Scottish American Wills 1650 1900

Scots who had their wills registered in Scotland prior to 1900.

A collection of many abstracts and listings of wills from England and Wales regarding persons who emigrated to the American colonies.

While Peter Coldham's "American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury" succeeded in its objective of providing a complete listing of the hundreds of PCC wills and administrations with American connections, it does not provide all the information per will or administration that can be found in the following less comprehensive works: Henry Waters' "Genealogical Gleanings in England," Lothrop Withington's "Virginia Gleanings in England," and George Sherwood's "American Colonists in English Records." (Information such as the names of close relations, legatees and witnesses, and references to ownership of property.) To redress this imbalance Mr. Coldham has issued this present work containing complete summaries of all those wills not included in the works of Waters, Withington, or Sherwood, providing the researcher with an accessible compendium of American wills proved in London to complement and stand comparison with the other three, closing the circle on a priceless body of data.

From search engines and databases to DNA platforms, discover how to easily learn more about your Scottish ancestry online with this helpful guide. Scotland is a land with a proud and centuries long history that far predates its membership of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Today in the 21st century it is also a land that has done much to make its historical records accessible, to help those with Caledonian ancestry trace their roots back to earlier times and a world long past. In Tracing Scottish Family History on the Internet, Chris Paton expertly guides the family historian through the many Scottish records offerings available, but also cautions the reader that not every record is online, providing detailed advice on how to use web based finding aids to locate further material across the country and beyond. He also examines social networking and the many DNA platforms that are currently further revolutionizing online Scottish research. From the Scottish Government websites offering access to our most important national records, to the holdings of local archives, libraries, family history societies, and online vendors, Chris Paton takes the reader across Scotland, from the Highlands and Islands, through the Central Belt and the Lowlands, and across the diaspora, to explore the various flavors of Scottishness that have bound us together as a nation for so long.

In Scotland on the death of a landowner, the local sheriff held an inquest to establish the credentials of any person claiming to be the true and rightful heir to lands which were in the possession of the deceased at the time of his or her death. The documentary evidence associated with the inquest--taken by the sheriff to determine identities, relationships, and claims to property and known as the Services of Heirs--is a particularly valuable if little known genealogical source. The records of the Services of Heirs, now located at the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh, provide authentic and reliable confirmation of the relationship between deceased individuals and their heirs. This makes the records an invaluable source for those seeking a trans-Atlantic family connection, as many of the entries link families in North America with Scotland. Indeed, David Dobson, the well-known Scottish authority, has found 2,657 trans-Atlantic links in the records--links providing irrefutable evidence of the relationship between families in America and families in Scotland. Taken directly from the records of the Services of Heirs, his new work contains abstracts of every Scottish-American connection found in the records in the 200 years between 1683 and 1883! As a rule, the abstracts give, for the deceased, his name, occupation, residence in Scotland, date of inquest, and relationship to heirs; for the heirs, name, occupation, place of residence in America, and relationship to the deceased. For convenience the abstracts are arranged alphabetically by the name of the deceased, while all other names mentioned in the abstracts are listed in the index.

Covers the period of colonial history from the beginning of European colonization in the Western Hemisphere up to the time of the American Revolution.

Start discovering your Scottish ancestors today! Turn your research into results with the help of genealogists Linda Jonas and Paul Milner! Their invaluable instructions and problem-solving advice makes tracing your Scottish family history easier and more efficient.You'll learn how to: • Discover who your family was, where they came from, and how they lived. • Maximize your research results by using the Internet, visiting local libraries and Family History Centers - even traveling to Scotland. • Master the differences between Scottish and U.S. research, including geographic and political terms, names and naming patterns, clans and tartans, religion, record keeping and languages. • Use the most important resources for tracing one's Scottish family history. Most of these records are readily available outside of Scotland. Your research opportunities are virtually unlimited.

Research techniques specific to the reader's own ancestors' national and ethnic backgrounds enable them to learn where and how to find information they need. Ethnic research techniques and ethnic resources make this book unique from any we've ever published. Ethnic research techniques lead researchers to records based on customs or migration patterns of specific ethnic groups. Ethnic resources are organized around national and cultural backgrounds rather than geography and social statuses such as married, divorced, sued, and so on. Clear, authoritative instruction typifies both the content of this book and the reputation of its author, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.