General Register Office for Scotland

The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) was a non-ministerial directorate of the Scottish Government that administered the registration of birth

Birth

Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. The offspring is brought forth from the mother. The time of human birth is defined as the time at which the fetus comes out of the mother's womb into the world...

s, death

Death

Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

s, marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

s, divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

s and adoption

Adoption

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

s in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It was also responsible for the statute

Statute

A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...

s relating to the formalities of marriage and conduct of civil marriage

Civil marriage

Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...

in Scotland. It administered the census of Scotland's population every ten years. It also kept the Scottish National Health Service

NHS Scotland

NHS Scotland is the publicly funded healthcare system of Scotland. Although they are separate bodies the organisational separation between NHS Scotland and the other three healthcare organisations each commonly called the National Health Service in the United Kingdom tends to be hidden from its...

Central Register. On 1 April 2011 it was merged with the National Archives of Scotland

National Archives of Scotland

Based in Edinburgh, the National Archives of Scotland are the national archives of Scotland. The NAS claims to have one of the most varied collection of archives in Europe...

to form National Records of Scotland

National Records of Scotland

National Records of Scotland is a public body resulting from the merger of the General Register Office for Scotland and the National Archives of Scotland. It came into existence on 1 April 2011 and combines all the functions of the two former organisations...

. All the former department's functions continue as part of the new body.

History

Initially ministers of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

were responsible for keeping parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

records of baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

s and marriage

Marriage

s, but only for their own church members. Later the Privy Council of Scotland

Privy Council of Scotland

The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...

, following the suggestion of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body[1] An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland, A Gordon McGillivray, 2nd Edition .-Church courts:As a Presbyterian church,...

enacted that all parish ministers should keep a record of baptism

Baptism

s, burial

Burial

Burial is the act of placing a person or object into the ground. This is accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing an object in it, and covering it over.-History:...

s and marriages. This situation continued until 1854 when Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

passed an Act transferring responsibility to the State.

The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1854 created the General Registry Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages, headed by the Registrar General with the appointment of registrars in every parish. It also provided that the Registrar General should produce an annual report to be forwarded to the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...

to be laid before Parliament containing a general abstract of the numbers of births, deaths and marriages registered during the previous year. The first general abstract (relating to 1855) was submitted in 1856.

On 1 April 2011 GROS was merged with the National Archives of Scotland, with which it already had close ties and shared management of the Scotland's People Centre on Princes Street

Princes Street

Princes Street is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, and its main shopping street. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is mostly closed to private...

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, to form National Records of Scotland.

Registrars General for Scotland

The Registrar General was also Deputy to the Lord Clerk Register

Lord Clerk Register

The office of Lord Clerk Register is the oldest surviving Great Officer of State in Scotland, with origins in the 13th century.The Clerk-Register was from ancient times the principal Clerk in the kingdom, from whom all other clerks, whatever their government positions, and who were essentially his...

. The Deputy Clerk Register had to be an Advocate

Advocate

An advocate is a term for a professional lawyer used in several different legal systems. These include Scotland, South Africa, India, Scandinavian jurisdictions, Israel, and the British Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man...

of not less than ten years standing.

William Pitt Dundas was the first holder of the combined post of Deputy Clerk Register and Registrar General from September 1854 until April 1880. His successor, Roger Montgomerie, died six months after his appointment, and Mr Pitt Dundas resumed office for around a year, until the appointment of Sir Stair Agnew

Stair Agnew

Sir Stair Agnew KCB FRSE was a Scottish public official.The fifth son of Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw, 7th Baronet, he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1855...

KCB. The last person to hold the combined posts was Sir James Patten McDougall KCB, in office from May 1909 to March 1919.

Originally, this was the supervision of birth, death and marriage registration. It was expanded to include the conduct of the 1861 Census and all subsequent ones (working closely with the Registrar General to ensure consistency) and other statistical functions.

In 1920 the Registrar General (Scotland) Act 1920 was passed which provided for the appointment by the Secretary of State for Scotland a whole-time Registrar General, Dr James Craufurd Dunlop, (previously Medical Superintendent of Statistics) was appointed.

On the formation of National Records of Scotland, the positions of Registrar General and Keeper of the Records of Scotland were initially kept separate, but on the retirement of Duncan Macniven in August 2011, George Mackenzie was appointed Registrar General in addition to his existing role as Keeper.

List of Registrars General for Scotland

William Pitt Dundas, 12 September 1854 - 28 April 1880
Roger Montgomerie, 19 April 1880 - 25 October 1880
William Pitt Dundas CB, 17 November 1880 - 12 January 1881
Sir Stair Agnew
Stair Agnew
Sir Stair Agnew KCB FRSE was a Scottish public official.The fifth son of Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw, 7th Baronet, he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1855...

KCB, 13 January 1881 - 30 April 1909
Sir James Patten McDougall KCB, 1 May 1909 - 7 March 1919
Dr James Craufurd Dunlop, 1 January 1921- 2 September 1930
Andrew Froude
Andrew Froude
Andrew Froude ISO was Registrar General for Scotland.Born the son of a blacksmith in 1876 at Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire, Andrew Froude won a place to attend the Hamilton Academy....

ISO, 3 September 1930 - 14 February 1937
James Gray Kyd CBE, 1 September 1937 - 30 November 1948
Edmund Albert Hogan CBE, 1 December 1948 - 31 May 1959
Alexander Burt Taylor
Alexander Burt Taylor (civil servant)
Alexander Burt Taylor CBE D. Litt. FRSE , Registrar General for Scotland.Alexander Burt Taylor was born 6 June 1904 at Earlston, Berwickshire, Scotland. Following schooling at the famous Hamilton Academy and at Kirkwall Grammar School, Taylor matriculated at the University of Edinburgh...

CBE D Litt, 1 June 1959 - 4 September 1966
James Allan Ford CB MC, September 1966 - September 1969
Archibald L Rennie, October 1969 - 11 June 1973
William Baird, 12 June 1973 - 3 August 1978
Victor Colvin Stewart, 4 August 1978 - 12 April 1982
Dr Charles Milne Glennie CBE, 13 April 1982 - 31 October 1994
James Meldrum, 1 November 1994 - 21 February 1999
John Randall, 22 February 1999 - 1 August 2003
Duncan Macniven, 4 August 2003 - 5 August 2011
George MacKenzie, 8 August 2011 - present

New Register House

New Register House, which houses the registration side of the former GROS's business, is close to the east end of Princes Street in Edinburgh. It was designed by Robert Matheson

Robert Matheson

Robert Matheson was an American entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera.He was Professor of Entomology, New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University.-Works:Partial list...

, the Clerk of Works

Clerk of Works

Clerks of Works are the most highly qualified non-commissioned tradesmen in the Royal Engineers. The qualification can be held in three specialisations: Electrical, Mechanical and Construction. The clerk of works , often abbreviated CoW, is employed by the architect or client on a construction site...

at the Office of Her Majesty's Works in Scotland. Initially, the General Registry Office had been located in General Register House, but on 30 March 1861 was moved to New Register House.

Other buildings

GROS had two other main buildings: Ladywell House, in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, where population, household and vital statistics data (including Scotland's census) are housed; and Cairnsmore House in Dumfries, home of Scotland's NHS Central Register. All three buildings are now part of the National Records of Scotland estate.

External links

Official website
Scotlands People - A genealogical research site administered by the GRO for Scotland