Tracing your family roots in Britain

Which archive holds what

Births, marriages and deaths were registered separately in each part of the UK, so start with the nation your family came from. If you are not sure, a census entry or a ship's passenger list at home may name the county.

Before you book the flight

1. Write down what you already know: full names, rough dates, and the parish, town or county. Family Bibles, letters and naturalisation papers at home may hold the place name.
2. Search the official online indexes first. In England and Wales, searching the General Register Office's historical birth and death indexes is free once you register an account. ^[6] Scotland's records are searched on ScotlandsPeople. ^[7]
3. Order certificates that confirm the link before you travel, so you go to the right parish.
4. Check opening days and booking rules for every archive on your list: the ScotlandsPeople Centre is open Monday to Friday and needs a booked seat; The National Archives at Kew is open Tuesday to Sunday. ^{[1] [8]}
5. Leave time for the place itself: the village, the church, the cemetery or the street. Archives tell you where; walking it is the reason to make the trip.

Clans, castles and Highland games

Many visitors with Scottish surnames want to see a clan seat. Several are in areas we cover:

• Dunvegan Castle, Skye: seat of the chief of Clan MacLeod, first built in the 13th century. See Skye: things to do.
• Duart Castle, Mull: 13th-century castle beside the Sound of Mull, seat of Clan MacLean. See Oban: things to do.
• Grantown Museum, Grantown-on-Spey: local museum with displays on Highland and Clan Grant history. See Cairngorms: things to do.
• Dunluce Castle, Antrim coast: ruined medieval castle, seat of Clan MacQuillan. See Causeway Coast: things to do.
• Culloden Battlefield, near Inverness: where a Jacobite army was defeated on 16 April 1746. See Inverness: things to do.

Highland games run mostly from May to September, with heavy events such as the caber toss, piping and Highland dancing. The Braemar Gathering is on the first Saturday in September and the Cowal Highland Gathering is in August. ^[9] Check each gathering's own site for the year's date.

Museums about leaving and arriving

If your family emigrated, these museums in our guides help explain the journey:

• Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool: on the Albert Dock; the International Slavery Museum is in the same building. See Albert Dock and the waterfront.
• Titanic Belfast: on the former Harland & Wolff shipyard site. See Titanic Quarter.
• Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, Glasgow: items on Jewish migration to Scotland and Jewish life there from the 18th century. See Charing Cross and Garnethill.
• St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff: free open-air museum of Welsh life with historic buildings. See Cardiff: things to do.

Quick answers