Scots abroad: how to trace your Scottish ancestry overseas

In the first two parts of this series we looked at how Scottish ancestry can be researched within Scotland. But what happens when the trail leads overseas? Dominic Roskrow reports

It’s debatable whether crime pays or not.

But when it comes to genealogy, a criminal past can be an advantage.

That’s the view of Doctor Brian Thomson, a leading genealogist who specialises in smoothing the information highway for people seeking information about their past.

For once the trail leads outside Scotland’s boundaries it becomes considerably harder to find information – and a criminal record can help.

“Ironically if your relatives were transported as convicts, this will actually help your search,” he says. “It’s easier to find Scots who were registered than people who travelled freely. Convict records are often incredibly detailed.

“People were often sentenced for the pettiest of crimes, such as stealing spoons.

They would first be sent to London before being put on a ship bound for places such as Australia.” In any search of this sort the starting point is to identify where a criminal trial took place.

Once this has been done it should be relatively easy to find where prisoners were held before they were sent to London.

Scottish prisons, for instance, kept records of prisoners they held before sending them on.

Many criminal records are held in the United Kingdom National Archive and should you be studying lists, you’ll find the Scottish convicts at the end.

According to Dr Thomson it can be particularly difficult finding information on people who travelled to Europe, because records are scant. Journeys to North America, New Zealand and Australia are ofte.....

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By Dominic Roskrow

Section : Scotland Genealogy

Page number : 61