Web Sites for Genealogists, 2008 edition. Click here for details.

National Archives of Scotland holds the public and legal records of Scotland plus many local and private archives. There is detailed information on the collection plus online fact sheets.

ScotlandsPeople offers access to searchable indexes and images for Scottish births (indexes 1553-2006; images 1553-1907), marriages (indexes and images 1553-1932) and deaths (indexes and images1855-2006) plus census records (indexes and images 1841-1901). There is a free name search and fees apply for access to the indexes and digital images. There is also a free wills & testaments index (1513-1901) online. Digital images of the wills can be purchased online.  

Anglo Scottish Family History Society hosted by the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society. This site has a Scottish Strays: Scottish Marriage Index available for downloading.

Genfindit  transcription and certificate service for census, birth, death and marriag records.

Joy Murrin's site with details of the Scotland Certificate and Transcription Service she offers.

Scotland BDM Exchange provides a free resource for sharing details on civil and parish registrations in Scotland. A surname search is available.

Ancestry.co.uk census collection includes the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 census for Scotland. The records are fully indexed with a free surname search. A variety of subscription options offer access to transcriptions of the records. Digitised copies are not avilable from this site.

FreeCen Project aims to provide free access to online databases of UK census returns. This ongoing project offers complete coverage of the 1841 and 1851 census for many Scottish counties and varying coverage for the 1861-1891 census. A site to watch.

Scotlands Family. This easy to use gateway site highlights an impressive array of free online resources. Categories include births and baptisms; marriages; deaths and burials; censuses; directories; poorhouses; ships and passenger lists; occupations; maps; books; photographs and more.

Rampant Scotland Directory - Genealogy - An excellent gateway site for Scottish research.

Electric Scotland  has thousands of pages of information covering Scottish history, online books and details on the Scottish, Scots-Irish clans and families. A site search engine is available.

Scottish Military Historical Society's Index of Military Sites. This site has 60+ specialised links.

Dictionary of the Scots Language is a searchable online edition of two historical dictionaries, the 12-volume Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue of Scots words in use from 12th to 17th centuries and the 10-volume Scottish National Dictionary of Scots words in use from 1700 to the 1970s.

Scots Online with access to an online dictionary that translates Scots to and from English

Scottish Handwriting.com offers online tuitorials in palaeography (reading old handwriting) for Scottish Documents (1500-1750). 

FamilySearch. Click on Search then Research Helps then the letter S for access to a series of excellent guides for Scottish research.

The Scottish Reformation with information on the struggles between the medieval Catholic Church of Rome and the evangelism of Protestant creeds that resulted in the establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland and the episcopal Church of England. It looks at the discrimination and persecution of non-conforming Presbyterians (the Covenanters) and the migration of Scots to Ulster.

RootsWeb Mailing Lists for Scotland (200+). A great way to find others with similar research interests. Be sure to check out the clan mailing lists.

Scotland Genealogy Forum where you can post and view messages.

National Library of Scotland Digital Online Historical Maps include county maps, military maps, ordnance survey town plans, coasts of Scotland on marine charts and much more. 

Statistical Accounts of Scotland offer two versions (old and new) of detailed parish reports from the 18th and 19th centuries. This free database is fully searchable with access to digital images. 

Charting the Nation: Maps of Scotland and Associated Archives (1550-1740). This project has 3,500+digital images online.

ScotsFind This site offers access to a wide variety of free Scottish genealogical databases including birth and marriage registers, rolls of burgesses and guild-brethren, apprentice registers, testaments (wills), church records, local records, court cases, Scottish surname databases and cemeteries.

Scottish Genealogy from and around the World. This site has online biographies of 2000+ Scottish Ministers from the 16th-20th century from Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae, volumes 1 and II. Details can include birth, death and marriage information as well as family and other details.

The University of Glasgow Roll of Honour provides details of graduates, students and staff who served in the First World War. Photographs are included, if available.

The Clearances.org. An extensive site dedicated to the Highland Clearances in Scotland. There are searches available for articles, parishes, people, ships, ports and destinations.

National Library of Scotland. Scottish Book Trade Index to printers, publishers, booksellers, bookbinders, printmakers, stationers and papermakers based in Scotland, from the beginnings of Scottish printing to c1850.

Inveraray Jail, Argyll. The Former Prisoners Database provides extensive details on 4,000+ prisoners including those who were transported.

Ayrshire & Arran Family History. This site includes guidance on how to begin, a list of family history societies, details of professional researchers and information and contacts for Ayrshire libraries and archives.

Mull Genealogy by Ian Phillips includes location, surname, birth and burial indexes plus resources, links and other information for the Isle of Mull, Argyllshire.

Maybole Homepage. This site is dedicated to Maybole, Ayrshire, the ancient capital of Carrick. The detailed information includes local and family history resources.

Am Baile - The Gaelic Village. This site offers a major learning and research resource for everyone with an interest in the language, culture and history of the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Inverness Emigrant Index 1828-1854 by Peter Madden records the details of 2100+ assisted emigrants from Inverness to New South Wales and Queensland (Australia). It lists name, age, year and ship of arrival, native place, parents' names and residence plus the names of relations in the colony.

Orkney Genealogy by Walt Custer includes the Orkney Islands, Caithness and the Shetland Isles. There are downloadable birth/baptism and marriage indexes arranged by surname.

Shetland Family History with an online surname list, photos plus much more.

The Wigtownshire Pages. offers a guide to resources available for family history research in Wigtownshire including useful information on the parishes of Wigtownshire.

GENUKI's Scotland Pages. This gateway site has a list of societies.

Scottish Genealogy Society.

Scottish Association of Family History Societies. This site includes a list of members of the Association plus contact details.

Scottish Military Historical Society.This site has a lot of valuable information online.

Anglo Scottish Family History Society hosted by the Manchester & Lancashire Family History Society.

Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society covers Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, Kincardineshire and Morayshire.

Alloway & Southern Ayrshire Family History Society.

Borders Family History Society covers Roxburghshire, Berwickshire, Selkirkshire and Peeblesshire.

Caithness Family History Society.

Central Scotland Family History Society covers Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and West Perthshire and some parishes in West Lothian.

Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society covers Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire.

East Ayrshire Family History Society.

Fife Family History Society.

Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society covers Argyll & Bute, Ayrshire, Dunbartonshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and Stirlingshire (part).

Highland Family History Society covers Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire, Nairnshire and the northern parishes of Argyle. 

Lanarkshire Family History Society.

Largs and North Ayrshire Family History Society.

Lochaber & North Argyll Family History Group.

Lothians Family History Society.

Orkney Family History Society.

Renfrewshire Family History Society.

Shetland Family History Society.

Tay Valley Family History Society for the former counties of Angus, Fife, Kinross and Perthshire.

Troon @ Ayrshire Family History Society.

West Lothian Family History Society.