Trace your Scottish ancestry
You can explore your family history using official records held in Scotland. Highland Registration Offices offer access to records and support to help you search.
What records are available
You can search:
- birth, death and marriage records from 1855 to today
- old parish records from 1553 to 1854
- census records from 1841 to 1921
Census records were collected every 10 years.
How to search records
There are different costs depending on how you wish to search and what you want to order.
- Particular search – £5 per entry. A Registrar searches for a specific record over a 5-year period
- General search – £30 per hour or part of an hour. A Registrar searches for any number of entries over any number of years
Once you find a record, you can:
- make pencil notes from the entry
- buy a certificate (extract) for £10
- buy a historic paper copy for 50p (available for births over 100 years old, deaths over 50 years old, marriages over 75 years old, census records and old parish register entries)
Inverness Registration Office has 4 computers in The Family History Room at The Highland Archive and Registration Centre which are available to book for research Cost - £20 per day or part day thereof To book a seat, please email inverness.registrars@highland.gov.uk.Book a seat for ScotlandsPeople