RESOURCE LISTS

Archives and Libraries
The main archives for West Lothian are:-Cemeteries The Scottish Genealogy Society has published a comprehensive volume of "Monumental Inscriptions (pre-1855) in West Lothian", compiled by John F Mitchell and Sheila Mitchell.

Census
There has been a census every ten years since 1801 (excluding 1941) but only those returns after 1841 (with a few exceptions) carry details of named residents. Census returns for 1841-1891can be consulted at the General Register Office in Edinburgh and copies on microfilm may be consulted in LDS Family History Centres around the world.  LDS centres also carry microfiche indexes to the 1881 census returns.  Computerised indexes for 1881 and 1891 are available at the General Register Office in Edinburgh and the 1891 index is also available through Scots Origins.

Church Records
For information on records for a particular parish, please see that parish's page (where available). Copies of many parish registers may be consulted around the world in LDS Family History Centres. The Kirk Session of a parish consists of the minister of the parish and the elders of the congregation. It looks after the general wellbeing of the congregation and, particularly in centuries past, parochial discipline. Most Kirk Session records are held in the Scottish Record Office in Edinburgh and can be fascinating reading.

Civil Registration
Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths began in Scotland on 1st January 1855. For details of these and other records held at the General Register Office in Edinburgh, see the GRO tutorial

Court Records
Records of testaments, inventories etc. are held at the National Archives of Scotland, in the records of the Edinburgh Commisariot Court (before 1823) and the Linlithgow Sheriff Court (after 1823).
Description and Travel. A book which may be of interest is Richard Jaques and Charles McKean's "West Lothian: an illustrated architectural guide",
published by the Rutland Press in 1994. As the title suggests, it concentrates on the architecture of the area. However it is well illustrated with hundreds of photographs and contains short descriptions and historical notes on many places.

Genealogy
There is now an electronic mailing list which covers this county. To subscribe to MIDLOTHIAN-L (covers the three counties of Midlothian, West Lothian and East Lothian) or to its digest form MIDLOTHIAN-D, send an email message to either MIDLOTHIAN-L-request@rootsweb.com or MIDLOTHIAN-D-request@rootsweb.com. 
Leave the subject field blank and put "subscribe" in the body of the message. There is now a surnames list for the county. If you are researching any surnames in West Lothian, please consider submitting details to this new list.

(Monumental Inscriptions - see Cemeteries)Occupations
Coal mines in the Linlithgow area in 1896 is available by clicking coal mine below .  For a list of  metalliferous mines in the Linlithgow area in 1896 click below also. 

coal mines                                         metalliferous mines

The Lothians Family History Society covers West Lothian. Statistics for a social and economic record of the parishes of West Lothian, together with masses of statistical material, see Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland which was compiled in the 1790s. The account was reprinted in the 1970s by EP Publishing Limited of Wakefield, England. Follow-up works to this were the New Statistical Account (also known as the Second Statistical Account) which was prepared in the 1830s and 1840s; and more recently the Third Statistical Account which has been prepared since the Second World War. Margaret A Mitchell Last updated 18 Jan 2001.

Useful Addresses

National Library of Ireland - Bishop Street, Dublin 8

The Anglo-German FHS - 20 Skylark Rise, Woolwell, Plymouth, Devon PL6 7SN

Credit to the websites that allowed us to download their material for the Living Book Project.