My Theme
Family History Meets Local History -
Sources and Stories from England & Scotland
MILITIA RECORDS
Was your male ancestor aged around 20-30 in the period of the Napoleonic Wars (1790's-1815)? Then he might well appear on the Militia Lists, whereby each parish was charged with setting up a volunteer force in the event of a French invasion. The lists may give little more than a name, address and occupation, but, as with all archives, there is a fascination in seeing actual handwriting relating to an ancestor, written during his or her lifetime. They are also particularly noteworthy in pre-dating the first published census of 1841, so may be the only record of an ordinary man.
Militia List, Castleon Parish, Roxburghshire, 1797.
Other lists can be more informative with details of age and occupation
Other lists can be more informative with details of age and occupation
MORTCLOTH RECORDS - A mortcloth was a funeral pall, draped over the coffin during the service. The payment of a fee to hire one from the church was sometimes recorded in old parish or kirk session records. Prior to compulsory registration of deaths in Scotland in 1855, it can often be the only evidence that a death has occurred. I must admit I am unsure whether this was just a Scottish custom or more widespread.
MEDICAL TERMS - are you stuck to understand a cause of death on a certificate? Then take a look at http://rmhh.co.uk/medical.html.
MAPS - Are you wanting to find a map of where your ancestor lived? Explore at the website of the National Library of
Scotland at http://www.nls.uk/collections/maps. Its map collection holds over 2 million items, many of which you can download. They cover all parts of the globe and range from early atlases
and manuscript maps to current digital mapping.
MONEY VALUES - I like to find out how respective money values have changed over the centuries and use http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency/.
Prior to the Act of Union in 1707, Scotland had its own currency, so for more information see http://www.scan.org.uk/researchrtools/scots_currency.htm
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I haven’t come across mortcloths in all my England research. But I have come across payments for bell ringers at a burial.
ReplyDeleteI love that site for maps of Scotland... I’ll have to check there for others! Thanks for the tip!
I’ve always thought mortcloths were Scottish. Being able to look through kirk sessions is a bonus...I’m waiting impatiently for when they offer them online.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for your comments. I am sure I saw an announcement way back in 2017 that Kirk Session records were due to go on Scotland’s People, but we are still waiting. I must enquiry, because they would be such an asset to have on line.
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