Introduction Sir Robert Douglas of Glenbervie, 6th Bt. (1694-1770), Scottish genealogist, is best known for
The Peerage
of Scotland (1764) and the posthumously-completed and published
The Baronage of Scotland (1798) (in which
he appears on
page 21). While the former work has been refined and updated on several occasions, the same has
not been true for the latter. It thus now only exists in the survivors from the original 1798 publishing and the
copies made of those survivors (most notably Family History Library film number 994073, item 9). Copies
occasionally become available for purchase online and in other venues, but for most researchers not fortunate
enough to live close to a library with a copy of
The Baronage of Scotland in its collection the only way to peruse
its pages has been to order the film at their local Family History Centers. In order to make it more generally
accessible, and in honor of its 210th publication anniversary, here are scans of all of its pages.
A Word of Caution The information contained in each family sketch should be treated much as the information contained within
English visitation records. Only the information concerning the last two or three generations should be considered
reliable (and still in need of supporting contemporaneous documentation). The earlier generations, while interesting
particularly from a sociological point of view, should be viewed as (at best) guides and clues for further research.
Some of that early information may indeed be correct (though much is certainly not), but its inclusion in a work
written several centuries later does not make it so.
Dating the Sketches According to the editors'
preface, most of the sketches included in
The Baronage of Scotland were compiled by
Douglas before his death (i.e., by 1770). The rest of the family sketches were compiled by the editors between 1770
and 1798 and are distinguished from the earlier material by the inclusion of "an engraving of the coat of arms of each
family...on the same page with the description" (i.e., the sketches on pages 563-590). The family sketches preceding
page 563 may therefore be dated at 1770 or earlier, and those following between 1770 and 1798.
Finding Aids The page images are not searchable. Each family sketch is listed and linked
here; and the editors provided surname
indexes of names that appear in the sketches of other families.
New: A list of immigrants to other countries can be