Another lot of new books has appeared in the Genealogy Centre. Charles Bartlett reviews the latest selection.

The parishes, registers & registrars of Scotland compiled by Edinburgh, Scottish Association of Family History Societies (2010, new edition)
As the Introduction states, “This publication contains details of the surviving Baptism, Marriage and Death Records of the Established Church of Scotland, listed by parish in alphabetical order”.

There are three distinct parts to this book: Parish Maps, Registers and Registrars.  The first consists of detailed, hand-drawn maps of each of the 33 counties of Scotland and their parishes from before the 1975 re-distribution.  The second lists the dates of registers held in New Register House, Edinburgh for each parish; and the third gives the physical addresses of the Registrars of each District.

Of use mainly for determining availability of records, this book has no actual genealogical information.

Canadians at war 1914-1919: a research guide to war service records by Glenn Wright (2010)
This is a very comprehensive guide to the records needed for research into those who served in the Canadian armed services during the First World War.  As the author says, it is not a history of Canada’s involvement in the war, but it does give much detail about the processes by which individual soldiers entered the military, and the sort of records one can expect to find, often using his grandfather as an example.  He also includes copies of documents and stories of particular men, so it is easy to know what to look for in records.

Of particular interest is the story of how conscription was introduced in Canada in 1917, and how large numbers of men either failed to register, or sought exemptions.  While the official records of exemption hearings have not survived, cases were often written up in newspapers, which provide a snapshot of many men at that time.

Also covered are the navy, the air force, Canadians who served in British units, and prisoners of war. The book finishes with a select bibliography and a comprehensive list of internet resources.