Primary Resources:

• Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Local Archives - A collection of historical records relating to the City of Aberdeen and its locality. Searchable online.
• Ancestry.co.uk - A subscription site which collates both official records and other reference information.
• Deceased Online - This site provides access to official records for UK burials and cremations.
• Edina - Online copies of the Statistical Accounts of 1791-9 and 1834-45.
• FindMyPast - The official online source of census records and BMD information for (England & Wales) from 1837 onwards
• FamilySearch - Search the IGI or Ancestral File.
• Maps - A fantastic collection of detailed maps of Scotland at the National Library
• Scotland's People - The official online source of parish register, civil registration and census records for Scotland

A good starting point for researching the North-East of Scotland is the UK & IRELAND Genealogy Index (GENUKI) particularly the Aberdeenshire, Kincardineshire, Banffshire or Moray pages.

If you are planning to visit the area, then you should first visit the Tourist Board's website.

Also see the Visiting the Area

Sites of Local Interest:

• Aberdeen Built Ships
• Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire Local Archives
• Aberdeen Commemorative Plaques
• Aberdeen Museums (including the Maritime Museum)
• Aberdeen Post Office Directories (1824- ) Browse or download these invaluable references
• Aberdeenshire castles
• Aberdeenshire Local Government
• Aberdeen Pilots Returns 1854-1869
• Aberdeen Press & Journal (the P&J)
• Aberdeen Scotland Official City and Shire Portal
• Alford Images Library Hundreds of images from the Alford area - past and present.
• Ardgrain A wealth of Aberdeenshire information including webcams, North-East pictures, historic info and much more.
• AyeCan All about Scot's dialects, including the N.E. Scots Doric. Listen to audio clips.
• Buchan Heritage Society
• Book of Deer project
• Fraserburgh Heritage Society
• Gazeteer for Scotland
• Gordon Highlanders Museum
• History of our fishing communities
• History Scotland Magazine
• The Parish of Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire. Details of people and events in it's history
• Leopard Magazine including a good collection of articles focusing on NE history.
• Local Heritage Services in Moray
• Lossiemouth fowk (includes photos of local gravestones)
• Moray Burial Ground Research Group
• Moray Connections Explore the rich and varied heritage of Moray, from the fisher towns on the coast to the medieval abbeys and royal burghs inland.
• North-East Folklore Archives
• Railway development in NE Scotland.
• Scots Emigration Database
• Shifting Sands - all about Forvie and Culbin
• Skene Heritage Society
• Stonehaven Genealogy
• Trawler Photos

Scottish Societies:

Visit the Scottish Association of Family History Societies for general information or the following societies' web sites:

• Alloway & Southern Ayrshire FHS
• Family History Society of Buchan
• Borders FHS
• Caithness FHS
• Central Scotland FHS
• Dumfries & Galloway FHS
• East Ayrshire FHS
• Fife FHS
• Glasgow & West of Scotland FHS
• Highland FHS
• Lanarkshire FHS
• Lochaber & North Argyll FHG
• Lothian FHS
• Moray & Nairn FHS
• North Ayrshire FHS
• North Perthshire FHG
• Orkney FHS
• Renfrewshire FHS
• Shetland FHS
• Tay Valley FHS
• The Scottish Genealogy Society
• Troon & Ayrshire FHS
• West Lothian FHS

Official Sites:

• Passenger lists Over 24 million records from ships sailing to destinations worldwide.
• Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership
• FindMyPast The official online source of census records and BMD information for (England & Wales) from 1837 onwards
• General Register Office for Scotland
• National Archives
• National Archives of Scotland
• National Library of Scotland
• National Records of Scotland
• The official online source of parish register, civil registration and census records for Scotland
• Bringing authentic information and images together to help you discover places in Scotland
• The Scottish Archive Network. Internet access to the written history of Scotland
  • Searchable list of 300,000 Scottish wills from 1500-1875
  • Online tuition for researchers reading manuscript historical records written in Scotland in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries
• Scottish Graveyards
  Aimed at professionals and enthusiasts alike, the website offers free downloads on a range of graveyard-related subjects from management and conservation, to recording and researching a graveyard’s history. Links are given to 100’s of other useful contacts and sources of information. The noticeboard includes monthly updates on news, events and publications relating to graveyards.

Community Sites:

• Aberchirder (or Foggieloan)
• Alford
• Ardgrain (near Ellon) The Ardgrain website documents the extensive history of this Grade A listed Baronial house throughout the centuries, with everything from local battles and clan rivalry to lists of known tenants.
• Auchenblae
• Birse community web site
• Braemar
• Cove Bay
• Cruden Bay
• Culter
• Daviot Village
• Dufftown
• Elgin
• Glenbuchat
• Hatton of Fintray
• Huntly
• Keith
• Kinnethmont
• Kintore
• Mearns
• Portlethen
• Oldmeldrum
• Old Portlethen
• Rhynie
• Royal Deeside
• St Combs
• Strathdon
• Westhill

See also the place name orientated contact lists at Curious Fox.

