Thank you for that, Rosemary. I too have lost credits but not that much! I have confused people over this issue. What I am looking for (I suspect) is the original church record. The statutory registers say e.g. signed James Ferguson witness. For the Registrar to put signed on the certificate there must be a piece of paper that the witness actually signed. I appreciate that this is not part of the Statutory registers but it must have appeared somewhere... possibly a church copy? This would be the case in England. What I am seeking is that record. I understand how a different practice could grow up in birth or death registration. The informant is sitting in an office giving the details, the registrar writes them down and then offers the paper for signature, 15 minutes a time say but is a registrar going to leave the office and sit through a whole marriage ceremony? I think not. I suspect that the minister recorded the information from his own church register and returned it to New Register House. If I am right I want to find the original church record. I fully accept that the secular record will not assist me. I would just add that James Ferguson to my knowledge never registered a birth or a death, certainly, not his mother's and he was in England by 1876. I contacted two AGRA members yesterday but neither has come back tome. if I hear nothing I will contact Kirsty Wilkinson John On 27/02/2014 15:49, Rosemary Morgan wrote: > I've followed this topic with interest as I have in the past compared the > signature of an informant on a Scottish death record (c. 1925), with that > on an English Will, to prove to a client that I had found her grandmother. > > Having just gone back into Scotlands People (and found "en passant" that > my 84 credits had expired - drat!), it does look like the marriage witness > signatures are not recorded, while those of the death informants are. It > would interesting to know why, but it may have something to do with the > way that marriage details were recorded at the time of marriage. > > I would definitely suggest an email to an ASGRA member, and would > recommend Kirsty Wilkinson, a very knowledgeable Scottish genealogist, and > colleague of mine. If she doesn't know, she can probably help you find > out. > > Here is the ASGRA link: http://www.asgra.co.uk/listofmembers.php > > I hope this helps. > > Rosemary > > > On 27/02/2014 14:08, "Adrian Bruce" <abruce@madasafish.com> wrote: > >> <<snipped>> >> Quite simply I want to examine the signature made by great grandfather on >> the St Elphin's register with the signature of the witness to Isabella >> White's marriage in the kirk in Weemys. Nobody can, with any degree of >> certainty tell me where that signed piece of paper is. I believe it to be >> in >> New Register House Edinburgh but even the staff do not seem sure. >> <<snipped>> >> >> OK - the reference to church register clarifies the matter. >> >> As for what happened to them, I'm not that surprised no-one seems to quite >> know. The talk in Scotland is always about the OPRs - the Old Parish >> Registers, i.e. pre-1855. What never seems to be mentioned are the New >> Parish Registers, i.e. post-1855. I can't remember whether I asked but I >> have the impression that any NPRs (and the term is mine, not an official >> one) could be anywhere with the local RO being favourite. No - hang on - >> I've just found my reference, I did ask and people cast doubt on whether >> such things were even kept - PR legislation north of the Border being very >> different to that South. >> >> So - not much help there either, other than agreeing no-one seems to >> know... >> Slightly cautiously, slightly cynically, I still remain to be convinced >> the >> originals were ever kept. >> >> Best of luck.... >> >> Adrian B >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >