Family History in Scotland

Happy Anniversary! Here's a link to the center. http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/ Looks like there is TONS of information there. "Open-jaw" tickets can be more expensive, but they can also be as cheap as a round-tip. So there is no immediate, automatic financial benefit. LOTS of detail here: http://www.bidontravel.com/traveltips/open-jaw-circle.html Open-jaw tickets are great when you don't want to use up precious time traveling back to where you started from. As I understand the rules, London and Edinburgh are "combinable" for an open-jaw ticket.

Open jaws tickets will always be cheaper when you factor in the time and expense of return to the original point. Two years ago it was $200/person cheaper to fly into Rome and home from Zurich than a RT to Rome. Last year did some pricing for a friend and it was $10 cheaper into London and home from Paris than RT London. It has been years since we had single RT ticket to Europe - always open jaw.

@Frank: Oh yeah. DUH! I never factor that in, and you are right - it does make open-jaw a better deal. :D

Can't tell if financially cheaper to fly open jaw when relates to the cost of airfare but it certainly makes sense as far as the time to get back to say Edinburgh after London. Unless you plan to do a circular trip, I think open jaw is the way to go. I seem to remember someplace in Edinburgh to do the research you are asking about but am sure someone else will be able to help you with this. Enjoy.

Here is information on the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=546&1322

Thanks, Kira! Our anniversary is actually in November, but I think we will try for September of next year. I hope a few gardens will still be in bloom in England. Thanks everyone, for your advice. I will certainly love planning this trip!

Cindy, you'll find that the gardens have flowers in September. Also, the fruiting plants are quite colorful. It's fall flowers, though. ; ) You can do a lot of research online before you go. Then you can plan to visit some of the places his family is from. Pam

It is amazing what you can find about your ancestors by just typing the name and birth year or death year or marriage year. I did that for Jean Stirling 1783 who I knew was my Great Great Great Grandmother. I discovered she grew up in Kirkintillich near Glasgow. She and her husband left for Canada in 1820. So, I went to Kirkintillich (a few weeks ago) and saw that it has a great view of the nearby Highlands and a wonderful canal just re-opened. I went to the Library and they were able to get me a microfilm of the birth records. I got to see the written record of her birth and that was a thrill. My mother believed that she was the dis-owned daughter of a baronet who married Gloriana from Connecticut but it has become clear to me that the story of Jean's connection to that was probably made up.

You'll love the UK in the fall. We used to go in Nov/Dec. Kew Gardens is beautiful anytime of year- there are always the greenhouses, even if other areas aren't quite the show they are at other times! And their shop is fabulous. Edinburgh has several clan centers, if you can do a little research ahead of time it might help to narrow things down a bit. You can certainly find your family tartan, clan badge, etc. How long do you have to visit? If you can work out at least 10 days or more, you can do a great trip. Again, if you can find out a bit of family history ahead of time, you could possibly visit areas that are "special" for you. I found that my mother's family is related to the "King of the Isles" McDonald's and the Glencoe McDonald's- so the Aviemore, Inverness, Isle of Skye area was special for me. We have been to the UK more than 40 times, so feel free to ask any questions. I'll be glad to throw in my 2 cents worth.

We did travel to London two years ago and the weather was great - crowds not too bad. I'm sure as we travel north, the weather will be a little cooler and days shorter. My husbands roots are in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayr, Old Cumnock, and Girvan, The last three towns are very small so maybe renting a car would be a good idea to see these areas. I got my interest in genealogy about 10 years ago and am fascinated by it. I think it will be a great trip. Thanks!

I know there is a big research center in Inverness. It's free to the public.

If you're serious about Geneology, visit your local library and use Ancestry.com (most libraries are subscribers). Take as much information to Scotland with you as you can. The more information you have in hand about who, where, date/place of birth, marriage, death, etc., the more information you will be able to gather (and quite a bit faster). I agree, open jaw will be your better deal. Remember to price different departure and return days, airports, reversing your itinerary, etc. The more flexibility you have, the more likely you are to get a good deal.

Cindy,
Happy anniversary! My wife and I did the same thing in 2007. I did some research before I left and found our family was from the Strathaven area about an hour drive south of Glasgow. All of my info was from other family members. We went to three castles associated with our family. In Edinburgh at the Castle there is all of the Scottish Military Records. We paged through them and found several links which I took pictures off and gave to others when I got home. My aunt has gone on a tare here lately and filled in all of the gaps. Ancestry.com is good and the Mormon church is very into all geneology because of some of their beliefs with the afterlife. She has gone to her local Mormon church and recieved a lot of family history from Utah. The year after we got back my grandfather turned 80 and at his big birthday bash there was a distant relative who had done tons of research. He asked if we had visited the family houses, talked to relatives etc? We said we didn't know and a couple weeks later he sent us a whole packet of stuff. The aunt who did the research went last year and got all kinds of pictures. I guess I am trying to say exhaust all of your resources here before you go. You will have an awesome time. Scotland is wonderful in the fall.

Thanks, Nate! This is my husband's family, but I think I'm actually more excited about all of this than he is. I hired a genealogist from England, who confirmed all the information I had gathered from ancestry.com and family members. I had some reservations about traveling that far north in the fall. We were in London in October of 2009, and the weather was beautiful there. I guess I think of Scotland as cold and blustery! But I'm sure we will have a great time.

We used to go to Scotland regularly in late Nov/early Dec. LOVED IT!!! Yes, it may be cool, even a bit cold. We had snow once in Inverness and Aviemore(less than 2-3 inches total, but the locals thought it was alot). Take clothes you can layer, a good waterproof/wind resistant outer coat , gloves, a good hat or hooded scarf, comfortable walking shoes and warm socks and you'll be fine. Nothing beats having a good single malt whisky (I prefer the whisky from Speyside distilleries myself) in front of a fire in a pub or hotel lobby - especially if you also have some homemade shortbread with it!!! Edinburgh also has a very good German-style Christmas market, which we enjoyed. Many churches also hold "markets" or bazzars during the late fall or winter. I often found lovely jewelery, vases, and other unique things.

There is a good Clan McDonald Museum and information about the clan on Isle of Skye, if you get that far and are related.