Tracing your Roots in Moray

TRACING YOUR ROOTS IN MORAY
The Local Heritage Centre holds a wealth of information for anyone seeking to find out more about their family history in Moray.
For family history research the ideal starting point is your own family including relatives and older friends who may all be able to provide useful information. Documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates, school and army records, photographs, scrapbooks, family bibles etc can help to build a fuller picture of your family’s history.
From 1 January 1855 all births, marriages and deaths had to be registered. All these certificates usually give the names of the parents. So, for example, if you knew one of these dates for a grandparent, the certificate from the local registrar’s office will give the names of the great-grandparents.
For records prior to 1855 researchers have to rely on church registers of baptisms, marriage and burials, wills, censuses, gravestone inscriptions and other miscellaneous records. These and other resources listed below are held at Grant Lodge in Elgin and can prove invaluable if you want to find out more about your roots in Moray. The facility is run by trained staff with many years experience and an unrivalled expertise on Moray.
If your roots are in Moray and you have some basic facts to build on, you can employ the resources of The Moray Council’s Local Heritage Centre to help trace your family tree.
The Local Heritage Service at holds a comprehensive collection of unique records. These can make the difference between success and failure in your search.

Moray
Moray comprises the parishes of Aberlour, Alves, Bellie, Birnie, Boharm, Botriphnie, Cullen, Dallas, Deskford, Drainie, Duffus, Dyke and Moy, Edinkillie, Elgin, Forres, Grange, Inveravon, Keith, Kinloss, Kirkmichael, Knockando, Mortlach, Rafford, Rathven, Rothes, Rothiemay, St Andrews-Lhanbryde, Speymouth, Spynie and Urquhart.

Monumental Inscriptions
All monumental (gravestone) inscriptions in Moray (legible when surveyed in 1978-79) have been recorded and every personal name indexed. A plan of each graveyard denotes the location of each stone.

Census Returns
Copies are available of the enumerators’ books for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses which list individually every person in the counties of Banffshire, Moray and Nairnshire (and also some of Aberdeenshire and Inverness-shire) with details of their names, addresses, ages, sex, occupations, places of birth and relationship to the head of the family (except 1841).

Old Parish Registers
These Church of Scotland records comprise entries for baptisms, marriages and deaths prior to 1855 when civil registration was introduced. The original registers are held in New Register House but microfilm copies of all surviving registers for the parishes in Moray, Banffshire and Nairnshire (and Cabrach and Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie) can be consulted in the Local Heritage Centre.
A copy of the index compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) relating to the baptisms and marriages in these and other parishes in Scotland is available. There is also a copy of the International Genealogical Index (IGI) for the United Kingdom.

Non-Established Church Records
Microfilm copies of the registers of baptisms, marriages and deaths for the following churches are also held. The years refer to the earliest entries.
Buckie Catholic Church 1844, Burghead Free Church 1850, Chapeltown Catholic Church 1829, Elgin Catholic Church 1840, Elgin Episcopal Church 1721, Fochabers Catholic Church 1778, Fochabers Episcopal Church (Gordon Chapel) 1835, Forres United Associate Congregation 1772, Huntly Episcopal Church 1794, St Thomas’s Catholic Church (Keith) 1836, Keith Episcopal Church 1801, Preshome Catholic Church 1787, Rathven Episcopal Church 1762, St Margaret’s Church, Aberlour 1873, St Ninians Catholic Church 1836, Tombae Catholic Church 1812, Tomintoul Catholic Church 1808.
As well as indexing the death registers from the old Church of Scotland registers there is also an ongoing project to index the church records listed above.

Newspapers
Microfilm copies are kept of all local newspapers from 1827 to the present day. These newspapers are continually being indexed and these indexes include biographical information and entries from the "deaths" and "marriages" columns. The newspapers include the following: Banffshire Advertiser 1881-date, Banffshire Herald 1893-date, Banffshire Journal 1845-date, Dufftown News 1898-1982, Elgin Courant 1836-1967, Elgin Courier 1827-1874, Forres Gazette 1837-date, Northern Scot 1880-date, as well as a number of short-lived newspapers. A microfilm copy of the Aberdeen Journal is also held from 1747-1910.

Other Sources
A collection of about 8000 books and pamphlets on Moray includes family histories and individual biographies. There are also microfilm copies of interment registers for cemeteries in Moray 1845 to date; poor law registers 1845-1930; school admission and withdrawal registers 1868-date; valuation rolls 1855-date and many other series. There are also collections of private archives dating back to the 16th century. Many of these collections have been indexed.

Indexed
Newspapers, documents, photographs and plans are continually being indexed on to our on-line public access computer index. This facility will soon be available on the Internet.

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