NRS holds approximately 80km of records spanning the 12th to 21st centuries, touching upon every aspect of Scottish life. As the repository for the public and legal records of Scotland, and guardian of many local and private archives, NRS holds thousands of records that provide a unique resource for historians. These records include the statutory registers (births, deaths and marriages), church records, Sasines and other property records, burgh records, valuation rolls and many other invaluable sources for family history and broader research. To find out more about the different records held at NRS please see our Research Guides (https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/a-z [1]).

NRS records are available to consult at the beautiful General Register House via the Historical Search Room. Opened in 1847, NRS continues to provide free access for the purposes of non-legal research. The search room is open Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 16:00. To find out more about visiting us see our website (https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/historical-search-room [2]).

Our ScotlandsPeople service gives easy access to key Scottish family history resources(https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ [3]): the official records of births, deaths and marriages, wills, census records, Coats of Arms, valuation rolls and more. The indexes for these records can be searched online for free and credits purchased to view images of the records.

Alternatively the service can be accessed onsite at the ScotlandsPeople Centre in two search rooms at General Register House and New Register House for a fee of £15 for a full or part day. The centre is open Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 16:00. Further information about visiting is available on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk [4].