14 Steps to Tracing Your Borders Ancestors
Names on the Militia List of 1797 for Castleton, Roxburghshire (R/LR/1/1)
A new series of the popular BBC’s ”Who Do You Think You Are” is launched tonight, to it seems a good time to highlight how the Heritage Hub can help you trace your Borders family history
- Contact us at the Hub, home of the Scottish Borders Archive, Local and Family History Service. Tel. 01450 360699. e-mail: archives@scotborders.gov.uk
- Search census recordsfor your family. We hold them for all the parishes of the four Border counties - Berwickshire, Peeblesshire, Roxburghshire and Selkirkshire., 1841-1901. Note: the 1911 census released this year is only available online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
- Look in the pre-1855 old parish records. We hold them for all the Border parishes and many go back to the early 17th century.
- Consult listings of monumental inscriptions, available for many Border parishes. They can often reveal several generations of a family.
- Make use of our extensive archive collection, available only here at the Hub, to find a unique perspective on an ancestor. Was he a policeman, pauper, school teacher, councillor, farmer, printer or common riding principal? Our records can often provide you with a mini-biography.
- Browse through local newspapers to find news items, birth, marriage and death announcements or an obituary. We hold 25 titles including a complete run of “The Southern Reporter” from 1855.
- Find in books of remembranceor local newspapers. a profile of a World War One ancestor.
- Look up trade directories to find your ancestor. The oldest we have is 1825.
- Find on one of our old maps.where your ancestor lived We hold the first Ordnance Survey series of 1863 and the Second series from 1898.
- Look through the postcard collection with images dating from the early 20th century.
- Discover in our extensive book collection the background to your ancestors’ lives.
- Buy an A3 family chart (40p) to help you record your findings.
- Use our enquiry service. If you cannot get to Hawick, we will do the work for you through our Remote Research Service.
- Want to know more? See our website: www.heartofhawick.co.uk/heritagehubfor further details on our opening times, services and activities, education & outreach work by looking at our website.
Posted by: Susan.
