Disclaimer – this page should be viewed as a starter on any journey into ancestral origins, the contributors are using their general knowledge of the subject, their own personal experiences and will give credit to quotations taken directly from sources. Please see other pages on the website for further topics of interest.

Dear Reader,

You have taken your first steps of ancestral research by arriving at the Clan Dunbar website. Possibly you are further along on your journey. What we have accumulated here are a number of tips and tricks that may assist you in your ancestral journey.

Our focus here is assist in searching for your Dunbar ancestors, although most of this information can be transferred to works on the other surnames you encounter in your family tree. Your experience with recent information (say one hundred years) will be different depending on the country, state and province that you reside in. According to the 2010 US Census, the Dunbar surname occurred 26,405 times and ranked 1335 th . The top name is Smith with 2.4 million occurrences.

Family Folklore – your family is a great source of information. If you are able and elders are still alive you should be interviewing these folks first. Maybe there is an aunt or uncle who kept notes on vital statistics and significant events within your family. If you obtain this information as a beginning then requests from state authorities for birth, marriage and death certificates will be easier. In requesting these records the more precise information that you provide the better the likelihood of success.

Military Records – these can be a source of information to verify birth dates, mothers and fathers, home addresses, etc. Note that requests of records for genealogical purposes take lower priority then those for benefit, medical and other requirements.

Paper Records – this refers to actual certificates (BMD and others) that you may have in your possession or that can be requested from regulatory authorities. Every record is essentially a paper record, further on will be notations on what types of agencies to inquire

with.

Government Records – official registration of BMD varies depending on the jurisdiction. In Scotland civil registrations began in 1855. Birth registration did not start until 1915 in the US, however some states started as early as 1878. Similarly in Canada registration in Upper and

Lower Canada started as early as 1847 until national standards of the 20 th century. The key is that each jurisdiction will provide different information on the particular certificate.

According to the “72-Year Rule”, the US National Archives releases census records to the general public 72 years after Census Day. As a result, the latest records released were the 1950 census records will be released in April 2022.

Canadian records are released after 92 years, 1931 census records are the last that are publicly available.

Scottish records are released after 100 years, 1921 census records are the last that are publicly available.

Church Records – before civil registration, individual parishes would have kept handwritten records with certain details related to baptism, marriage and burial. Such records in Scotland go back to the 17th century.

Historical Societies – Beyond state and provincial societies that have a series of broad objectives, there are often historical societies at a local level. In your search for ancestors there may be numerous towns and villages to search. Use the internet to determine if there

are locally based organizations that may have more records then at a higher level of government. Also check with local colleges who may have been the recipient of various church or private records over the years.

DNA Testing - Clan Dunbar has a Y DNA project (dunbardna.org). The project uses the services of Family Tree DNA of Houston Texas (ftdna.com). They provide the complete array of DNA testing including YDNA, mtDNA (mitochondrial) and the common Autosomal DNA

(called Family Finder).

The FTDNA website has an extensive help section that explains what can be achieved with DNA testing.

We caution the use of other services such as Ancestry. That test is only the “family finder” autosomal test and although it may provide information on individual genetic makeup, a percentage of this or that, you cannot further your DNA journey there. You may wish to review one of the dozens of “who am I” videos on YouTube to get an idea of what those results provide.

Literary Sources – these sources may not have direct ancestral records but can be broken down into sub categories.

How to – There are a number of books that have been written on how to search for your family members, too numerous to mention here. One specific book is “Tracing your Scottish Ancestors – The Official Guide”, this is written by the folks at the National Records of Scotland.

Scottish records are located at scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Within the indexed record collection, you can search free of charge and use pay-per-view to view and download digital images of the records found. The indexes cover birth, death and marriage registers, census returns, church registers, valuation rolls and legal records (like wills and testaments and coats of arms) and prison registers. The number of credits and costs of digital images are different for each record type.

Dunbar History - For a history of the Dunbar Clan we recommend the three volumes written by Lyle Dunbar (dunbarhouseof.blog). The books are a combination of genealogy, history, and travelogue information for people, places, and events related to the Dunbar family history. The Dunbar family genealogy information for all branches is illustrated in charts. An overview of Scottish, English, Irish, and American history is included to identify the key events that impacted the members of the House of Dunbar. The author visited key locations in Scotland, northern England, and America related to the House of Dunbar history, and color illustrations of these locations are included in the books.

Living Conditions in Scotland – Remember that Scotland was a poor and agricultural society in the 18th century and prior. In the 19th century it would have been affected by political, religious and intellectual changes along with England, the United States and the Commonwealth countries. There are many books and many authors focused on the “Clearances”. You will likely find that your ancestors were not cleared but ended up in the New World as prisoners or through military services. Farms were small and families were large, often beyond the first born son there was little opportunity.

Living Conditions in the “New Country” – Immigration to North America began as early as the 17th century with Cromwell, then as the success of the Jacobites was limited in the early 18th century. The industrial revolution saw the arrival of many new immigrants included the Scots-Irish as well. There is much discussion by scholars on how the source of individuals (Highland, Lowland, Ulster) affected early American society.

Canadians will be enthralled by any of the books written by Lucille H. Campey. Born in Ottawa she received her education at Leeds University and Aberdeen University. She has written eight books on Scottish emigration to Canada.

Ancestry.com – Ancestry requires a special mention, there is a world of information available on this site however remember that the trees are user constructed. While they have available many census and other records it is easy to fall into the biggest “trap” of ancestry and simply copy records from other trees. It is a valuable service (annual subscription fee applies) but proceed cautiously and ensure that the records that you find make sense to your own journey. Very quickly in the 19th and 18th centuries that completeness of the records can be in question

or the limitations caused by common first names (as an example) will render your research as null and void.

Professional Genealogists – these individuals MAY be able to discover who your immigrant ancestors were and where they came from or they will research a specific line and time period. While they provide a valuable service the reader wants to have exhausted all of their

efforts first and obtained as much information as possible.

Often the best use of these professionals is in a specific location where they can visit libraries and other reference sites that may require significant travel otherwise. Hourly rates can vary significantly and considering the amount of time involved the total costs can become

significant.