The records can be used to discover a student’s achievements and to focus on where next to apply your research for an ancestor. Educational records will confirm birth dates and sometimes the place of birth.

Usually they give a father’s name and address, which can be useful when the parent is missing from the census, and they can give details of the student’s occupation and other useful information that might be difficult to find elsewhere.

TheGenealogist's new release also includes records from England, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Portugal.

Finding an ancestor in education records

Researchers can use this new data to find ancestors who attended or taught at a variety of educational establishments in a wide range of years up to the mid 1930s. They can also be used to identify those who held high office in the institutions, so that university patrons, deans, visitors, professors and masters and the principals and governors of schools are usually included.

The registers released on TheGenealogist are: 

• Aberdeenshire

Aberdeen Education Authority Members' Directory, 1920-1921

Aberdeen University Roll of Graduates, 1860-1900

• Cambridgeshire

Christ's Hospital Exhibitioners to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 1566-1923

List of Occupants of Rooms in St John's College, 1895-1936

Gonville and Caius College Vol. II, 1713-1897

Register of Admissions to King’s College, 1850-1900

Admissions to Peterhouse or S. Peter's College in the University of Cambridge, 1615-1911

Girton College Register, 1869-1946

• Devon

Kelly College Register, 1877-1927

• Dublin

Alumni Dublineneses, 1593-1846

• Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh Graduates, 1859-88

The Fettes College Register, 1870-1932

• Dublin

Intermediate Education Board for Ireland, Exhibition and Prize Lists, 1889

Intermediate Education Board for Ireland, Exhibition and Prize Lists, 1890

Intermediate Education Board for Ireland, Examinations Held in 1889 Pass Lists, Boys

Intermediate Education Board for Ireland, Examinations Held in 1892 Pass Lists, Boys

Intermediate Education Board for Ireland, Examinations Held in 1891 Pass Lists, Boys

• London

Dulwich College War Record, 1939-1945

• Netherlands

University of Leyden, List of English speaking Students of Medicine, 1932

• New Zealand

The Early History of Wellington College, N.Z, 1867-1883

New Zealand University Calendar, 1925

• Oxfordshire

Alumni Oxonienses (Members of the University of Oxford) 1715-1886 Vol I

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol II

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol III

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol IV

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol V

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol VI

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol VII

Alumni Oxonienses 1715-1886 Vol VIII

Oxford Men and their Colleges, 1880-1892

War Record of the University Press, Oxford, 1914-1919

• Portugal

Historical Account of Lisbon College

• Surrey

County of Surrey Endowed Institutions Volume IV

• Yorkshire

Teachers and Officers of Ackworth School, 1779-1894

To find out more about researching an ancestor's education record, visit TheGenealogist's blog. Note: the records are available to diamond subscribers to TheGenealogist. 

For more on tracing your Scottish ancestors, discover History Scotland's Scottish Family History month.