Great Scots! Find Your Scottish Ancestors

Scotland’s colorful history and efforts to preserve their heritage is a boon to any family historian with Scottish ancestry. If you’re one of the many descendants of the 1.5 million Scots who immigrated to the Americas, you can learn how to find your ancestors before they ever left Scotland with this 4-week course. From Scottish names and locations and historical events that triggered immigration, to the types of records you can expect to find and which archives, collections, websites, libraries, and museums house the information, you’ll learn how to trace your ancestry.

Date:  April 10, 2023 - May 7, 2023

What You’ll Learn

• How to find Scottish ancestors by name
• How to use geography to narrow down your results
• How Scottish history affected emigration patterns
• How to use passenger lists to track emigration
• What types of records are available online
• How to use libraries and museum collections in your research
• How to find which archives may contain the info you need

Course Outline

• 
Course Overview
  • Welcome! Start Here
    
    
• 
Lesson One: Your Scottish Immigrant Ancestors
  • Identify Your Scottish Immigrant Ancestors
  • Trace Your Scottish Immigrant Ancestors
  • Give it a Try
    
    
• 
Lesson Two: Essential Scottish History
  • Your Ancestor's History and Culture
  • Put it to Use
    
    
• 
Lesson Three: Essential Scottish Geography
  • Where to Search for Your Ancestor's Records
  • Know Your Parishes
  • Put it into Practice
    
    
• 
Lesson Four: Find Scottish Records Online
  • Use Online Resources to Find Scottish Records
  • More Online Resources
  • Put it into Practice
    
    
• 
Lesson Five: Other Scottish Records
  • Additional Scottish Records
  • Museums and Other Resources
  • Put it into Practice
    
    
• 
Lesson Six: Researching Offline
  • Offline Research and Additional Resources
  • Put it into practice
    
    
• 
Lesson Seven: Overcome Challenges in Your Scottish Ancestry Research
  • Overcome Challenges
  • Put It into Practice
    
    
• 
Next Steps
  • Download Materials
  • We appreciate your feedback!

About Your Instructor

Amanda Epperson, who completed her Ph.D. in Scottish History at the University of Glasgow, is the eLearning Producer at Family Tree University. She is the author of The Family Tree Scottish Genealogy Guide.

How do Family Tree University workshops work?

Take the course at your own pace! 

From the course start date, you’ll be able to log in to view and access your lessons and start interacting on the discussion boards. Your instructor will check in regularly to answer all of the questions and provide feedback. You will have access to your courses anytime, anywhere, with a computer, tablet or smartphone, and can study when it's most convenient for you.



After the course end date, the course will become read-only for one year. You will continue to have access through your dashboard to the materials, but the discussion boards will be closed. The materials are yours to keep. You can download them onto your desktop to access online or offline.