Background Information

Elsie Inglis' memorial service listing. Imperial War Museum, Department of Printed Books : Women's Work Collection - Ref: BRCS 24.3/7

Elsie Inglis is a well-known historical figure and so researching her information was relatively straight forward. Internet searches provided a wealth of background information, including dates of birth and death.

Death Certificate
Provided by the Family Records Centre
For more information on obtaining certificates please see our births, marriages and deaths topic.

Baptism Information (India)
Provided by British Library, Oriental and India Office Collection

Enquirers are advised that the collection contains 80% of the Ecclesiastical Returns for European Christians who were living in India prior to 1947, i.e. births/baptisms, marriages and deaths/burials.

20-30% of registrations are still held by one of the many parishes in India and so with any search conducted there is the possibility of failure. The search fee for any one event (for a five year span) in the ecclesiatical records is £35.25. An additional fee of £18 is required for a certified copy of each registration. You may also be able to photocopy the entry for a standard fee, currently 50p per copy.

You can either pay by credit card or by cheque. For credit card payment the British Library require the following details:

• name and address of cardholder
• credit card type
• issuing bank/company
• card number
• the expiry date
• the secruity number, ie. the last three digits by your signature.

If a person wishes to pay by cheque the British Library require two separate payments ie. one for the search and another for the certificate fee. This means that in the event the search is unsuccessful they can refund the certificate fee promptly. The British Library can only accept cheques made payable to the British Library, and they have to be in UK sterling.

The contact address for all Ecclesiastical enquiries is:
British Library,
Oriental and India Office Collections,
96 Euston Road,
London.
NW1 2DB.

Enquirers should also note that as birth registration wasn't a legal requirement in India that the only record of birth for most European Christians is found on their baptism registration, i.e. baptism entries usually feature date of birth and baptism.

If members of the public have access to one of the family history centres organised by the Church of the Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints they can conduct this research themselves free of charge. Although the Latter Day Saints have microfilmed the majority of the British Library Oriental and India Office Collection ecclesiastical records they are unable to supply certified copies. The researcher will then need to contact the British Library ecclesiastical records department again, providing the certificate fee along with the volume and page number of each registration required.

Women's Work Collection

The Imperial War Museum's Department of Printed Books has material relating to the Scottish Women's Hospitals in the Women's Work Collection that can be consulted on microfilm. The relevant sections can be found in BRCS 24.3/2-24.7/57

Census Entries

A search of the census records for 1891 and 1901 found entries for Elsie Inglis. This was done via the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). For a fee, anyone can search and download information from their databases via their website.

Website sources

www.firstfoot.com
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
www.electricscotland.com
www.rampantscotland.com

Other useful information sources

Scottish Women's Hospitals business papers, correspondance and personnel papers can be found at:
The Mitchell Library
North Street
Glasgow
G3 7DN
General Enquiry Line: tel: 0141 287 2999

The above information was found by searching the National Register of Archives database at: http://www.nra.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra

The National Register of Archives contains information on the nature and location of manuscripts and historical records that relate to British history. Searchers should note that the National Register of Archives does not hold any manuscripts or historical records.