Valuation Rolls in Scotland

The Valuation Rolls in Scotland Go Online for the First Time
The ScotlandsPeople Team is delighted to announce the launch of the Valuation Rolls (VRs) in Scotland for 1915.

This is the first time that the rolls have been published online, allowing genealogists, local historians and other researchers to view images of entries in the rolls. Fully searchable both by name and address, the Valuation Rolls provide a fascinating snapshot of Scotland during the First World War, and will be a valuable resource for family history researchers.

What Do the Rolls Contain?
The rolls record the names of owners, tenants and occupiers of each property, unlike the full lists of family members to be found in the censuses. Usually the named person is the head of the household, but sometimes a husband and wife might be listed. Frequently, the wife is the named tenant of rented property. 
 
Why Were the Valuation Rolls Set Up?
The Valuation Rolls were created so that the authorities could set local rates. The purpose was to assess property by its annual rental value. This was either the value of the rent paid by the tenant, or a notional rental value if the owner occupied their own property. The burgh and county assessors did not list properties individually that were worth below £4 annual rental value.

Special Introductory Offer for the Launch of the Valuation Rolls
To celebrate the launch of the Valuation Rolls (VR), for an introductory period, the cost of viewing a VR image will be will be 2 credits rather than 5.

The View from the Keeper of the Records
Registrar General and Keeper of the Records, George MacKenzie, said:
"We are making available details about property owners and tenants which will be invaluable for people researching their family history, the history of their house, or their local area. The rolls are very useful when used in conjunction with other records, especially the census and statutory registers that people can also search through ScotlandsPeople.”

The View from brightsolid
Chris van der Kuyl, the CEO of brightsolid, who operate ScotlandsPeople for the National Records of Scotland, said:
“The publication of the Valuation Rolls on the ScotlandsPeople website is another piece in the jigsaw for helping people to trace their Scottish ancestry. Everyone at brightsolid is very excited by the launch of these new records, which will complement the 1911 Census records that we published on the ScotlandsPeople site just last year.” 

From Crofts to Castle...
The 1911 Census records provide a snapshot of Scotland on the brink of the First World War. The Valuation Rolls allow researchers to carry the story of their ancestors forward into a time of upheaval and change brought about by war.

Every kind of dwelling can be found in the rolls, from crofts to castles, and they reflect the drift of people from rural areas into our towns and cities, as well as the continuing industrialisation of Scotland.

Working premises include shops, offices, factories, football stadiums, churches, cinemas, swimming baths, railways and even lighthouses. This is a fascinating insight into where and how our ancestors lived.

Who Will Be Interested in the Valuation Rolls?
These new online records will be interesting both to people in Scotland and to the Scottish diaspora across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. 

To browse or search these new records, visit the the ScotlandsPeople website.
Vouchers are available from ASAFHS. Contact the treasurer for details using the "Contact" page.

20th March Meeting in Troon

On Tuesday evening,  fourteen members of the Society attended the Annual Joint Meeting of the four local Societies, i.e. East Ayrshire, Alloway, Largs and Troon.  This year the event was hosted by Troon Family History Society in St. Meddans Church Halls, Troon.

The speaker was Professor Bruce Durie, who is an expert genealogist.  His subject was the famous painting by Charles Lee “The Golfers”, painted in 1847.  He discussed how the characters in the painting had been identified.  The family histories were traced by students of Professor Durie at Strathclyde University, who were attending the Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma course in Genealogy.  The Strathclyde team used 21st century technology to trace the lineal descendants of the characters depicted in the painting.  Photographs were then shown, featuring some of the descendants of the players and onlookers from the 1847 painting, which was set on the Old Course at St. Andrews.  Most of the people in the photographs were delighted to find out about who they were descendant from and were in agreement to having their photographs displayed.

Professor Durie then explained the various technologies that had been used in identifying these characters.

An excellent buffet was served by the ladies of Troon FHS.

Afterwards each Society gave a report of their year’s activities.

