LAND REGISTERS AND VALUATIUON ROLLS AS SOURCES FOR GENEALOGY

by Margaret D. Young, M.A.

Most genealogists are familiar to a greater or lesser degree with the Register of Sasines, the land registers of Scotland starting in 1617, and the Valuation Rolls, starting in 1855. These records, together with all the others mentioned below, are held at the National Archives of Scotland [formerly the Scottish Record Office] in Edinburgh. While pointing out some uses of these classes of record to the genealogist, it is worth widening the field to look at similar classes which preceded them and to suggest some ways in which they offer opportunities as source material perhaps not immediately apparent to the researcher.

Most official records are either the product of administrative necessity or of the need to correct abuses of one kind or another for the protection of the lieges. From an early period the importance of land, as representing a man's wealth and social standing, and the significance of it passing from one person to another, were fully appreciated and, before any thought had been given to establishing a register of land rights, the notaries public in their localities were, from the early sixteenth century, recording such transactions in their protocol books. Many instruments besides instruments of sasine were recorded in these books, and although the language is Latin and the writing is difficult to read, a number have been printed, notably by the Scottish Record Society. The original volumes are listed not only chronologically but by the locality also and, where printed, have been so noted in the repertory.

So far as they went, the notorial protocol books served their purpose, but the abuses which could arise when land was used as a form of security for debt and could be burdened in various ways by the owner without an intending purchaser knowing of such restrictions, led to the need for a more comprehensive register to cover the whole country, Two abortive attempts were made to institute a public register, in 1540 and 1555, and in 1599 the Secretary's Register of Sasines, arranged in counties, was established by an act of parliament. This register, however, only survived until 1609, due to opposition from the localities and lack of central supervision, and not all the volumes are now extant. On 28th June 1617 the Register of Sasines was established by Act of Parliament¹, with a General Register at Edinburgh and Particular registers in the localities, and writs could be registered in either.

This system, although increasingly cumbersome, continued until 1868 when it was changed by the Land Registers (Scotland) Act of that year, whereby the Particular Registers were to be discontinued by 1871 and the General Register was to be kept in Edinburgh in county divisions as the sole register. This is the system operated until recently, when the Department of the Registers at Meadowbank House started to introduce registration of title whereby no search of titles will be required before completion of purchase; another stage in the history of the land registers is now passing. Separate registers for land held by burgage tenure in the royal burghs were instituted in 1681 and these burghs also had their own protocol books.

The General Register of Sasines is indexed by persons from the beginning to 1780. The Secretary's Register up to 1609 is indexed by persons and the Particular Registers are indexed by persons to 1780 except for the counties of Orkney and Shetland, Perth, Renfrew and Glasgow, Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles, Stirling and Clackmannan and Wigtown. From 1780 there are combined abridgements for the General and Particular Registers indexed by person throughout and by places up to 1830 and after 1870. Indexes by places, 1830-70, are gradually being compiled. Where there are no indexes a search may be made in the minute books where they are extant.

The important point to remember about an instrument of sasine from the researcher's point of view is that it is the final step in the transaction involving the change of ownership of land or its use as security for debt which might start in various ways as, for example, by disposition and charter or by the service of an heir, and that the instrument will contain this information. Thus, where a disposition or similar deed is mentioned in these writs, perhaps in the Register of Deeds, which will yield further information. The problem for many researchers is that the instrument of sasine is almost always in Latin up to the middle of the nineteenth century, except for the Commonwealth period when Scots vernacular was in use. The consolation is that, almost without exception, when you have read one sasine you have read them all, for the from rarely varies and relevant information is easily picked out.

The publication by the Stair Society of A Formulary of Old Scots Documents (edited by P.Gouldesbrough, 1985) contains, among many other useful examples, the complete transcript of a Latin instrument of sasine with translation. Land not only constituted a form of wealth but also, from early times, served as the basis of assessment for taxes and other dues exacted by central and local government. As a matter of interest, the assessment drawn up in 1275 by Master Baiamundus de Vitia, papal collector in Scotland, for financing future Crusades. Likewise, secular lands were assessed on a valuation called the 'Old Extent' which dated back to the reign of King Alexander III (1249-85), supplemented by an Act of 1474 which constituted a new valuation of lands showing their real or valued rent, which system lasted until the 1660s. Cess or land tax was collected according to valued rent in the counties, while in the case of the burghs the particular quota to be paid by each was determined by the Convention of Royal Burghs and collection was the responsibility of the magistrates. The sum to be raised was apportioned among the burgesses and collected by stent masters on the basis of the burgh stent roll. Many burgh records contain these cess and stent rolls, which list the names and properties and often the occupations of the proprietors.

Among records of a similar type which predate the Valuation Rolls and are of interest to genealogists are the following. Two taxes were imposed by the Government in the 1690s to pay for army arrears including measures taken against Jacobites. One was a Hearth tax of 1690 of 14 shillings on each hearth². The arrangement is by counties with lists of names of those assessed. Financially it is not very accurate and there are gaps, for, as is often the case, more information came in from the Lowlands than the Highlands. The West Lothian tax records for 1691 have been edited for the Scottish Record Society by Duncan Adamson in 1981, and the volume contains a useful introduction to the taxation system and a list of extant records. The other tax was the Poll Tax of 1693 based upon lists of pollable persons drawn up by the commissioners for the shires and the magistrates for the royal burghs³. These two series are part of the Exchequer records, as are the Schedules of Assessed Taxes levied between 1747 and the 1790s. Of particular relevance to genealogists, in that lists of names are given, are the Window Tax, 1793-98⁴; the Inhabited House Tax, 1778-98⁵; Male Servants tax, 1778-98⁶; and Female Servant Tax, 1785-92⁷. Assessment was by district, but the modern arrangement is by counties and burghs throughout.

Provision for a uniform system of valuation throughout Scotland was made by the Lands Valuation (Scotland) Act of 1854, to commence in 1855, covering all lands and heritages in Scotland including railways and canals. Originally the rolls were transmitted to Register House every six years, but they are now transmitted annually. The arrangement is by counties and burghs, some of the burghs being merged with their counties in 1929 and 1956. The reorganisation of local government in Scotland in 1975 resulted in an arrangement in regions and districts. In the earlier period the rolls vary in accessibility, some having street or parish indexes and some not, while some of the modern rolls are on microfiche.

The Valuation Rolls name tenants and occupiers of the property as well as owners and thus can be used to supplement the Register of Sasines, which names owners of land only, and the Census records during the period between each census. A study of the Register of sasines and the Valuation Rolls plus the Register of testaments in the Commissary Court records would give a fairly comprehensive picture of a person's heritable and moveable property as well as containing specific genealogical information about his family.

1. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iv, 545.
2. E.69
3. E.70
4. E.326/1
5. E.326/3
6. E.326/5
7. E.326/6