Before the introduction of civil registration in 1855 Church of Scotland parish ministers and session clerks kept registers of births and baptisms, proclamations of banns and marriages, and deaths and burials. Approximately 3500 of these Old Parish Register (OPR) volumes have survived. They are far from complete and contain much less information than the statutory registers of births, deaths and marriages.
The old parish (church) registers only cover members of the Church of Scotland. They were lists made by the ministers of a church congregation and the details of baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials that took place within it. Broadly defined, a parish was the moral, educational and religious centre of Scottish daily life, and was usually focused around the church.
