Lothians Family History Society

Welcome to Lothians Family History Society

Useful Links

Scottish Association of Family History Societies

Below are a list of links to websites to help with your research. We are happy to add relevant links.
The Lothians Family History Society is not responsible for the content of external internet sites, and inclusion of an external link does not constitute an endorsement of the content, products or services found at the destination.

Our Public Records (Europe) - https://ourpublicrecords.org/europe-family-records/

Genuki Midlothian Information on libraries, cemeteries, etc

Genuki East Lothian Information on libraries, cemeteries, etc

John Gray Centre Tracing your Family Tree in East Lothian

Cyndis-list Midlothian Resources

Cyndis-list east Lothian Resources

Midlothian Archives Tracing your family Tree in Midlothian.

Scottish Mining Museum Scottish Mining Heritage.

Lothian Health Service Archive Local records of NHS hospitals and other health-related material.

Lothians Places

Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Local History Society

Roslin Roslin Heritage Society

Temple Temple Village Burial Site

Penicuik Penicuik Papermaking

Dalkeith Dalkeith Museum

Cousland Cousland Smiddy

Aberlady Aberlady Historical Society

Musselburgh Musselburgh Museum

Edinburgh Edinburgh Central Library

Edinburgh Burial Records

Edinburgh City Archives

Leith Leith Local History Society

General Resources

Scotlands People Official government source of genealogical data for Scotland.

Scotlands Places Maps, photographs and written records about your chosen place.

Ancestry

Findmypast

Family Search Searchable records including the IGI.

SCRAN Database of images, audio clips, video clips and 3D environments.

National Library of Scotland Catalogues, databases and digital collections.

National Library of Scotland - Maps Extensive historical map collections .

National Records of Scotland Records of Scotlands people & history.

Family History Societies

Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Promoting genealogy in the North East of Scotland.

Alloway & Southern Ayrshire Covering Alloway, the neighbouring areas and southern Ayrshire.

Borders Covering the Border counties of Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, Selkirkshire and Peeblesshire.

Buchan Family history Society of Buchan.

Caithness promote an interest in genealogy in families originating from Caithness.

Central Scotland Promoting the study of family history in Central Scotland.

Dumfries & Galloway Encouraging the study of genealogy in the South West of Scotland.

East Ayrshire Comprising the former districts of Kilmarnock & Loudon and Cumnock & Doon Valley.

Fife Brings together people with interest in the research of their Fife ancestors.

Glasgow & West of Scotland Promoting the study of family history in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.

Highland Based in Inverness, with its own library within Inverness Public Library.

Lanarkshire To help people research their family history primarily in Lanarkshire's parishes.

Lothians Providing local knowledge and information about the Lothian parishes.

Moray & Nairn Promote the study of genealogy and family history in Moray and Nairnshire.

North Perthshire Family A recently formed group located in Pitlochry.
History Group

Orkney Promoting family history in Orkney.

Renfrewshire Promoting family history in the area covered by the old county of Renfrewshire.

Scottish Genealogy Society Assist with research into Scottish family and local history.

Shetland Brings together those studying family history in Shetland.

Tay Valley Main centre for family history research in the Tay Valley area.

Troon & Ayrshire One of the smaller societies in Scotland, but very active.

West Lothian Assist those researching family history and genealogy throughout the county of West Lothian.

Military Resources

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves.

The Long Long Trail Soldiers, units, regiments and battles of the British Army of the First World War.

Forces-War-Records Forces war records & military genealogy.

House History Links

Please see below a selection of links to the resources mentioned in the National Library of Scotland’s
House History presentation.

Maps
Maps Website Homepage: https://maps.nls.uk/
Guide to the Maps Website: https://maps.nls.uk/guide/
Find maps by location: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/
A Guide to the Map Finder: https://maps.nls.uk/geo/find/help.html
Town Plans: https://maps.nls.uk/towns/
Ordnance Survey Maps Overview and Lists: https://maps.nls.uk/os/
Gazetteers of Scotland: https://digital.nls.uk/gazetteers-of-scotland-1803-1901/archive/97491608
Outside the Library:
• Scotland’s Land Information Service: https://scotlis.ros.gov.uk/
• Dictionary of Scottish Architects: http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/

Using the Library in Person
To use the Library in person you’ll first need to join here - https://auth.nls.uk/join/
Once you have joined you’ll receive an email asking you to verify your email address – please click on
the link in this email. You’ll then need to create a password for your account here -
https://auth.nls.uk/join/password-reset
On your first visit to the Library you’ll need to bring proof of ID and address so you can be issued with
a Library card. Details of suitable documentation are available here - https://www.nls.uk/using-thelibrary/library-cards/evidence-of-identity/
Further instructions on joining the Library are available here - https://www.nls.uk/guides/how-toregister/
At present you will need to book a slot to visit the Library. This is due to the continued need for social
distancing, and as this has greatly reduced our capacity, reader’s are currently limited to one visit per
week. You can book your visit here - https://natlibscot.libcal.com/
If you wish to order items from our collections to consult on your visit you can do this via our online
catalogue Library Search - https://search.nls.uk/
Before your visit it is worth reading our reopening page to familiarise yourself with our Coronavirus
safety measures - https://www.nls.uk/reopening/
If you have any questions about your visit or about ordering collections items, please contact our
enquiries service. You can call us on 0131 623 3820, email enquiries@nls.uk
or fill out the
Ask A Question form on our website - https://auth.nls.uk/contact/ask-a-question/
We also run a live chat service from 10am-4pm Monday to Friday, for quick queries.

Outside the Library
National Records of Scotland - https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
Scotland’s People - https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
Scotland’s Places - https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/
Historic Environment Scotland - https://www.historicenvironment.scot/
Canmore - https://canmore.org.uk/
Scottish Local History Directory - https://www.slhf.org/scottish-local-history-directory

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