Category: Book Reviews

Book Review: Discover Scottish Land Records

Discover Scottish Land Records. By Chris Paton. Published by Unlock the Past, P.O. Box 119, St. Agnes SA 5097, Australia. http://www.unlockthepast.com.au. 2012. 68 pp. Illustrations, index. Softcover. AU$20

I liked this book, a lot, and can highly recommend it for those seeking to put their Scottish ancestors on the ground in Scotland, and find the associated records. The book focuses on place. It even encouraged me to go back to my own book, A Genealogists Guide to Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors, to remind myself what I had discussed and what I had not.

The book begins by discussing where your ancestors were. It examines the records you may already be familiar with, such as: vital records; parish records; census records; street directories; phone directories; electoral registers; valuation rolls; burgh assessment rolls; earlier tax and valuation rolls; and newspapers. In each of these record groups the goal here is to identify where your ancestors were living or working, so looking for specific street addresses or names of farms, etc. The book moves on to put those places into context using maps, the Statistical Account of Scotland, gazetteers, etc.

It is the next two sections of the book addressing land tenure and inheritance that I thought were especially good, taking me further into my understanding of Scottish records and importantly bringing me up to date on how to access these materials and learning  what has changed legally within the last decade. The section on land tenure begins with a very good overview of how Scottish laws have developed over time, describing feudalism and the use of charters. This provides the context for how and why the records developed the way they did. There is a good discussion of sasines, liferents and trusts, Registers of Scotland, Register of Deeds, rental records, the role of the tacksman, and ultimately the end of feudalism in 2004 (yes, you read that correctly  – 2004). The chapter on inheritance explains: the differences between moveable and heritable estates; apparent heirs (not the same as the English phrase – heir apparent); the Services of Heirs, with the differences between Special Services (special retours) and General Services (general retours), giving examples from the indexes; the concept of Precept of Clare Constat; and then a good explanation of the different types of heirs that you may run across in the records. The book concludes with a good glossary and a brief bibliography.

If you have found your Scottish ancestors in the basic record groups and want to go to a deeper level in your research and seek your ancestors on the land then I can highly recommend this slim but well written, practical guide to these records.

Book Review: Marriage Law for Genealogists

Marriage Law for Genealogists: The Definitive Guide. By Rebecca Probert. Published by Takeaway Publishing. Copies obtainable directly from the author at books@takeawaypublishing.co.uk or on Amazon. 2012. 160 pp. Illustrations, index. Softcover. $14.99.

Here is the definitive guide to understanding marriage law in England and Wales, from 1600 to the present. This book is written for genealogists; it is not a legal text. It is not a light read, but it is clearly written and is certainly worth the effort in reading all the way through to get a complete, accurate picture of marriage laws before it is used as a research tool to look up specific questions. .

Ms. Probert is a genealogist and Professor of Family Law at Warwick University and a leading authority of the history of marriage laws of England and Wales. She strongly disputes the writings of other historians such as John Gillis, Lawrence Stone and Brian Outhwaite who have all written extensively on marriage laws and practice, divorce, cohabitation, and children out of wedlock. Their books have guided genealogists, including me, who write about marriage laws. Probert contends that the errors and assumptions of these authors create confusion for genealogists. In my opinion, she succeeds in clarifying the changing rules of marriage from 1600 to the present.

The book addresses five questions.  (1) “Whether and Why” your ancestor married deals with the likelihood of any given couple having gone through a valid ceremony of marriage. (2) “Who” examines who could marry, and whom they could or could not marry. (3) “How” examines the formalities required for a valid marriage, plus what that means for Roman Catholics or Protestant Dissenters. (4) “When” looks at the age at which couples could and did marry, when parental consent was required and who could object; plus it examines the seasons, days and hours when marriage could be and were celebrated. (5) “Where” moves beyond the legal requirements to large scale genealogical studies that provide guidance to family historians on where they may need to look for the marriages of their ancestors. Throughout the book there is a continual discussion of important key conditions (changing over time) that make a marriage valid, void, and voidable. Additionally there is frequent discussion about what in the law was required versus what was directory. Included in the text are sample questions typically raised by genealogists, and these are answered clearly.

This book will greatly add to your understanding of marriage laws and help you in your research. It is a must for anyone seeking to understand the laws or struggling to find a particular marriage ancestor’s marriage. (Unique laws apply in Scotland and Ireland so don’t apply the laws here to other places, but make use of the framework presented here as an excellent structure for examining marriages in other locations.) If you think you know everything you need to know about English marriage laws then take the authors quiz

There is one small distraction to the book. I have on my office wall a reprint of the painting Signing the Register depicting a nineteenth century wedding by Edmond Blair Leighton, a very familiar painting. The publisher has reversed part of the image of this painting for the cover of the book.  Thus, the bride appears to have her wedding ring on her right hand and is using a quill to sign the register with her left hand, something that certainly was frowned upon in the time period of this painting.