How to get the most from Scotland’s People without spending a penny (yet)
If you’re just getting started with Scottish family history, chances are you’ve heard of Scotland’s People. It’s the official website for Scottish birth, marriage, death, census, and other historic records.
It’s incredibly useful, but it is a paid service. And if you’re anything like me when I was starting out, you might not be ready to throw money at records you’re not even sure are the right ones.
Here’s the good news. You can get a lot out of Scotland’s People without spending anything. This post walks you through how to make the most of the free features before committing any spondoolies.
What can you do for free on Scotland’s People?
ScotlandsPeople uses a credit system. You pay to view or download record images, but searching and browsing the index is completely free. That means you can:
- Search civil birth, marriage and death records
- View census record indexes (1841 to 1921)
- Search wills and testaments
- Preview church records
- Search valuation rolls
You’ll get names, dates, and registration districts. That’s often enough to identify likely records before you pay for a full image. Think of it like browsing the menu before ordering.
Tip 1: Use the free indexes to confirm names and dates
Let’s say you’re looking for your great-grandfather, James Stewart, born in Lanarkshire around 1888.
Rather than jumping in to buy a birth record, try this:
- Go to Statutory registers > Births
- Enter:
- Surname: Stewart
- Forename: James
- Year: 1888 ± 2
- County: Lanark
- Click search
You’ll get a list of all James Stewarts born within those criteria. It shows the year, district, and an entry number. All of that is free.
Start to cross-reference that basic information with what you know already and you can begin to narrow down the most likely match before spending credits to view the full image.
Tip 2: Look at reference numbers to spot family groups
This trick works especially well in the census records. You can often identify whole households based on the reference number alone.
Say you’re viewing the 1901 census for a family called Ross in a parish area. You might spot:
- Ross, John (age 42) – Ref: 098/ 5/ 17
- Ross, Mary (age 40) – Ref: 098/ 5/ 17
- Ross, Angus (age 12) – Ref: 098/ 5/ 17
Same reference? Same household.
You’ve just identified a family group with no credits spent yet.
Tip 3: Marriages can be a Two-for-One
Marriage records are indexed under both the bride and the groom, so you can often spot both parties from a single free search. You can use the free search to:
- Confirm the year and district
- Identify both bride and groom
- Spot duplicate surnames (handy in small rural communities)
Do this by:
- Start by searching for one person
- Look at the year and district
- Do a second search using the other person’s name
If both show up in the same district with the same year, you have your match.
You can also use this technique to confirm maiden names or identify sibling marriages within a family.
Tip 4: Wills and Testaments previews are free
ScotlandsPeople holds a remarkable collection of wills and testaments dating back to 1513. Some are surprisingly detailed, and unlike civil records, you can preview the titles for free.
You’ll see:
- The deceased’s name
- Occupation
- Residence
- Court and year of registration
That may be all you need to determine whether it’s your ancestor. If it looks promising, you can purchase the full document later.
Tip 5: Use the advanced search filters smartly
Don’t be afraid to get specific. You can search by:
- County and parish
- Mother’s maiden name (births)
- Spouse’s name (marriages)
- Age at death (deaths)
The more detail you plug in, the more you reduce false hits, and that means fewer guesses when it’s time to pay.
Also, be flexible with spellings. Scottish records have some creative versions of names (MacLeod = McLoud = MacLoyd = wtf).
Tip 6: Screenshot the index
If you’re browsing and not ready to buy, take a screenshot or note down:
- Name
- Year
- Registration district
- Entry/reference number
This helps you come back to your search later without repeating steps.
Final thoughts: You don’t need to spend big to start strong
Let’s be clear about something. Scotland’s People is an amazing genealogy resource and we’re really lucky to have it. You can make quick progress verifying and checking your family tree facts, and I think it’s great value for money, and I’m happy to spend when needed.
But you don’t have to pay for everything straight away.
With smart searching, index previews, and a bit of patience, you can build a solid base and take your research quite far on a tight budget.
And once you’ve narrowed things down, that first full record image feels pretty satisfying. Seeing your direct descendants’ actual signature on their child’s birth record never grows old.