Resources

Co Leis Thu? Hebridean Genealogical Research Service

If you are having difficulty in your research, or haven’t got the time to spare, the Hebrides are fortunate in having the only genealogy centre of its type at Co Leis Thu? at Northton (Taobh Tuath) in Harris.

Records have been compiled here of all families in the whole of the Western Isles in the last 200 years, and in many of the major emigration areas. Their resource includes census returns, OPR, and records on CD Rom from many parts of the world, but their main resource is over 30,000 detailed family trees for island families built up over the years by Bill Lawson. Co Leis Thu? staff will be happy to assist in genealogy enquiries, and to quote a fee for research, while Bill Lawson, whose reputation as a genealogist is worldwide, will usually be on hand to assist with any particularly difficult families. An average fee for researching and compiling a family tree is in the region of £60 + VAT, but individual fees will be quoted on application.

If your ancestors left the Hebrides since 1820, and you have sufficient starting information, with Co Leis Thu’s services, there is about a 90% chance of identifying your family roots. Earlier emigrants are more difficult, as records in both emigration and settlement areas are poor at such dates, and there is great scope for variation of names and spellings, which may make the present family name very different from the original. Even here, however, there is a good chance that something can be done to identify at least the area from which the emigrant came.

Comainn Eachdraidh (the Local Historical Societies)

When clients know enough detail of the village from which their ancestor came, they may wish to visit one of the local Comainn Eachdraidh, who have extensive collections of photographs and other local information, and may well be able to put them in touch with any remaining relatives in their area. The Comman Eachdraidh network has been set up to enable local people to research and record local history. Many have extensive archives including tapes, videos and photographs, and have recently begun digitisation of records, with some brilliant CD Roms including photography, audio and video clips becoming available.

For a list of Historical Societies click here.

Public Libraries

The Public Libraries in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis and Lionacleit in Benbecula have extensive collections of local source books, and also have microfilm copies of census returns and Old Parochial Registers, through which the visitor may browse. The local Registrars’ Offices, of which the main ones are situated in the Town Hall in Stornoway and in the offices of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar in Tarbert, Harris, Balivanich, Benbecula and Castlebay, Barra, have copies of Civil Registers for many of the local parishes, and computer access to the others, where for a fee you may ask the registrar to let you see a register entry or obtain a copy. There are local registrars also from Uig and South Lochs in Lewis, and in North Uist, but research facilities there are more limited.

The Stornoway Gazette

The Stornoway Gazette has for many years been the local paper for the Hebrides, and if the date of a particular event is known, it may well be worthwhile to search through their files of back issues, to see whether the event was the subject of a newspaper report.