BMD-Certificates.co.uk Sees U.K Birth Certificate Confusion for Scottish Descendants

BMD-Certificates (www.BMD-Certificates.co.uk), a website which offers a specialized service to search for and supply copy certified and official U.K. birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates, has found that their international customers are often encountering difficulties when ordering Scottish birth certificates.

December 8, 2004 -- BMD-Certificates (www.BMD-Certificates.co.uk), a website which offers a specialized service to search for and supply copy certified and official U.K. birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates, has found that their international customers are often encountering difficulties when ordering Scottish birth certificates.

The difficulty arises from the changes to the regions that have occurred over the past two centuries. As customers have come from over 100 countries, these changes are often something that they are not aware of, and so can lead to incorrect applications.

John Walsh of BMD-Certificates said: What we find is often an ancestor has only the town that their descendant came from, and they search using the regions current name, rather than the historical name.

We felt that we should address this issue, and to help clarify this for other overseas researchers.

Pre-1889
Prior to the creation of the administrative counties in 1889, Scotland consisted of thirty four traditional counties, which are listed below in alphabetical order, with alternative names given in brackets:

Aberdeenshire, Angus (Forfarshire), Argyllshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Buteshire, Caithness, Clackmannanshire, Cromartyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Fife, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Mid Lothian (Edinburghshire), Morayshire (Elginshire), Nairnshire, Orkney Islands, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross-shire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Sheland Islands, Stirlingshire, Sutherland, West Lothian (Linlithgowshire), Wigtownshire.

1889-1975
Administrative counties were used for local government in Scotland, based on, but not identical to, the traditional counties. The main difference is the creation of Ross and Cromarty by merging Ross-shire and Cromartyshire.

There were also counties of cities: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

1975-1996
On May 16, 1975 the administrative division into regions took place. This system was in place until April 1, 1996.

1996-Present day
April 1, 1996 brought forth the council areas of Scotland which are unitary authorities:

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire,
Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Glasgow, Highland, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles), North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Perth and Kinross,
Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirling, West Dunbartonshire, West Lothian.

There is also the Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, used for ceremonial purposes. These are different both from the subdivisions and the traditional counties of Scotland. These are:

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Ayrshire and Arran, Banffshire,
Berwickshire, Caithness, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries, Dunbartonshire, Dundee, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Inverness, Kincardineshire, Lanarkshire, Midlothian,
Moray, Nairn, Orkney, Perth and Kinross, Renfrewshire, Ross and Cromarty, Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale, Shetland, Stirling and Falkirk, Sutherland, The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Tweeddale, West Lothian, Western Isles, Wigtown.

The above information was compiled with the help of Wikipedia, and the CIA World Factbook. No direct quotations nor copyright infringements have been intentionally made.

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