Galloway Advertiser and Wigtownshire Free Press

The Galloway Advertiser and Wigtownshire Free Press was first printed on the 5th January 1843 and has continued to be published weekly ever since. The newspaper included local and topical news from the outset, but of particular interest to family historians is the weekly section on births, marriages and deaths.

The years from 1843 to 1854 are of special significance, because this was before civil registration was implemented in Scotland and consequently there are many cases where a birth, marriage or death notice in the Galloway Advertiser and Wigtownshire Free Press is the only surviving record for this event. Transcriptions for the years from 1855 to 1857 are also included and frequently provide useful information not found in the Scottish statutory birth, marriage and death records.

Additionally, the newspaper reported the births, marriages and deaths of Wigtownshire families which occurred outside Scotland which provides a wealth of information linking families all over the world with their Wigtownshire origins.

Diana Henry has transcribed many of the early years of the birth, marriage and death entries in the Galloway Advertiser and Wigtownshire Free Press and her exhaustive work is being made available on this site in a fully searchable format so that descendants and family researchers can document their families as originally recorded in the pages of this newspaper. All entries have been transcribed verbatim, and no attempt has been made to correct spelling or printing errors, though occasionally obvious errors are highlighted by [sic] which confirms that the entry is recorded that way in the original newspaper. When looking for a surname beginning with Mac or Mc it is recommended that a search be made for M' rather than Mac or Mc since it is in that way that these surnames were usually recorded in the original issues of the newspaper.