Scottish Land Records: How to Use the Register of Sasines

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The Register of Sasines is Scotland’s oldest land register. It records who owned land and property in Scotland from 1617 onwards. If your Scottish ancestors owned or rented a farm, a house or a plot in a town, this register may name them. This guide explains what the Scottish records hold and how to search them.

What Is a Sasine?

A sasine is the legal act of taking ownership of land. The word comes from an old Scots term for giving possession. When a Scottish family bought, sold or inherited land, a notary wrote down the deal. The deed then went into a public register.

That register is the Register of Sasines. It is a record of land, not of people. But land links people. A single entry can name a buyer, a seller, a witness and the place itself.

The National Records of Scotland guide to the sasine register is the best place to check the official detail. Read it before you start.

What the Scottish Sasine Registers Cover

The earliest register is the Secretary’s Register. It ran from 1599 to 1609. It is very incomplete, so do not expect to find your family there.

The full register starts in 1617. It is generally treated as complete from about 1660. That is a long run. It takes you back further than the Scottish census, and further than civil registration.

Scotland kept two main kinds of register from 1617. There were county registers for each part of Scotland. There was also a General Register. It covered all of Scotland except the three Lothian counties. It also held records for land that lay in more than one county.

From 1869, the system changed. Scotland moved to one General Register, split into county divisions. The same idea ran on from there.

What a Sasine Can Tell You About Your Family

Sasines can fill gaps that other Scottish records leave. Here is what you may find.

• The full name of a landowner, and often their trade or title
• The name of the land, such as a farm, a croft or a house in a burgh
• The name of the person who sold it, which is often a relative
• Family links, such as land passing from a father to a son or daughter
• Debts secured on the land, which can show a family in hard times

Imagine your great-great-grandfather farmed a small holding in Ayrshire. The census shows him living there in 1881. A sasine may show how he got the land. It may show that he bought it from his uncle. That one fact can open a whole new branch of your Scottish family tree.

Sasines also support other records. Pair them with Scottish wills and testaments to see how land passed on after a death. Pair them with Scottish valuation rolls to see who held the land year by year.

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Why Landless Families Still Matter

Most Scots in the 1800s did not own land. Many rented from a laird. Does that make sasines useless for you? Not at all.

Lairds and buyers appear in the register. So do the people who lent them money. Your ancestor may be named as a witness, a tenant or a neighbour. Boundaries often name the people next door.

There is a story here too. Scottish families who left during the Clearances often lost land they had worked for years. Reading how land moved around them can explain why they left. Our guide to the Highland Clearances trail tells that wider story.

Burgh Registers: A Separate Set of Records

Scotland’s royal burghs kept their own sasine registers. There were 66 of them. If your ancestor owned a house or a shop in a Scottish town, look here first.

Most burgh registers sit with the National Records of Scotland. Glasgow is the main exception. Aberdeen and Dundee are exceptions for the years before 1809. Check the NRS guide to find out where each set is held.

How to Search the Records

Start with the facts you know. You need a place, a surname and a rough date. A county is a big help, because the registers sit in county order.

1. Find the land first. Look in the Scottish census or a valuation roll for the name of the farm or house.
2. Check the burgh. If your family lived in a Scottish town, ask whether it was a royal burgh.
3. Use an index. Scottish Indexes hosts an index to some sasine entries. It does not cover everything.
4. Read the guide. The NRS explains how to search before and after 1781. Follow its steps and check for any fees.
5. Read the original. Early deeds are in old handwriting and legal Latin and Scots. Take your time, or ask an archive for help.

For wider help, see our step-by-step guide to tracing your Scottish ancestry. The ScotlandsPeople site is the main hub for births, marriages, deaths and census records.

From Sasines to the Land Register

The sasine system did not last for ever. Scotland began to replace it with Registration of Title on 6 April 1981. The change came county by county. Registers of Scotland runs the newer system.

Today, you can look up land and property through ScotLIS. It is a good tool for modern titles. For your ancestors, the old sasine registers are still the key.

A Heritage Trip With Land in Mind

Records feel real when you stand on the ground. Once a sasine gives you a place name, go and find it. Walk the road. Look at the hills. Many Scottish families kept a farm name alive abroad. Scottish-Canadian and Scottish-American homes still carry the names of farms their families left behind.

If your family came from Ayrshire, our Ayrshire ancestry trail is a good place to begin. If your ancestors belonged to a clan, read what clan means in Scotland for the wider picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Register of Sasines?

It is Scotland’s register of land ownership. It runs from 1617 and records deeds that moved land from one person to another.

Can I find my Scottish ancestor in the Register of Sasines?

You can if your ancestor owned, bought, sold or inherited land or property. Tenants may still appear as neighbours or witnesses.

Where are the sasine records kept?

The National Records of Scotland holds the registers, with some burgh registers held elsewhere. Check the NRS guide for the current arrangement.

What replaced the Register of Sasines?

Registration of Title replaced it, county by county, from 6 April 1981. Registers of Scotland manages the new Land Register.

Do I need to read old handwriting?

Often, yes. Early Scottish deeds use old handwriting and legal terms. Start with indexes and abstracts, then move on to the originals.

Land records are a quiet part of Scottish family history. But they hold names, places and family ties that no other record gives. Start with one farm, one surname and one county. Then follow the land.

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