Family tree craze spreads its roots

WHO do we think we are? Interest in tracing our ancestors has reached such a peak in Scotland that a new research centre is full and councils are being urged to set up their own family tree facilities.

New figures from the General Registers of Scotland (GROS), the keeper of the nation's historical archives, reveal online registrations to research the nation's family trees hit 800,000 last year, an annual rise of 11%.

Rising interest in genealogy, partly prompted by TV programmes involving high-profile personalities, has also brought an overwhelming response to a purpose-built GROS centre aimed at making family searches easier.

Although the number of search spaces at the new Scotland's People Centre in Edinburgh has been increased from 100 to 165, managers say they are "almost full" every day.

GROS officials are now calling on councils around the country to set up similar family history centres to both relieve the pressure on the capital's facilities and bring in much-needed income.

The search centre at West Register House on Princes Street brought in 330,000 last year, without the addition of the extra 65 places. Printing of birth, marriage and death certificates earned a further 570,000.

Deputy registrar general, Paul Parr said: "We are almost full every day. We used to have 100 search places and we have now gone up to 165, and even that may not be enough.

"Our ethos is to encourage local councils to provide local family history centres to spread demand around the country. Our new centre is proving very popular so there is a clear incentive for local councils to set up their own."

The new People's Centre is designed to be "one-stop" shop for genealogy research, which allows visitors access to a series of historical records held at West Register House and electronic links to other archives elsewhere. Searchers get access to computers for a fee of 10 a day and can enlist the help of expert staff for a set rate. They can also try out a free, two-hour taster session, browse a genealogy bookstore or visit a cafe.

Widespread interest in genealogy has been fuelled by a hit BBC TV series Who Do You Think You Are?, which has helped celebrities such as presenter Jeremy Paxman and comedian Graham Norton trace their family roots.

National tourism agency VisitScotland marketed "genealogy" breaks in the United States after discovering that one of five US visitors visited Scotland to trace their roots. It is anticipating a further rise in demand for genealogy services from the Scottish Government's Homecoming Year initiative, in which thousands of expatriate Scots and descendants of Scots are being encouraged to return in 2009.

Sheila Duffy, the genealogist at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh, said: "As soon as people get a sniff of Scottish blood they become very keen to find out as much as they can about their background. The interest is now phenomenal and growing.

"Most find they are not related to anyone famous but they don't mind that because their family history is very personal to them.

"Interest has been building because organisations like the GROS are providing more and more records online and making them easier to access. New family history centres around the country can only help."

One council that has already set up a family history centre is Dundee, which opened its facility just over a year ago in the Central Library.

David Kett, the team leader for reference services, said:

"We get a lot of people galvanised by the TV series who want to come in and research their roots. The main benefit of coming here is that they can do a lot of the work in one place with the help of expert staff. "

Delegations from the Mitchell Library in Glasgow and council officials from Kilmarnock, in the heart of Robert Burns country, had recently visited Dundee to see how its service worked, Kett added. "It can generate extra revenue while providing a much-needed service."

One Scot who recently decided to research his family tree is Taggart actor John Michie, who plays DI Robbie Ross in the popular TV crime series.

Links to a 17th-century murderer and the chairman of the pioneering East India Company, the trading firm which helped establish the British Empire, were confirmed.

Michie said: "I am linked to a 17th-century McDonald of Keppoch who had to flee after a murder in the 17th century. He killed his brother in a dispute over land.

"His nickname was Michie and he went to Strathdon in north-east Scotland. The Michies spread from there to Aberdeen and eventually got as far as Fife where my grandfather was born."

"The Michies appear to have been a bunch of cattle thieves and illicit whisky distillers. But in the 18th century they reached some respectability when John Michie became chairman of the East India company, a considerable achievement for a sheep farmer."

Michie's father was a banker with overseas postings in Burma, where his son was born, and Kenya. The family returned to Scotland and Edinburgh when Michie was 13.

"It's been fascinating to go back in time and find out about these guys," he said. "I have been led to believe I may have a claim on the clan chiefdom but I have no intention of following this through. Apart from the fact that it would be very expensive, I am sure the current clan chief would look very dimly on an upstart actor from Taggart trying to usurp him."

More than 95% of the registrations on the Scotland's People website have come from the UK and the four countries to which Scots have emigrated en masse. But there are other intriguing inquires.

UNITED KINGDOM 523,571

UNITED STATES 110,221

AUSTRALIA 71,201

CANADA 51,566

NEW ZEALAND 15,233

VATICAN CITY STATE (HOLY SEE) 31

NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA 28

ANTARCTICA 14

CHRISTMAS ISLAND 3

KYRGYZSTAN 2

'What we found out about my father was fascinating'

The father of Scottish TV impressionist Rory Bremner kept his war-time exploits concealed from his son.

But the role of Major Gordon Bremner in the liberation of Europe and rebuilding Germany after the Second World War has now been revealed in the new series of Who Do You Think You Are?.

Bremner, who lived in Edinburgh until he was in his late teens, said: "I was hoping we would go somewhere far away to an exotic country, but we ended up in Holland and not very far back in time. But what we did find out about my father was fascinating and very moving. He died when I was 18 and although we knew he had fought in the Second World War, he never spoke about it."

The escapades of Major Bremner, who served with the East Lancashire and 2nd Monmouthshire infantry regiments, emerged when the researchers uncovered a cache of letters he had sent back to his family.

"By 1944 he's in Normandy sleeping in trenches under sniper fire," said 47-year-old Bremner. "There was a sense of excitement because he was a soldier and it was the most intense period of his life.

"He then moved into Holland where he helped to liberate a town. Dad and his regiment were first in and we traced his steps there and on through into Germany where the fighting was very bitter. He ended up in Germany administering a town."

Bremner added: "The worry is finding out your family is really boring. It certainly isn't. This was a remarkable voyage in the footsteps of my father."

The programme will be broadcast tomorrow, BBC1, 9pm.