 weeks