Sheriff Court Criminal Records - Search Result

Order a Copy of the Original Record

These records can help you trace your family tree and understand the lives of your ancestors. Order a copy of the original record of the trial for £8.00.

For the research service fee of £8 we can provide a copy of this record. This covers our time to visit the archive, as necessary, and provide a digital copy of the original record. There is a link to the Shopping Cart at the top and bottom of each page on the site so that you can review or amend your order at any time.

Sheriff Court records vary greatly. As genealogists we often use records created on a printed form. These tend to be quite standardised and you know what to expect. For example, a prison register calls for certain information. Although we do find some similarities across Sheriff Court records, we also see great variation. There is variation in not only how the records were created but also what survives.

While some cases will contain statements by witnesses and extensive material, other cases are very brief. Some records are in volumes, others are loose material tied up with string. There is also a variation in the amount of information about each person contained in the index. In some cases, there may be a great deal about a witness to a crime but in other cases, there is only a sentence or two. In the case of jurors, there is often little more information than is contained in the index. This could be useful however if you are trying to pinpoint the movements of a family.

Our research service provides a copy of the case, this will include all the people listed, not just the person you are researching. Learn more about Scotland’s Criminal Database here in our Learning Zone.

Do You Have a Question?

If you are not sure if this is the item you need or if you have another question, email our genealogist Emma Maxwell, and she will do all she can to help. We also have a Facebook group where you can learn more about the records that we are indexing.