Other Links:

• Angus Archives
• Association of Scottish Genealogists and Record Agents
• Australian Scottish Heritage
• BBC Scottish Roots website
• BestScotland - Scotland directory and information on the web
• The British Newspaper Archive - Free index search. Pay to access pages.
• Computers in Genealogy
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
• Family Tree Searcher
• Family Research - English, Scottish and Irish Genealogy
• Families in British East India Society
• FreeBMD(online access to birth/marriage/death records for England & Wales)
• Free Census(online access to 1841-1892 census records for UK)
• Geneally
• Genealogy Guide
• Genealogical Society of Ireland
• House of Tartan
• Immigrant Ships
• The Irish Family History Society
• Irish Genealogy
• Old Maps from the 15/16 & 17th century at the National Library of Scotland
• Marine Lists Lloyd's List covered marine news and shipping movements and the Guildhall Library in London has published an index to the Marine News section.
• Old maps at Vision of Britain
• Old photographs
• Scots in Argentina
• Scottish Clans and Families
• Scottish Emigration Database
• Scottish Gazetteer
• Scottish History (1)
• Scottish History (2)
• Scottish History Online.
• Scottish Parishes - a searchable database.
• Society of Genealogists
• Surname Profiler
• The Workhouse

Members' Pages:

• Ian Beaton Sims of Gourdas
• John Brebner
• Robert Carson
• Janet Davidson Daily journals of Miss Anne Davidson of Inchmarlo, written in the 1840s and early 1850s
• Patrick Dunbar Organiser, Dunbar Family Society (UK)
• Graeme Fraser
• Jas Grant (The Parish of Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire. Details of people and events in it's history.)
• Bill Kinnaird
• Colin A Milne (Fisherfolk to Torryfolk)
• James Milne
• Keith Mitchell
• Paul Mitchell
• Neil Pirie A huge amount of family history information on our Pirie ancestors and related families in North East Scotland and in England.
• Robert Stockwell
• Suzanne Walker Strathdon Vital Records. Also contains sections with Glenbucket records.

Family / Surname / Clan Sites

• ALLAN and BURNETT, in Peterhead and surrounding area
• ANDERSON, one name study, North-East Scotland
• BREBNER/BREMNER, in the North-East of Scotland and around the world
• BURNESS family (Kincardineshire) including 'Robert Burns' link
• CASTEL Castel/Castle of North-East Scotland
• CHALMERS, Banffshire & Aberdeenshire
• DUNBAR, One name Society
• DUNCAN , Clan Duncan Society
• FRASER, Clan Fraser Society
• GORDON, The House of Gordon
• HENDERSON , Henderson Family of Ellon
• KINNAIRD Worldwide
• LESLIE, of Aberdeen
• MacRAE Clan MacRae website
• McHARDY of Ordachoy, Corgarff
• MUTCH, Aberdeen & North-East Scotland.
• MAIN, of Aberdeen, 1800-1900, sailors and pilots. Also BRAND and BAXTER

Also, there is a Clan Battlefield Map

War Memorials

• Aberdeenshire Memorials - List of memorials in the current Aberdeenshire, therefore includes Kincardineshire
• Morayshire Memorials- List of memorials in the current Morayshire, therfore includes most of the old Nairnshire
• Stonehaven War Memorial
• Scottish War Memorials Discussion Forum
  Also includes sections on School, Church and Civic memorials
• Western Front Association, Scotland

Visiting the area?

Click here for a map showing the location of the Society
If you are visiting the area, then you may also be interested in the following:

• Aberdeen & Grampian Tourist
• The Coastal Trail
• Museum Of Scottish Lighthouses
• Aberdeenshire Farming Museum
• Grampian Transport Museum
• The Gordon Highlanders Museum
• Undiscovered Scotland

The following links are to businesses that advertise with the Society.

• Bridge of Bennie Cottage (Banchory) - self catering
• Roselea House (Aberdeen) - friendly, family-run, city-centre guest house. Run by Society members.
• Duntrune House (near Dundee) - an elegant historic house with a warm welcome. Run by Society members.

The Society makes no recommendation for, and is in no way responsible for, these services.

Lists

Surname

Aberdeenshire Surnames List. 
Banffshire Surnames List.
Kincardineshire Surnames List.
Morayshire Surnames List.
If you are researching names in these counties, please consider submitting names to these lists.

E-Mail

There is an e-mail list which covers the county of Aberdeenshire. To subscribe to ABERDEEN-L or to its digest form ABERDEEN-D, send an email message to either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Leave the subject field blank and put "subscribe" in the body of the message.

Also see the Talking Scot forum.