How do I do Genealogical research for someone who lived in Scottland?

Question by Dale W: How do I do Genealogical research for someone who lived in Scottland?
I am doing Genealogical research on my family. My last name is Wallace and the best option I have to going further back on my family tree is to actually find the actual records. How do places usually do it? Do I contact some place in Scotland to see if they have the records or microfilm? Do they normally charge for looking up records? How much information can most places give? Stuff like war service, etc. How much do they charge for making copies of the record?

Best answer:

Answer by Derek C
Scottish ancestors are easy to trace back to 1855, because from that date onwards there are complete statutory records (SR) in a systematic format. Copies of these official records can be purchased on the internet from the General Register Office for Scotland or you can visit New Register House in Edinburgh in person.

Before 1855 things get trickier. Records before that year are called Old Parish Records (OPR). The General Register Office for Scotland does have copies of them, but they do not record every single person who ever lived. Also the details on the OPRs are sometimes sketchy. Searching on the internet becomes expensive when you don’t have complete details and you have to search through lots of possibilities.
The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) make some OPR information available at FamilySearch but, again, it is incomplete. It is, however, free to search.

An additional source of information is the nineteenth century censuses. Some census information is available for a fee at the General Register Office for Scotland. You can also purchase copies of census information from the Scottish Genealogy Society. There is currently a project underway called FreeCEN that aims to enter all 19th century census information into a free database. Volunteers are still working on the transcribing. The FreeCEN search engine allows you to search counties and parishes that have already been loaded into the database.

You may also be able to find church gravestones if you visit an area in person.

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