Fergus Smith Profile picture
Historical data geek, professional genealogist, systems designer, ex translator/antiquarian bookdealer. Accidental legal historian. @oldscotbooks@mastodon.scot
Jul 16 22 tweets 7 min read
Today's #ArchiveFind is from the Circuit Court of Justiciary Indictments for Glasgow in May 1848. Ordinarily, Justiciary indictments were 4 or 6 pages long. This batch are much, much longer. #LegalHistory #AncestryHour /1 Image The entries show the names of 40 men charged with "mobbing and rioting; theft by housebreaking and opening lockfast places; stouthrief; robbery and assault". #LegalHistory #AncestryHour /2
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Sep 22, 2022 46 tweets 6 min read
Paul Lowe, head of @NatRecordsScot, is giving evidence to Parliament this morning on the census fiasco. Meeting starts at 8.45, you can watch it live here:
scottishparliament.tv/meeting/consti…

#Genealogy #Scotland @NatRecordsScot On the day NRS is criticised for its lack of transparency, it's not a good look for the Committee to decide to consider NRS' evidence on the census in private.
Sep 29, 2021 18 tweets 4 min read
I love @NatRecordsScot and the people who work there. I'm usually its staunchest defender, and it was great to be back. But but but ... The system for booking a slot to visit is a complete and utter shambles. The "rules" keep changing without notice, and the only way to keep track of them is to continually monitor a pdf file. At the very least, you'd think there'd be a basic update announcement on the service status page, but no.
Jan 21, 2020 11 tweets 5 min read
So @DavidDobie2 found this fascinating advert for a roup (Scots for auction) of leases in North-East Scotland, mostly in Botriphnie, where many of his ancestors come from. #AncestryHour /1 He asked the right question - why were all these leases being auctioned at the same time? #AncestryHour /2