Barbara Finlay

21st February Meeting Report

This meeting took the form of an open workshop with local member Sandy Murdoch giving a short introductory talk on "Tracing my ancestors".  Sandy explained the methods used in gathering the information for the first steps in researching his family tree.  His talk was illustrated with pictures of gravestones, documents and family members.

After the talk, the Society’s research facilities were used by members to further their own investigations. 

Graeme Savage

17 January Meeting Report

Over 30 members and guests were in attendance to hear Bob Foulkes give a fascinating talk on the "Census - Past and Present", from their surprisingly early roots to the recent 2011 UK census where, for the first time, people were invited to submit their responses on-line.

The first evidence of a census was from that taken in Babylon in ~4000 BC - so perhaps all those Family Trees going back to Adam and Eve are not as fanciful as we have been led to believe...  Our word "Census" comes from the Latin (Censere - to appraise, value, judge.).  In ancient Rome, a Censor was one of two magistrates in charge of the census determining "the enrollment of the names and property assessments of all Roman citizens". In addition to maintaining the census records, the Roman Censors were responsible for supervising public morality.  It must have been a relief to the enumerators in 2011 who were braving unfriendly dogs and sometimes unwilling members of the public that they were not expected to investigate "public morality".

The ideas of Thomas Malthus which were expounded in "An Essay on the Principle of Population" in 1798. Following this, the problems associated with food shortages and an influx of refugees related to the Napoleonic Wars at the beginning of the 19th century caused anxiety about the numbers of people living in the UK.  In 1800, prompted by a poor harvest, a manufacturing recession, large-scale unemployment and public protests, Parliament passed a bill enabling it to ascertain the exact population of Britain.  It was argued that a national headcount would enable the government to plan the distribution of grain supplies more effectively.  A year later the formal headcount census, revealing 10.9 million people, included only England, Scotland, Wales, the Army, Navy, Seamen - and Convicts.  Until 1861, the enumeration task was undertaken by Schoolteachers in Scotland and, until 1841, by the Overseers of the Poor and similar officials in England and Wales.  After these dates, it became the responsibility of the Registrar General who retains this role today.

In 1841, for the first time, names and other details of use to family historians were taken and recorded and the Householder was responsible for providing the data.  A Census was then held every 10 years except for 1941 because of the Second World War.  Bombing during this time also destroyed the records for the 1931 Census for England and Wales.

The technology used has changed over the years - the first mechanical sorting taking place in 1911, the first use of a computer in 1961, the use of Postal returns in 2001 and the first direct, on-line provision of the data in 2011 (see: www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk).

Bob's personal experience of taking part in the organisation of the 2011 Census enabled him to give us an excellent description of exactly how it was carried out and to include some of the trials and tribulations of those involved.  We have come a long way from the days of concentration on  whether it was possible to feed everyone in the country and, by means of a short quiz, we learned that from previous data, men in Orkney work the highest average hours in Scotland, that in Glasgow 56% of houses have no car, that people in the Aberdeen have the shortest average commute to work (6 Km), that 32.5% of people in Edinburgh have a degree, that 95% of the residents of South Lanarkshire were born in Scotland and that 2% of people in Argyll and Bute speak, read and write Gaelic.  Analysis of the data for 2001 can be found on the Scottish Census Results OnLine website: www.scrol.gov.uk and that for the 2011 census is due in 2014

Pat and John Weston

13th December Social Evening

We tried a new venue this year for our Christmas supper which was held in the Robertson Room of the Burns Museum Alloway, on Tuesday evening the 13th December 2011.

Some 38 members and friends enjoyed an excellent traditional Christmas meal complete with crackers with their appalling jokes and we all enjoyed the opportunity to chat in such a convivial atmosphere. The meal was well-prepared and served by the attentive staff.

After the meal we were entertained by a young violinist, Iona Murdoch, who plays with The National Youth Orchestra. She was accompanied by Jim Cosker on the piano. Later on, Jim entertained us by playing some old time favourites and also kept us amused by reminiscing about tales of some of the artists that he had played for over the years. Jim also gave us the opportunity to join in with some of the songs.