Estate Records

[Pandabean]

Last night I was watching my Monarch of the Glen series...great series by the way.... and it was the episode where a genealogist comes to do some research and they are going through estate records. One thing that was mentioned by ye Olde Hector was they had records for every birth,marriage etc in his land.

My thought is, would estate records actually be available or would they have been donated to the archives when the estate system kind of collapsed or became less prominent?

My other thought and reason for asking is on my McDonald side, there was a family member who was the daughter/son (can't mind at the mo) of the piper for the MacKinnons on Skye so I was wondering if any record is likely to exist for that. My McDonald lines is a long a treacherous line to research.

[LesleyB]

Hi Andy

As far as I'm aware, some estate records rest with local archives, (probably some at NAS too?) but I think a good number are still held at the individual estates - I think that it will be a very specific answer for each estate, probably this also applies to the type and degree of detail of the records held, if they have survived.

One thing that was mentioned by ye Olde Hector was they had records for every birth,marriage etc in his land.

I rather doubt this will be a typical case for all estates, and I think possibly quite rare - if indeed estate records were a good source of birth records I suspect we'd probably have heard of them as such before now!! Maybe it just suited the story line for that to be the case?

See also:
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/estateRecords.asp

Best wishes
Lesley

[Pandabean]

Hi Lesley,

I doubt it as well but always worth a shot. I think it was words to those affects maybe it was a copy of the parish registers or something. I know its just a TV series but it popped up a few questions.

Here we go, found this in an old email:

"Family tradition is that her father was Finlay MacKenzie who was tutor to the family of MacKinnon of Corry. "

This was passed on from the MacDonald centre in Skye who were helping with my McDonald research at the time. So I have no idea if the MacKinnon's of Corry was a proper estate or just a well off family.

Im probably going to open my old can of worms with this research as the McDonald has to be one of my most troublesome lines.

Cheers,
Andy

[LesleyB]

Hi Andy

Don't know if this, turned up with a quick google, helps any:
http://www.fife.50megs.com/scottish-pla ... -names.htm

COIRE CHATACHAN G. The cony of the cat lairs. Boswell and Johnson were entertained in the old house of Coirechatachain by MacKinnon of Corry during their visit to Skye in 1773. MacKinnon was factor to Lord MacDonald.

Best wishes
Lesley

[bleckie]

Hi Andy
Good luck with your McDonald line I wholeheartedly agree with you about them being troublesome
I have been banging my head for long enough
Good Luck
Yours Aye
BruceL

[Pandabean]

Thanks Bruce. We can bang our heads together then.

It doesnt help my lot abandon their kids and disappear in Glasgow in the mid 1800s, and trying to find a McDonald in Glasgow at this time is like looking for a Smith in England. At least I got the line back to Skye which is what I was hoping for. So I am happy with that at least.

Lesley, I will have a look into that house, Coirechatachain. Might reveal something although I suspect that records are now with the MacDonald Research centre on Skye.

[Archiver]

The National Register of Archives for Scotland have lists of various estate papers held privately, and which have since been deposited in either the NAS or local archives on their catalogue at www.nas.gov.uk/onlineregister

It will say whether the records are held privately, in which case you contact the NRAS who will then pass your message on to the owners, or if they are held in an archive somewhere. It's a great source! Also, bear in mind that some estates may have been listed more than once, so may have different reference numbers for various parts of their collections. The listing was begun in the latter half of the 20th century, and various bits and pieces have since turned up.

Trick is to search for a place name, a surname, a house name - something that pinpoints the area of research if you don't know the estate owner. Also, don't be put off if records are held far away from where the estate was. This could just be down to the break up of the estate and solicitors being spread across the country.