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Groundbreaking Book for Scottish Genealogy

Scottish Genealogy

Scottish Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond
By Dr. David Dobson

Scottish Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond marks the culmination of over fifty years of historical and genealogical research by Dr. David Dobson in archives and libraries throughout Scotland. As one would expect in a Scottish genealogy guidebook, this publication identifies the major sources and repositories for those just getting started on their research. But what makes this book stand out from all the rest is its focus on the important, but less commonly used, sources. Armed with these “beyond the basic” sources, Scottish researchers can now put the basic facts they have gathered into context.

With an emphasis on publications, original manuscripts, and archival records, Dr. Dobson highlights ways to trace Scottish ancestors using alternative sources, primarily those covering the years between 1550 and 1850. For each research topic—including statutory registers, church records, tax records, sasines and land registers, court records, military and maritime sources, burgh and estate records, emigration records, and much more—Dr. Dobson has compiled an extensive list of the publications and archival records that will enable family historians to advance their research. It would take years for any individual to compile such a far-reaching bibliography and compilation of relevant records in Scottish archives.

Another unique feature of this guidebook is the inclusion of numerous excerpts from publications and archival records, which will help lead researchers to the sources most applicable to their research. All surnames that appear in these examples are listed in the surname index at the back of the book.

About the Author

Dr. David Dobson was born in 1940 in Carnoustie, Scotland, and was educated at Dundee College of Technology (now University of Abertay) and the University of St. Andrews, and finally at the University of Aberdeen. Most of his working life was spent at Madras College, St. Andrews. He has been an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, and at present, at the University of St. Andrews. Since 1983 he has been researching the Scottish Diaspora in archives and libraries throughout Scotland, London, Ireland, Copenhagen, the Netherlands, Madeira, Canada, the United States, and the West Indies. He is the author of more than 200 books, including Scottish Emigration to Colonial America, 1607-1785, Scottish Trade with Colonial Charleston, 1683-1783, and numerous historical and genealogical source books, plus he has contributed to many other publications, such as An Atlas of Scottish History to 1707, Scottish Communities Abroad in the Early Modern Period, and Scotland and the Flemish People. He now lives in Dundee and is working on further source books. View Book Details


Also new from David Dobson . . .

Scots-Irish Links, 157-1725.  Part Eleven
Dr. David Dobson

The Plantation of Ulster by Scots in the seventeenth century is a well known established fact.  Family historians, however, require very specific reference material which is generally missing from the published accounts of the migration and settlement of thousands of Scots in Ireland at that time. While the majority of settlers were from the Scottish Lowlands, some, especially in the late sixteenth century, were Highlanders.  It should also be noted that although the Presbyterians were in the majority, there was a sizable minority that were Episcopalians, and a few that were Roman Catholic.  Also, though the main area of settlement was in Ulster, it is evident that a number settled further south.

Part Eleven of Scots Irish Links, 1575-1725 attempts to identify more of these Scottish settlers.  It is based on research carried out into both manuscript and published sources found in Scotland, Ireland, and England. This volume is heavily based on documents in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the National Records of Scotland, especially those which establish the economic links of the period, such as the contemporary port books of both Scotland and Ireland, and records from the High Court of the Admiralty of Scotland.  Such records identify the ports and trading links which facilitated emigration to Ireland.

Within a few generations, the descendants of these Ulster Scots emigrated in substantial numbers across the Atlantic where, as the Scotch-Irish, they made a major contribution to the settlement and development of Colonial America.

As with previous volumes, each of the roughly 1,800 listings in Part Eleven provides the inhabitant’s name, occupation, place of residence, a date, and the source. In some instances, Mr. Dobson gives quite a bit more, as

CAMPBELL, WILLIAM, son of William Campbell of Wester Kames and nephew of Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck, settled in northern Ireland prior to 1689. He served as a Major in the defence of Londonderry in 1689.  He had two sons James born 1690, and Samuel born 1695, both emigrated to America and settled in Boston, Massachusetts in 1728. [SHS.22.89] View Book Details