Elizabeth Shand Birth or Baptism ~1790

[ronpsmith]

Thanks Trish

I am definitely going to start using Scotlands People now. Though for my own name (Smith of Aberdeenshire), I am going to have to be very carefull using the credits!

Ron

[StewL]

Hi Ron
Yes, with a name like Smith you could burn through the credits.
I had the same trouble when I started with Alexander Stewart, so many, I was going down the wrong track for a while, costing lots
If you are looking for people on censuses, it may pay to look for unusual given names (if there are any).
But anyway, good hunting for your lang deid yins.

[trish1]

Thanks Trish

I am definitely going to start using Scotlands People now. Though for my own name (Smith of Aberdeenshire), I am going to have to be very carefull using the credits!

Ron

A useful part of Scottish genealogy research is that most baptisms record the mothers maiden name - and they form part of the index (cf English parish records where baptisms did not usually record the mother's maiden name). Using Family Search to limit your searching before using SP is a good idea - and fortunately the name Smith is not as common in Scotland, as it is in England.

Also, when looking for deaths, women are usually indexed under their married and maiden names - as they also are in the wills index. I have also found that on census records women are sometimes recorded with their maiden names, despite being married and living in the household with their husbands. So if you concentrate on the female side of the family when starting, could be beneficial.

Note also that SP gives you up to 25 index lines for 1 credit. Took me awhile to make use of that feature. You can often get all the children from one family on the same page with the right searches (and often their cousins as well - if they all came from the same parish or the name is slightly more unique than smith). Researching siblings can sometimes fill the gaps left by missing records in your direct line.

Trish