National Records of Scotland (2024)

Valuation rolls are records of property ownership compiled for collecting local taxation. In Scotland they fall into three broad categories: 1855-1989 valuation rolls, council tax and other types of valuation record 1989-present and pre-1855 valuation and other tax rolls.

Valuation Rolls are one of the most frequently-used records in the National Records of Scotland (NRS), because they are contain detailed records of properties and people, updated on an annual basis from 1855 onwards.

Recent valuations rolls are frequently used to establish proof of ownership, tenancy or use of buildings for legal and administrative reasons.If you are interested in the history of your house, you can use the rolls to see who lived in your propertyandwho owned it. You can also use valuation rolls to research the history of buildings such asshops and businesses, churches, lighthouses, schools, hospitals and railway stations.Family historians usevaluation rolls to find trace ancestors who cannot be found incensus returns or to provide a lead to tenancy records (for example to give the owner of a landed estate, which might lead to estate papers, or the owner of a row of colliers houses, which might lead to Coal Company records).

Read about valuation rolls 1855-1989, valuation rolls before 1855, valuation records after 1989, valuation roll indexes, and the division of valuation rolls between 1855 and 1974 intocounties and burghs.