Go back to 19th-century Scotland with our latest releases

2-3 minute read

By Niall Cullen | March 27, 2020

Findmypast is home to the fastest-growing collection of Scottish family records online.

If your clan has origins in Ayrshire, Scotland, you'll want to see what's new this Findmypast Friday. These latest record releases are only available online at Findmypast and have been published in partnership with East Ayrshire Family History Society.

Scotland, Ayrshire, Kilmarnock Valuation Roll 1874

Trace ancestors who owned or rented land in Kilmarnock with these valuation roll records from 1874. Transcripts with the most important family tree details, as well as digital copies of the original records can reveal:

Landlord's and/or tenant's names
Addresses
Description of the property
How much rent was paid

Scotland's valuation rolls recorded the people, properties and taxes for each county and burgh in the country between 1855 and 1996.

Scotland, Ayrshire, Kilmarnock Ratepayers 1838-1846

These unique records of ratepayers in Kilmarnock could reveal your Scottish ancestors' names, occupations and addresses.

Hint: Try marriage records or censuses.

Local and central government officials collected these property records until The Lands Valuation (Scotland) Act, 1854 established a uniform process for valuing tenancies across the country.

Scotland, Ayrshire, Kilmarnock Voters Lists 1837-1852

We're rounding-off our exclusive Kilmarnock collection with these fascinating electoral records. A combination of the records' transcripts and digitized images of the original documents can reveal:

Names
Occupations
Addresses
Your ancestor's chosen candidate
Those who didn't vote

At the time these records were taken, the right to vote in Scotland was not universal. Only owners or tenants of residences worth more than £10 could vote, provided all of their taxes had been paid for the previous year.

Cross-referencing our new Kilmarnock records with Scottish censuses from surrounding years is a useful way to discover more details about your family and make sure you're focusing on the right person.

Newspapers

We've added almost a century's worth of pages from one new newspaper along with substantial updates to 10 titles from England and Ireland this week. Brand new to the site is:

Crewe Chronicle covering the years 1874-1887 and 1889-1972

As well as that, here is the list of papers that have had more pages added and the years covered:

Halifax Evening Courier has been updated with editions from 1893-1896
Midland Counties Advertiser has been updated with editions from 1854-1875, 1881, 1885, 1892-1896, 1941, 1943 and 1946
Scarborough Gazette has been updated with editions from 1850, 1855 and 1868
Newcastle Journal has been updated with editions from 1936-1937
Huddersfield Daily Examiner has been updated with editions from 1874
Torbay Express and South Devon Echo has been updated with editions from 1958-1967 and 1969-1972
Leicester Daily Mercury has been updated with editions from 1926 and 1931
Harrow Observer has been updated with editions from 1980
Kensington Post has been updated with editions from 1986
Newcastle Evening Chronicle has been updated with editions from 1893

We'd love to hear about your discoveries from this week's records and newspapers. Share your finds on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, tagging them with #WhereWillYourPastTakeYou?

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