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Dear Editor;
I note that EE sec. 9.56 (3rd ed.) gives examples for Scottish birth records, which gives some insight into how one might address citing other ScotlandsPeople records. I'm interested in how it could be adapted to citing the "Wills and Testaments" available on that site, since the noted citation format is far shorter than what I've been using.
Scottish "Wills and Testaments" on ScotlandsPeople are actually not images of the originals, but rather an image copy of the court record book into which a recorder has copied the text of the deposition "package" presented to the court (as well as other other aspects of the case). That package usually contains a copied version of either the will (testament), or the estate inventory, or both. The finding aid recognizes that these materials are part of the court records by stating that they can be searched by the date of them being recorded in the court records, as opposed to the date of confirmation to the executors.
“Legal records - Wills and testaments” is the name provided provided for the collection per the search page. I've chosen to use a "collection first" format, since I have a large number of citations to this collection. The word "recorded" refers to the date the package was presented at court. The date was drawn from the image itself. The court does not have a stated full geographical location, so I have used the exact name of the court as used in locating the information in the collection.
Would a citation for court records in their "Wills and Testaments" collection look similar to the following, assuming one uses the search engine on the site?
(Please note that the following is a cut-and-paste from MSWord. So, the formatting may be a bit off.)
Source List Entry
“Legal records - Wills and testaments.” Database and images. ScotlandsPeople.http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk : 2019.
First Reference
“Legal records - Wills and testaments,” database and images, ScotlandsPeople (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk : downloaded 11 May 2019), images, pp. 216-217, testament dative (inventory), Jessie Cousland Murison, died 12 May 1911, recorded 27 June 1911, "Kilmarnock Sheriff Court Inventories"; citing NLS National Records of Scotland ref. no. SC7/28/5.
Subsequent Note
“Legal records - Wills and testaments,” ScotlandsPeople, images, pp. 216-217, testament dative (inventory), Jessie Cousland Murison, died 12 May 1911, recorded 27 June 1911, "Kilmarnock Sheriff Court Inventories".
History-Hunter, as mentioned…
History-Hunter, as mentioned in a previous Q & A, EE does not have access to the material behind the paywall at ScotlandsPeople. I've posted a link to your query on our Facebook page, in the event that a follower of that page is a subscriber who assist you with the specifics.