> >Will you kindly help me plan a visit to Scotland in June. I will be in >Edinburgh from June 24-28 & In Melrose from June 29-July 3. On two of those >days in each of those places I intend to look at records and/or look in >cemeteries. >How do you think I allocate my time? National Archives? Historical >Societies? Or where? Best use of time? With limited time, preparation is half the battle. > >I am hoping to find my elusive ancestor Andrew Scott who I like think was >born in or around Melrose about 1777. Andrew lived in Melrose & Gattonside >from 1800-1816 when his children were born there. I don't have any idea >when or where he died. If you have tried to find him on Scotland's People, and he's not turned up, it is possible that he was from one of the other denominations (not Church of Scotland) in which case the registers might be in NAS. You can email them now and ask if them have them. Unless there's a good reason not to, I would head for GROS at New Register House - you can get all all the censuses from 1841 to 1901 there. You can also look for death certs for him and his wife . get her 1855 death cert - 1855 certificates are the most informative of the lot (they got carried away as it was the first year). If nothing else (it shoudl show all his kids), it will show whether she died a wife or a widow. Go and visit the Scottish Genealogy Society up near the Castle in Edinburgh - they have a good collection of books for sale including memorial inscription collections and lots of other info. I don't have their URL here, but you'll find it on GENUKI. Apart from anything else, if your guy left a MI, you'll find it in there, and then you'll know it's worth searching. The Borders FHS is in Galashiels (down the road from Melrose) - they're helpful and have a good range of material. I THINK the Borders archives are still in Selkirk. Do take a bit of time out to see the Border Abbeys, though. My favourite, although it's a bit off the beaten track, is Dryburgh. Queen mary's house in Jedburgh is also worth seeing. Above all, enjoy! Lesley Robertson _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail