Anglo Scots Databases

On this page we will be highlighting items from our collection which might be of particular interest to anyone researching this local area. This is a new project and items added to this page from time to time. The records and documents are already searchable by using the Search button at the top of the page to search our huge database, or by logging in to the Members Area and scrolling down to access the document collections.

Our volunteers make the society what it is. Highlighting local collections values the work done by our volunteers and the difference they have made, whether working in teams or individually, to transcribe large and small archives for the benefit of both members and non-members.

What are the Anglo Scottish records? They are records of Scots, or descendants of Scots who live in or around Greater Manchester. Thousands of people of Scottish descent are listed in the Manchester Ancestors' databases and the easiest way to find them is to make a simple name search by using the orange search box in the top menu. Try a surname-only search to get a feel of the number of records available. 

To see the results, scroll down the search page. The first results shown are in the Public section and are free to both members and non-members of the society to view. Click on the Members heading to see the results available to members' if not already logged in as a member, you will be asked to log in or invited to join the society to see the records. 

Some results are in named categories, such as the Catholic Church Register Indexes or the War Memorial Transcriptions, but many results will be in our large, combined database, known as The Great Database. This includes many large and small collections and you could find anything from an army deserter to an early motor car registration. 

This is an amazing collection of records, transcribed by our volunteers over a number of years, it includes th Presbyterian Communion Records. Communion services were only held two or three times a year and, unusually, the names, and sometimes the addresses of details, of the communicants were recorded. 

Anyone could join the Presbyterian church but it was especially the church of the Scottish who had broken away from the established church in their homeland and who wanted a simpler, more free, way of following and expressing their faith. The Revd. William Gaskell, husband of Elizabeth Gaskell, was for some years the minister of Cross Street Chapel, whose congregation was something of a meeting place and gathering point for many Scottish incomers to Manchester.