When studying your family history, it can be tempting to become focused on one geographical area. It’s certainly the case with my paternal line, many of whom were born, married and died all in the same little corner of the Scottish borders. However, my research on passports which I presented for Rootstech in 2024 (and you can watch that talk here) showed that many people, especially the more affluent and educated classes, travelled extensively for business and pleasure.
Family History Records
Apart from the passport records, passenger lists for ships both departing and arriving at British ports can be hugely useful, as can the Ellis Island database for any relatives who either emigrated to North America or who visited temporarily. But there are other records which might help trace family members who lived or worked overseas temporarily.
One of the best record sets I came across recently was the records of the Scots International Church in Rotterdam. Rotterdam has been a major port in the Netherlands for centuries, and Scots merchants and traders resident in the city established their own church. The archives website has indexed all baptisms in the church between 1643 and 1899, and has a separate complete list of all names mentioned in the records. Most of the surnames are Scottish in origin, but many Dutch names appear on the list too. There was also a Scottish international church in Paris, although the records from here do not appear to be online.
There are similar collections of church records on Family Search for churches established in India. While not exclusively Scottish, there are again many names related to Scottish or British families who were in India as civil servants or as merchants. Even if you don’t think the people you are looking for have travelled overseas, it’s always worth widening the search to include international records if you are having trouble locating someone.
Two other websites worth mentioning when looking for ancestors who might have travelled to other parts of the British Empire are Trove, and FIBIS. Trove is the Australian National Library’s research site, and allows you to search through newspapers, maps and other sources which might be relevant to genealogical research. Obviously, when searching an unusual surname you will be able to easily find what you are looking for, but even when presented with thousands of results, you can easily filter by region or date. FIBIS is the website of the Family in British India Society, and if you hit “research” from their homepage, you can either quick search by surname, or explore the records collection by type.
If you come across records in a different language – don’t panic. This is one thing which ChatGPT and other AI tools can help with. Screenshot the record, copy it into the AI tool and as it for a translation and transcription. It won’t be perfect, but it will be enough to give you the gist of whether it’s relevant or not. For a professional translation service or help with reading difficult handwriting, get in touch with a professional genealogist.
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