Scotlands Genealogy Jan 2014 | Page 3

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

For many reasons this year will be a memorable one as we host the Ryder Cup and Commonwealth Games, celebrate Bannockburn and commemorate the start of the Great War. Plus the Referendum on Independence and as from today the I Jan, the launch of the Year of Homecoming. Phew !

Ancestral tourism is playing an increasingly important role for Scottish tourism and this will be reflected in the numerous clan and family activities planned over the next twelve months.

But this is not a one off event. Hopefully this will be the platform to build on for future years. A recurring fault with family history research in Scotland is there are many knowledgeable people and societies out there but the industry is fragmented and still at the level of a cottage industry. Scotland is blessed with some of the best family history records in the world and since 2002 has

made many of these available on www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Yet due to a lack of communication and national and regional coordination, many of these resources remain off the ancestral tourist beaten track.

As one of the enclosed articles highlights, seeking Scottish forebears is not a new hobby. Tom Johnston set the wheels in motion back in 1945 when he saw the need for a professional organisation to aid research. Much has been done ...yet there is still more that can be achieved with only a little effort.

'ScotlandsGenealogy' eMagazine aims to be a focus for news, events and inquiries over the next twelve months & hopefully beyond. In the words of the late Ian Grimble's 1970's classic TV series :

Who Are the Scots?

You might well say that Family History and ancestral tourism are new pursuits. But it's roots began back in 1945 when Tom Johnston the then Scottish Secretary of State put the wheels in motion to establish the Scottish Tourist Board and the Scottish Ancestry Research Society.fitting if we could build on 2014 and the Year of Homecoming for future generations.

THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIAL HAPPENING IN

SCOTLAND IN 2014

2014