Ancestral Tourism- Going Back To My Roots.

Family History, Ancestry and Genealogy Research in Strathspey

Increasingly due to TV programs such as ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ there’s been a growing interest in folk researching their ancestry. This has now developed into a growing niche for Scottish visitors known as Ancestral Tourism.

Both domestic and overseas visitors from the Scottish diaspora have at least some curiosity, where their ancestors came from. There are many online genealogy sites that can help with this initial research such as www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and www.ancestry.co.uk but at some point you will require local knowledge of the area to aid your research and enhance the experience. The genealogy is the research and gathering of key dates of birth, marriage and death to compile a family tree. The family tree research is gathering the social history of events for each individual and generation as far back as the records allow. Most people of Scottish descent can trace reasonably easily back to 1855 when it became compulsory to register births, marriages and deaths in Scotland. Prior to this one depends heavily on the Old Parish Records of the Church of Scotland which begin at different dates and vary enormously in how well they were kept. Also, not every event was recorded as people had to pay a fee to the church for an entry.

Fortunately, the Old Parish Records for Strathspey parishes are not too bad, Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie being the best. Combined with other records, on average most people can trace their Scottish ancestry back to between 1750-1780.

Eventually the records of birth and marriage etc will fizzle out and other documents might have to be referred too. These are not always held in the local area and could be held in the Highland Archive in Inverness  https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives-service/   or the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/research-guides  . Other repositories worth seeking are the universities and National Library of Scotland https://www.nls.uk/  . The Scottish Genealogy Society https://www.scotsgenealogy.com/ and the Highland Family History Society https://highlandfhs.org  can also be very helpful with enquiries.

Of course, Strathspey and Grantown are seen as the spiritual home of the clan Grant and many of that name come on ancestral tours to their spiritual homeland. Some will know very little of their roots and other will have done extensive research and now want to visit the places connected with their family. 

A good starting place is the Grantown Museum https://www.grantownmuseum.co.uk/  where the story of Grantown from its founding in 1765 is told. They also have a good shop with clan Grant souvenirs. 

As a qualified professional genealogist, a member of the Association of Scottish Genealogists & Researchers in Archives (ASGRA) and with a good knowledge of local resources, places and families, I’d be delighted to help you delve more into your Scottish ancestry and especially in Strathspey.

I’ll write a few more blogs covering the lesser-known records that can aid your research prior to and during a visit to the area and a look specifically at clan Grant ancestry.