Lloyds Banking Group Edinburgh Archives visit

Debits and credits, numbers, don’t be mistaken, there’s far more to banking archives. We had a great visit to the Lloyds Banking Group Edinburgh Archives on 14 March 2018. Many thanks to the archivists there for their time and enthusiasm. 

Background

Lloyds Banking group includes the Bank of Scotland, HBOS, some TSB Scotland, Scottish Widows and a range of small banks acquired or merged  along the way. Generally, the Bank of Scotland’s own records are the most complete.

The archive is in Sighthill, Edinburgh and is open to the public, 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday, advance bookings are needed. There is no publically available item level catalogue but there are collection level lists. Personnel records, as you would expect, are closed for 100 years and some business records for shorter periods.

The records

People crop up in bank records in three main ways, as customers, shareholders and staff, each with their own records.

Customers

Archie keeping a watchful eye (K.Keter)

In the early days there were no branches, only the main office in Edinburgh. Lending decisions for the first 100 years or so were therefore noted in the Bank of Scotland’s minutes. There is a complete run from 1695 and they are generally very well kept with a margin index. Entries include the name of guarantors too so are potentially very useful. Similarly the bank’s head office ledgers for the earlier years include details of transactions with individuals and companies.  

The branch network began to develop from around the 1770s. Branch ledgers are indexed with name and type of business noted. Unfortunately they survive for only the early years of each branch. 

From the insurance side there are policy ledgers from 1824-1940s. Health issues are noted but not the beneficiaries. 

Shareholders

The Bank of Scotland was founded by an act of the Scottish Parliament in 1695 and the original lists of subscribers, signed at inns in Edinburgh and London, both survive. There are printed lists of shareholders/subscribers from 1697-1950 and it is possible to track sales and purchases of shares.

Staff

Most complete for the Bank of Scotland, partial for other businesses, but generally very good. They go back to the 1730s but tail off by the 1920s/30s. To use these records you need to know the branch at which the ancestor was employed as that then gives access to information on their role, salary (from the 1830s) and any transfers, so it could be possible to work forward or backward. You may also be fortunate enough to find a staff report: “writes a fair hand” and “well qualified for manager of a country branch” were some of those we saw. These reports were for staff below the level of agent (manager) and occasionally contain rather controversial information!

The agent was responsible for entries in the branch procedure books, a log of the branch activity, detailing hiring and firing, repairs, new furniture and the like. Not all survive but they can include information on customers and loans made to them.

The Widows Fund (Bank of Scotland only) records, 1821 to 1883 could be a good source for pre-1855 births.  It was a contributory scheme so as well as employees’ details, names of wives’, date of marriage, names and birth dates of children were also listed.

Where do we start?? (J. Russell)

In general

For ancestors with bank accounts or an insurance policy (does the inventory after they died mention one?), or, even better, who worked in a bank, there is probably lots to discover here. Armed with dates and places and perhaps time to do detailed searches, you could discover gold (sorry couldn't resist that pun). Find out more

Under the Knife

A Visit to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

Scattered through the archives of Scotland are documents and memories that our ancestors left behind. When we start tracing our family tree we begin with birth, marriage, death and census records but then we need more! We need to look at a variety of records to really find out what our ancestors were like, what they did and how they lived.

The Scottish Genealogy Network (SGN) encourages its members to keep learning, keep advancing as genealogists so that they can provide a higher standard of service to their clients. Today around 20 SGN members met at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG) to tour the building and delve into their collections.

It may be an historic building but
in front of their ancient portraits
they are teaching the physicians
of tomorrow!

The RCPSG has existed as an institution for over 400 years! It is little wonder then that the records they hold are extensive and unique. As a forward-looking organisation they are also working to make some of their valuable material available online (for free) and their library is open to the public. If you are planning to visit, it is wise to contact them beforehand so that they can ensure everything you would like to consult is available.

Our visit began with a tour of the prestigious building. The first room we were shown was the David Livingstone Room. In that room there is a cast of one of the Doctor’s bones! As we moved through the college, hanging on the walls are portraits of presidents past as well as other notable physicians and surgeons. You may wonder then, with all these illustrious individuals so obviously connected to the college, is there any reason for me to visit? Yes, there is!

The Crush Hall

There are three main reasons a genealogist (amateur or professional) should visit the college. Firstly, you may want to research one of the past members. The records they hold on past members will help with your research. The photographs show some examples of what the college holds. The second reason is that not only does the college hold records of those treating the ill but also they hold some records of those being treated! Amongst the records, for example, is a “Register of Inoculations, Glasgow 1832-1854”, if your family was living in Glasgow they may well appear in the records. The third reason is this, even if there is no direct reference to your ancestor it is good to build up your knowledge of social history. Understanding our ancestors means imagining the circumstances in which they lived so that we can research their lives and walk in their footsteps.

The Lock Room - Named after the Lock Hospital 

Visit our Facebook page to see more photos

If you cannot visit in person, take advantage of their online collections which are free to access. If you find an entry which relates to your family come and tell us about it on our Facebook page.

By Emma Maxwell

Genealogist at Scottish Indexes

A Visit to the NLS Map Department

It has been wet and wild in Scotland this week but a hardy group of Scottish genealogists received a warm welcome in the reading room of the National Library of Scotland maps department.

Located at Causewayside in Edinburgh the building holds over two million items. They have gazetteers and a massive collection of Ordnance Survey maps of Scotland but also have maps created by the British Army as they trekked the globe as well as a variety of other unique maps. Together with their Ordnance Survey maps of England, Wales and Ireland their collections are worth a look whichever part of the world you are researching in.

As well as holding a vast collection of topographic masterpieces they have catalogued their collection and have digitised a huge part of it. These digitised maps are available to view online and are a wonderful asset to anyone researching the history of their family or a specific place.

Amongst the collections are some real gems. One that was shown to us today was a street plan of central Glasgow made for insurance companies. It shows the materials the buildings were made from, which had skylights and which businesses where in which building. If your ancestors worked, lived or ran businesses in Glasgow these maps could give you a real insight into the city at the time.

Before the first series of Ordnance Survey maps were made in Scotland between 1840 and 1880 there is no national coverage at large scales, but there are some wonderful maps covering certain towns and areas. For some country towns in particular there are maps showing who owned certain portions of land and what type of land it is; a wonderful resource for the family historian.

The National Library of Scotland is a very forward-looking organization. As has been mentioned, they are digitising their collection and making it available online. On their website we find a huge variety of tools such as side-by-side mapping and overlays so that we can compare modern and historical maps in their collection. If you are planning a trip to visit your ancestors home you will find this an invaluable resource.

There is of course some ongoing work. One specific record set that is waiting to be catalogued are the estate plans. They hold around 2000 such plans so if you are researching a house or village which was part of the estate it may be worth contacting them to ask if they hold any that would be relevant. They do not hold all Scottish estate plans, just a small portion (some are still in private collections and many are held by the National Records of Scotland),but it’s interesting to know that the NLS do have some and that they are not all listed on their electronic catalogue.

All in all the SGN had a fascinating visit to the map department of the NLS and would recommend all to make full use of this resource. To keep up-to-date with the NLS Map department here are some useful link:

NLS Maps Department on Twitter: www.twitter.com/natlibscotmaps 

Access high-resolution zoomable images of over 130,000 maps of Scotland, England, Wales and beyond on the NLS website: www.nls.uk/maps

Keep up-to-date with their recent additions' page where you can also sign up to the Cairt newsletter.