Official Reports

Official reports by central and local government often contain detailed information about places in Scotland and issues affecting people who live there. Published reports currently available on the site include county medical officer of health reports from the 1890s and the lists of who owned land in Scotland from a parliamentary commission of 1872-1873. More government reports will be added to this section in due course.
Name Description
Land Ownership Commission 1872-3 The report of a parliamentary commission into land ownership, giving the names of every owner of land (of one acre or more) in each county (outwith major burghs). It was published in 1874 and a copy is held in the National Archives of Scotland's library (NAS library reference GA149/560).
Medical Officer of Health reports From 1890 onwards a full-time Medical Officer of Health was appointed in each county in Scotland with a remit to report on the state of health of the county and its various parishes and towns. The annual reports of the Medical Officers give an objective view of the living conditions, diseases and major health issues in different parts of Scotland. Information on the individual parishes and towns are found within the 'registration districts' headings found in these volumes. The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) has an incomplete set of the published reports from 1891 onwards (NAS HH62).