The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) are the registers of births/baptisms, banns/marriages, and some deaths/burials recorded by individual parishes of the Established Church (Church of Scotland) before the introduction of civil registration in 1855. The oldest Old Parish Register (OPR) in Scotland dates from 1553 for the parish of Errol in Perthshire.
Date and location coverage
All four of our archive centres hold OPRs on microfilm. The OPRs for Inverness are the oldest in the Highlands from 1602, but the majority of Highland OPRs commence in the mid to late 18th century. Skye unfortunately has none prior to 1800.
What can these records be used for?
OPRs can be used to search for a birth, baptism, marriage proclamation, marriage, death or burial (very few deaths are recorded). The content can vary greatly as there was no standardised system before statutory registration was introduced in 1855. Baptisms and marriages make up the bulk of the entries with births and burials also recorded in some parishes. Names of witnesses, occupations, places of residence are also frequently recorded.
Access and restrictions
If the register has survived then you can view the relevant microfilm.
Copies and photography
Copies are possible (Charges may apply). It is not possible to take photographs of the documents when on screen.
What next?
It might be worthwhile looking at the Kirk Session records for the relevant parish. These have not all survived and like the OPRs there are gaps. Your ancestor might have been Roman Catholic or from 1843-1854 a member of the Free Church of Scotland. Both churches have their own records prior to 1855. It is also worth looking at the 1841 and 1851 census returns for family members.
