Published 12 March 2025
A range of historical records about West Dunbartonshire and its residents dating back to the 17th century have been made available to view online for the first time.
The information gives a fascinating insight into what life was like for the area’s residents from as early as 1615, with documents including school records over a 90-year period; petty crimes log from Dumbarton Tolbooth which served as a local jail before Dumbarton Prison was built in 1824; along with a beautifully illustrated record of employees from the 1901 Denny Employee register.
Also available are details of births, deaths, marriages and military records.
The Council’s Arts and Heritage department teamed up with Ancestry to make the collection more accessible.
It means that people from all over the world who have an interest in or links to West Dunbartonshire can research via the Ancestry site.
And residents and visitors to West Dunbartonshire can access the digital records for free when using PCs in any West Dunbartonshire Council Library.
Convenor of Corporate Services, Councillor William Rooney said, “This is a fantastic project that has seen the digitisation of 11 million records from the service’s unique local and family history resources. The team from Arts and Heritage have worked incredibly hard and closely with Ancestry and individuals from all over the world will have access to 13 new collections which will include birth, marriage and death, school and military records, county directories and a shipbuilding employee register from Denny’s. This marks a transformative moment in historical research and public access for West Dunbartonshire.”
Vice-Convenor of Corporate Services, Councillor Lawrence O’Neill said, “This ambitious project makes West Dunbartonshire’s rich archive genealogy resources available for the first time online, making our history and heritage more accessible than ever. It means residents, researchers and any person with an interest in West Dunbartonshire whether near or far, have the opportunity to find valuable family history information, portraying a vibrant picture of the lives of our ancestors through the broader social history the collections cover. The Arts and Heritage team should be incredibly proud of the work and impact this will make globally.”