The records relating to a person's birth in Scotland will depend on the year that they were born. An ancestor who was born from 1st January 1855[1] to the present day will have a birth certificate which can be ordered from Scotlands People. This contains formal registration information including their date and place of birth. Prior to this date, a person may be found in Old Parochial Registers (OPRs). This gives a date of baptism but usually not a date of birth. Other documentation can be used to discover more about an ancestor's birth in Scotland including newspaper cuttings, memorial inscriptions, passports, baptismal certificates, military records, educational records and occupational records amongst many others.
Civil registration in ScotlandCivil registration in Scotland
Scottish birth certificate from 1989
Statutory registration was introduced in Scotland in 1855. The details supplied on a Scottish birth certificate are as follows:
Child's name
Child's sex
Date of birth
Place of birth
Names of parent's
Occupation of child's father
Maiden surname of child's mother
Date and place of parent's marriage (except between 1856-1860)
Name of informant and how related to the child (e.g. mother)
Date of birth registration
Signature of registrar
Extra information was recorded in the early years of civil registration in Scotland. In 1855 the dates and places of birth for both parents was recorded along with how many children the mother already had.
Scottish birth certificates can be ordered online for a fee from Scotlands People.
Old parochial registers (OPRs)Old parochial registers (OPRs)
Extract from 1807 baptism register for Glasgow
Old parochial registers (OPRs) record the baptisms, marriages and burials within the region. They are sometimes simply referred to as church registers. The oldest register dates back to 1553, however many do not begin until the 18th century and some do not survive at all. There was no set format for births and baptism entries into church registers so the information contained within them varies from parish to parish and changes over time. Details may include:
The child's name
Place of baptism
Date of baptism
Date of birth
Name of child's parents
Mother's maiden surname (more common in Scotland than elsewhere in England and Wales)
Father's occupation
Family's place of residence
Names of witnesses
Be aware that the lost above is the most optimistic case of what you may find. You may only find the date and place of baptism, name of the father and name of the child. Not all children were baptised, and you may find evidence of your ancestor's family within a non-conformist church instead.
Other sources of birth records in ScotlandOther sources of birth records in Scotland
You may choose to find out more about your Scottish ancestor's birth from the following sources:
Newspapers- You may find evidence of your ancestor's birth in a newspaper, such as a birth announcement, birthday greeting or their obituary. Birth announcements were often placed in local papers, giving the child's date of birth, their sex and the parent's names. Well-known people such as aristocracy feature in national newspapers.
Official records- A person's date of birth is supplied in official documentation including driving licences, passports and pension records. This will only apply to your more recent ancestors.
Headstone for Jessie MacLachlan giving her date of birth, GlasgowMemorial Inscriptions- A person's date of birth may be etched into their headstone along with their date of death.
Military records- If your ancestor was in the military their date of birth may be found in related records.
School registers- When your ancestor was enrolled into a new school their name and date of birth would have been recorded into the admissions register. Many of these survive in local record offices and supply other useful information such as their residence, name of next of kin and reason for leaving the school.
Occupational records- Your ancestor's date of birth may have been recorded in documentation relating to their work. This is most likely if your ancestor was employed by a company who needed to keep a record of their staff. Some of these registers are held by local record offices and others still remain in the companies hands.
Other sources- You may find your ancestors date of birth in other records such as bastardy records, settlement and removal records, workhouse registers and magazines. They may also be handwritten onto personal ephemera, such as the family bible or on the back of photographs.
