Perth, Scotland Newspaper Index Cards, 1809-1990

This database contains a collection of index cards referencing articles and announcements found in several Perth area newspapers from 1809-1990 (with a gap in coverage from 1890-1920). The collection is from the AK Bell Local Studies Department. Most of the cards reference births, deaths, retrials, golden and diamond wedding anniversaries, personal achievements, or personal tragedies.

About one-third of the cards are typewritten and were compiled as part of a Manpower Services Commission project during the 1980s. The remaining two-thirds are handwritten and were compiled by library staff over the years.

The majority of the cards reference articles and announcements from The Perthshire Advertiser (PA), The Perthshire Courier (Cou), The Blairgowrie Advertiser (BA), and the Strathearn Herald (SH). However, Kinross-shire Advertiser (KA) and Perthshire Constitutional and Journal (Con) are also occasionally referenced. These newspapers are noted on the cards by the abbreviations just listed after each title.

Information written on each card may include:

• Name of individual


• Event type


• Event date


• Event place


• Title of newspaper (noted by abbreviation)


• Date of newspaper


• Newspaper page number

Where to Go From Here:

It is important that you use the information found in this database to locate the original article or announcement that is referenced. Newspapers can be great sources of genealogical and biographical information and additional information about your ancestor or relative may be found in the actual newspaper entry. Microfilm copies of these newspapers are available for research at the AK Bell Library.

While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit the newspaper’s usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local news items, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debt (Taken from Chapter 12: Research in Newspapers, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy by Loretto Dennis Szucs and James L. Hansen; edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (Provo, UT: Ancestry, 2006).