Family Research – English, Scottish and Irish Genealogy

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We announced in June 2010 that we plan to centralise access to historical documents in a single search room at General Register House. We have to make best use of our staff resources, and having one location for onsite searches will make security/reception/search room supervision easier.

We are still working on the details, but we will close the West Search Room at 4.45pm on Friday 25 February. From 9am on Monday 28 February, all readers will be accommodated at General Register House. Access to most originals records will also transfer to General Register House, but we will also make increasing use of digital images of popular record series. We will offer access to some of our plans collection via digital image in the Historical Search Room. However, customers who need access to original plans will do so by making an appointment to visit Thomas Thomson House, our modern storage building at Sighthill, Edinburgh. This service will be available later in the spring. It will not be practical to produce original plans in General Register House, because of the risk of damage to them in transit.
We have found self-service photography of records at WRH works well and is liked by customers, so we aim to make this a permanent facility in the new consolidated search room.
In preparation for the change we have already moved some major record series to General Register House so they are more readily available. A list of these records is given below.

George P Mackenzie
Keeper of the Records of Scotland

AD14: Crown Office (criminal) precognitions, 1801-1900

BR/CAL/15: Caledonian Railway staff records, 1867-1935

BR/EDP/15: Edinburgh Perth and Dundee Railway and Scottish Central Railway staff records, 1856

BR/GNS/15: Great North of Scotland Railway staff records, 1870-1929

BR/GSW/15:Glasgow and South Western Railway staff records, 1890s-1930s

BR/HR/15: Highland Railway staff records, 1878-1957

BR/LMS/15: London Midland and Scottish Railway staff records, 1924-1948

BR/LNE/15: London and North Eastern Railway staff records, 1923-1947

BR/NBR/15:North British Railway staff records, 1867-1936

CS17: Court of Session: Printed General Minute Books, 1782-1990; Court Rolls1953-1973; Register of Decrees in Consistorial Causes, 1971-current.

CS96: Court of Session: productions in processes, 1495-1947

CS271: Court of Session: Bill Chamber Processes, Old Series, 1670-1852

JC26: Criminal Processes, 1550-1995

RH4: Microfilms of material not held by NAS, 12th – 20th centuries.

While the 1911 census returns for England and Wales were made public in 1909, Scottish legislation exempts personal Census records from disclosure until after a 100 year closure period. Those 100 years are finally almost over, and the Registrar General for Scotland officially announced this week that the 1911 Scottish census records will be released on April 5, 2011. for more click here

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