ScotlandsPeople Centre

The ScotlandsPeople Centre is the official government resource for family history research.We provide access to the Scottish birth, death, marriage and census records, Catholic parish registers, Coats of Arms, valuation rolls, wills and testaments and more. We are located in central Edinburgh with search rooms in historic General Register House and New Register House.

Survey work begins on the Adam Dome.

The main entrance to General Register House (GRH) will be closed from 15 April 2019 until further notice, to allow for specialist consultants to carry out investigation work on the Adam Dome in General Register House, one of the world’s oldest custom built archive buildings still in its original use.

Search room facilities will remain open and all visitors to the Reid, Historical and Legal Search Rooms should report to the relevant search room via the Garden entrance. Signage will be in place to direct customers and visitors.

All other visitors should go to the main reception area or the accessible reception, both at New Register House.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this investigation work.

Opening Times

From 9:00 to 16:30 Monday to Friday except on some public holidays.

Before you visit

Before you visit we recommend you read about the ScotlandsPeople Centre search rooms and the following pages on our ScotlandsPeople website:

• Booking a search place
• Fees and charges
• Terms and conditions for the ScotlandsPeople Centre
• Accessibility

We provide the following services and resources to help your research:

• Group Evening Visits
• Introductory family history talks - details on the  Events, talks and visits page
• Interactive Experience - an online guide to researching the records
• Research guides
• ScotlandsPeople Centre Reference Library
• Useful Websites for Family History Research

Take a break from your research to visit our cafe in New Register House and the Archivists’ Garden.

The ScotlandsPeople Centre is a partnership between the National Records of Scotland and the Court of the Lord Lyon.  It was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in July 2008 and is a four star visitor attraction.