This is an index which covers those committed to a Scottish ‘lunatic asylum’ between 1 January 1858 and 3 June 1924. The index also includes people already committed to an asylum on 1 January 1858. Find out more about these records and how they can help you trace your Scottish heritage in our Learning Zone.
Enter the forename(s) in the first box, and the surname in the second box. The third box allows you to enter an alernative surname, such as an alias or a maiden surname for a married woman. If you are using both surname boxes, it does not matter which way round you enter the two surnames.
Remember that spellings in historical records can vary widely, so use wildcards to help you find your ancestors. See our search help page.
Less is often more! If you don’t find the result you are looking for try leaving this box blank or see our search help page.
Remember that ages were not always recorded accurately in historical records. Try widening the birth year range if you do not find the person you are looking for.
Enter a parish name in the first box; a county name in the second box; and a country name in the third box.
The birthplace is only occasionally recorded in this record set, so if you don’t find the result you are looking for try leaving these boxes blank.
This may be the year the patient was admitted, or may record the year they were transferred from one institution to another.
This can be a useful tool to speed up the display of search results. If you find your advanced search is taking a long time to return results you can use this box to narrow your search to a few years at a time. By narrowing the year range you can also reduce the number of results when searching on common surnames.
This number was assigned to a patient on their first admission, and stayed with them through later transfers or re-admissions.
Searching by patient number can enable you to find multiple records relating to the same patient.
Remember that dates were not always recorded accurately in historical records. Try widening the death year range if you do not find the person you are looking for.
The residence in the menntal health records index has not been separated into parishes, counties or countries. The original prison registers usually give a town, village or parish of residence for local people, but give residences with increasing levels of vagueness for those who were only temporary visitors to the area.
Remember that less is often more! If you don’t find the result that you are looking for try leaving this box blank. See our search help page.
Enter an institution name in the first box, or a county name in the second box.
Remember that less is often more! If you don’t find the result that you are looking for try leaving one (or both) of these boxes blank. See our search help page.
