Scottish Genealogy Overview

The About.com's Scottish Genealogy Resource page led me to a Gazetteer of Scotland which helped me find out the names for places in Scotland in various time periods.

About half-way in the article it lists this resource for finding parish names. Gazetteer for Scotland called Scottish Places. This is the source for this reference.

Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885. 

I discovered that I can't always decipher the place names on the vital records or the census. My 2nd great grandfather, William Beveridge, master shoemaker was born in Fife, Scotland but what it says for the parish, I couldn't make sense of. It turns out to be Parish #16, ABDIE which translates to "abbey lands".

The 1881 census (LDS) that I paid to see via Scotland's People lists his birthplace as GIBDE in both the index at Ancestry.com and at the "index image" of this census at Scotland's People. According to books that I have here in my library, the 1881 census images are only available when you actually to to Scotland at the General Register Office.


Please notice that BEVERIDGE is spelled without the E in this "index image" despite the index at Ancestry.com where I found this family listed. The 1881 census was taken the night of 3/4 April 1881. At first, I thought, that is why there are two grandsons listed for this household. Maybe Annie's sister Margaret worked the night shift. She was the wife of James RITCHIE and he died in 1881, so there was no one to tend to William B. RITCHIE at night.

But, this is not the only problem to solve. Ann is unmarried and (yikes) her first born son is living with her at 52 Hadden St. in Woodside, Old Machar, Aberdeen, Scotland. She did not marry until November.

I hope you noticed that both grandson's were named for their grandfather.