Family History Resources
Stòrasan Eachdraidh Teaghlaich
The Family History Centre offers researchers access to the following types of records:-
Census Returns on microfilm for the Counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Nairn, Ross & Cromarty, Sutherland (including the Western Isles), Orkney and Shetland are available for the period 1841 to 1901.
The Old Parish Registers recording births/ baptisms, marriages and some burials, are available on microfilm for all parishes within the counties of Argyll, Caithness, Inverness, Nairn, Ross & Cromarty, and Sutherland (including the Western Isles). The registers survive from various periods from the 17th century onwards but most end in 1854.
In 1855 a new system of recording births, marriages and deaths replaced the previous system of recording in parish registers. This new system came to be known as Civil Registration and has continued to the present day. The Family History Centre offers access to Civil Registration records via the Scotland's People website. A small fee is payable for this facility.
The International Genealogical Index is available on microfiche. It is an alphabetical surname index which contains details of births/ baptisms and marriages recorded in the whole of the United Kingdom and other countries of the world. It is not a complete record but contains millions of names dating from the 16th century to the 19th century.
Gravestone Inscriptions are available for many burial grounds in the Highlands.
Reference books relating to Scottish families and Highland clans are available on the open shelves in the Family History Centre for researchers to consult.
Internet access is available in The Family History Centre so researchers are able to consult appropriate websites.
In the Archive Searchroom, which is immediately adjacent to the Family History Centre, various original sources helpful to the family historian may be consulted. These include school records, records of poor relief, valuation rolls, church records, family and estate papers, records of Clan Societies, the Tartan Archive (a collection of records relating to the history of tartan) and large scale Ordnance Survey maps dating from the 1860s.