A We are fortunate in Scotland that so many architectural records and drawings have survived. Architects, surveyors, engineers and their practices and works are all well documented among the National Collections, as well as in local,
university and private archives.
If you are looking for an architect before 1840, you should first look at: A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 by Howard Colvin. For information about a Scottish architect of any date, you can consult Scottish Architects Papers: A Source Book by Rebecca M Bailey. This publication briefly lists all known collections of Scottish architects' papers held within British, European and North American public archives, as well as providing a survey of the records of the Dean of Guild courts (the building control authorities in Scotland's burghs up to 1975) and architects practices in existence at the time of the survey.
For the period 1840 to 1940, there is a new resource on the internet, the Dictionary of Scottish Architects (www.scottisharchitects.org.uk), providing biographical information and job lists for all architects known to have worked in Scotland at this time. You can search by name or location of architect, practice, or building, as well as by client.
The profession of surveyor did not exist in Scotland until the mid-18th century. For information about most surveyors before 1850, you should look at the Dictionary of Land Surveyors and Local Map-Makers of Great Britain and Ireland, 1530-1850 by Sarah Bendall, which is in two volumes. The entries are brief, but they will tell you if it is worth searching further.
As well as the biographical information, you can also often find examples of their plans and drawings. The National Monuments Record in Edinburgh has a very large collection of original architectural drawings. Its database, Canmore, contains details of around 250,000 archaeological sites, ancient monuments, buildings and maritime sites. It also provides an index to the catalogued collections of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The National Archives of Scotland also holds a large number of architectural drawings, surveys and engineering plans. Where the surveyor or architect is known, this information will be included in the catalogue entry for that plan, so it can also be worth undertaking a speculative search of both the Canmore database and the NAS catalogue, both available online.
• If you have a question for the Genealogy Clinic e-mail the team at
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