The most obvious use for the IRS records is for determining the ownership of land and buildings for legal purposes or for historical research. As this was the only cadastral (map-based) survey of property ownership attempted before the advent of electronic title in Scotland, the IRS plans and field books comprise a valuable starting point for determining who owns or owned a piece of land or a building.
Once the owner of a property in about 1910-15 can be determined from the IRS records, other records, such as the register of sasines and valuation rolls can be used to trace previous owners or to follow changes in ownership forward to the present day.
There are three main types of historical enquiry that these records may be potentially useful for. Undoubtedly, their major advantage is their coverage of all land across Scotland, and their emphasis on defined property boundaries.
- Local History
The potential for unearthing historical facts, as well as anecdotes, into local areas and social communities across Scotland is great. Strict statistics on the value of major landowning estates could be compared for example; as well as assessing varying agricultural practice and landowner absenteeism. The changing relationship between urban and rural environments; the altering face of industry; and the emerging rise of a new class of small estate owners can be contrasted: National Records of Scotland, IRS68/50 entry 107 for instance records a sale of Barrisdale Bothy in 1893. Anecdotal information can also be gleaned: the entry for Lewis Castle shows that the owner provided accommodation for some ten servants; the capacity of local schools and churches is often mentioned; and there is interesting detail on the 18 stags who roamed the moors surrounding Inverpolly Lodge (National Records of Scotland, IRS80/93 entry 243).
- Archaeology and Architectural History
Surveyors often commented on the "historic value" of certain sites, and how this affected their overall value. Linlithgow Palace for example (National Records of Scotland, IRS86/94 entry 877) was estimated, rather nonchalantly, to have an historical value of, "say £10,000", and Torphichen Preceptory's western door is faced by "fine ground arching" (IRS86/125 entry 590). Information on buildings now demolished can also be recovered through these records. St Andrew's Halls Theatre in Glasgow, which was heavily damaged by fire in 1962, is recorded along with a sketch plan within entry 377 in IRS67/150.
The Population of Handa Island (left), felt the effects of the potato famine, and this island was abandoned by 1848. In 1915, it represented a single hereditament to its owner, the Duke of Sutherland, with the Field Book entry noting only a "stone, lime and corrugated iron roofed building" on its landscape (National Records of Scotland, IRS131/61). Rosemount House, sketched here on the right, sat on a site in Riddrie, Lanarkshire, now occupied by St Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church and Primary School (National Records of Scotland, IRS67/315 entry 412).
- Family History
There is also potential to enrich circumstantial evidence on an ancestor's home or work address, which may have been previously accrued through sources such as the 1911 census. As late as 1872, over 96% of property and land in Scotland was rented, and the IRS records could be used to delineate an ancestor's lease; describe their lease arrangements and responsibilities, and provide insight on their living conditions. This information could also be cross-referenced with other records such as Valuation Rolls, Sasines, and wills to create more of an understanding of a forbear's world, and provide anecdotal detail on daily life: the yearly rent paid by the tenants of the Inverie Temperance Hotel, Knoydart, included the right to graze two cows on "the Common" (IRS68/50 entry 117). These records may also fill a gap with the memories of living parents and grandparents.
Section of Lochbroom Parish, Ross and Cromarty, as mapped by IRS Surveyors, showing delineations of separate crofts (National Records of Scotland, IRS126/16).
