'Vast archive' of Scottish records released by FindMyPast

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29 November 2019
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Mr James Valentine, wife and children (1845) copyright University of St Andrews Library
FindMyPast has announced a new online collection spanning nearly five centuries of Dundee and Angus history and comprising six million records.
'Vast archive' of Scottish records released by FindMyPast Images
Published in association with Leisure and Culture Dundee, University of St Andrews Library and DC Thomson, the vast archive of historical documents and original photographs provides researchers worldwide with the opportunity to discover their connections to Dundee for the first time online.
Dundee-based Findmypast has scanned in full colour from paper originals where possible, and created a full name index. The new release brings together millions of complementary records from multiple institutions.
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These records give names, dates, residences, occupations and document life events of the people of Dundee and Angus, also including photographic records of streets and people, a goldmine for social and family historians alike. They contain some of the oldest photographs in existence, taken in the 1840s and showing parts of the city long since lost to redevelopment. 
Collection highlights
A particular highlight is a set of 50 images of ‘Dundee Old & New’ commissioned by the Dundee Police after the Improvement Act of 1871. This photographic album illustrates the changing landscape of a Victorian burgh in the firm grip of the Industrial Revolution through a unique ‘then and now’ perspective even at that time.
When used alongside tenancy and electoral records of the people who lived in these streets released at the same time and going back to as early as 1823, a detailed picture of the people of Dundee can be seen.
These records include:
●       Fully indexed images of more than 23,600 Obituaries from local Dundee newspapers ranging from 1869-2018, added to a national Scottish collection of over 600,000.
●       2 million Valuation Rolls 1823-1938 for the county of Dundee & Angus 
●       Hundreds of thousands of indexed records of baptism, marriage & burial from across Dundee & Angus 1562-1855.
●       Portrait photographs of 318 male and female employees of DC Thomson who enlisted during the Second World War.
●       Over 5,000 comprehensively indexed original photographs of Dundee & Angus dating 1844-2010.

Portrayals of local life

Rachel Nordstrom, Photographic Collections Manager of the University of St Andrews Library said: ‘As the Home of Scottish Photography St Andrews played host to many great photographers over the past 180 years, and the University archives does indeed hold a great number of photographic images from across Scotland which we could draw from for this exciting and engaging initiative. We’re delighted to bring our collections to a new audience and give them new life through Findmypast for their local, national and international family heritage researchers.

'The images shared through this project are from some of the most notable photographers of the 19th century, and their portrayal of local life, landscape and architecture complements these newly published records while giving a view of what life was like for our forebears.’

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(images copyright University of St Andrews Library)