Members Helping Member June 5, 2021

Presentation Description:

Come and listen to Emma Maxwell as she discusses Scottishindexes.com and her website can help you find your Scottish family tree.

Scottish Indexes is a family-run business based in central Scotland. Graham first set up Maxwell Ancestry in 1996, then in 2001 his wife Emma joined the team. As far back as 2001 Graham and Emma were indexing records so that you could trace your Scottish family tree from anywhere in the world.

Moving with the times, Scottish Indexes was launched in 2014. The new website gave online access to Scottish genealogy records. Throughout all this time, though, the goal has remained the same: to help others research their own family tree. Emma and Graham know how enjoyable it is to trace your family history. Most people want to experience that themselves, they want to be the detective in their own family history mystery.

From time to time you need access to an original record here in Scotland or you need some experience, that’s where the professionals come in, not to take over but assist.

Things have changed a good deal in genealogical research since the early days of the business. Back then, General Register Office staff would bring the original books to your desk, where you would wade through the volumes and take painstaking notes. As well as being time-consuming, this method meant that with time and use the books were wearing out. The General Record Office moved to copy all their documents onto microfiche: you got the correct reference from the computer index, filled out an orange slip, and then sought the correct microfiche from the drawer. While this process safeguarded the books it was still very slow. Fortunately, these days the images can be viewed on the new computers - speeding up the whole process considerably, and giving us more time to add detail to family trees.

As well as an index to 1000s of historical records Graham and Emma have created a Learning Zone where you can learn more genealogy skills. From a beginner’s guide to using High Court records you’ll find a wealth of knowledge. The Asylum section of Scottish Indexes will help you find out about every Scottish asylum, where the records are held, and how to access them.

We will also have time for our Members Helping Members segment where your genealogical questions can be answered by other members. You may also talk about any genealogical successes you have had, problems you are encountering, or share with the group some of your current research. It is a chance for you to interact with your fellow genealogists so that we can all learn from each other. We invite you to come and have some fun with us.

We encourage you to send your questions, at least two days prior to the session, to webmaster@nwsgenealogy.org