Local Studies

Aberdeenshire Libraries have a number of resources to help you discover your family tree

Book to Research

We are open for research into local interest and family history and booking an appointment (although not essential) is advised.

Find out more about this service including how to book an appointment:

Local Studies - Book to Research

Starting Family History Research

The first rule in tracing your family history is to start with what you know and work backwards.  Gather any original birth, marriage and death certificates and assemble what information you can from them.  Birth certificates, for example, include the names of the parents and the date and place of their marriage, where appropriate.  Use this information to trace their marriage certificate, which will give you their ages.  These dates can be used to trace their birth certificates and so on.

Talk to other family members who may be able to provide key names and dates.  Speak to other people doing family history research for useful tips and always note where your information comes from. 

Explore our resources

Old Parish Records

The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) are records of births/baptisms, banns/marriages, and deaths/burials kept by individual parishes of the Church of Scotland between the 17th century and 1854. They are the most important source for tracing your Scottish ancestors before the introduction of civil registration in 1855. 

Census Records

Census Records are available from 1841 - 1901 on microfilm in selected libraries. There is a hundred year closure so the 1911 and 1921 censuses can be accessed via ScotlandsPeople. Before you start, try and find out the name of your ancestor, birth year, birth place and address at time of the census.