Find Your Orkney Roots
Getting started
You should make sure that you find out first as much as possible about your ancestors, such as names, dates of birth, marriage and death, and places of origin or destination in your own country. Draw up a family tree with as many members on it as possible, going as far back as you can.
There is help available in Orkney, through the work of the Orkney Family History Society, which is run by volunteers who work closely with the Orkney Library and Archive. The Society databases are under constant development, with limited access to members and enquirers. Information is held on relevant local genealogical documents, including articles, debtors' lists, emigration lists, family tress, testaments, and census returns. Use the contact e-mail on this site to forward your enquiry to local experts in family history.
We are very lucky in Scotland to have a good system of records for those wishing to trace their ancestry. Compulsory registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages was introduced in 1855, and older records in the form of the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) some of which go back to 1533. Another source of information is the Orkney GENUKI website which is part of an all-Britain project which collects material of use or interest to those researching their British ancestry.
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The General Register Office (GRO) at New Register House in Edinburgh holds a marvellous national resource, comprising national censuses from the 1800s, and going even further back, parish registers. It is important to know exactly who or what you are looking for at GRO, and a search of their website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) will give an idea of what is possible.
Extracts of the original entries can be ordered directly
from the database, for a modest charge, and are sent out as postal paper
documents.
You can also trace your Orcadian family tree with the help of the many other websites which have been set up by records and research organisations. Some of these are pay-per-view, and others offer practical advice and information.
When you want to come and see for yourself
Good luck with your search for your Orcadian roots, and do please get in
touch if you need help or advice. We look forward to hearing from you,
and will be delighted to help you plan your trip to Orkney,
when you decide to come and see the old homeland for
yourself.
Log on to www.visitorkney.com or e-mail info@visitorkney.com for all you need to know about the culture, landscape and wildlife of the islands. Getting to Orkney, getting around the islands, and making your own connection with your ancestors, is easier than you think.