Traditional Genealogy Links

Identifying your ancestry and the circumstances of ancestral Sutherland families through the past can be fun, rewarding, and often surprising. The following represent some good resources for tracing your family in Canada and Scotland. A cautionary note: many online genealogy websites contain some family trees and connections that are pure fantasies. If a lead looks too good to be true, it is probably not true. If a family in the 1700s suddenly skips from a little parish in Caithness to a noble castle in Moray, it is likely to be a false trail. So beware. Look for confirmation in official documents and for multiple confirmatory pieces of information. There are some online genealogy training programs, and professional genealogists are available (although they can be expensive!).

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1. Family records/bibles, etc. – family stories, photographs, wills, other documents. Older family members often have good stories about their parents, grandparents, etc, that provide valuable clues and directions.

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2. Birth/baptism records – by province in Canada, Scotland

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3. Marriages – by province in Canada, Scotland

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4. Deaths - by province in Canada, Scotland

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5. Census records – Canada, Scotland

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6. Ship/immigration logs - Scotland, Canada, Canada.

7. War records - Canada, UK, and others

8. Hudson’s Bay Company archives - Here.

9. Scottish court actions - Here.

10. Scottish land ownership/transfers - Here.

11. County Sutherland Family History - Here.

12. Caithness Family History Society - Here.

13. Orkney Family History Society - Here.

14. LDS International Genealogical Index - Here.