Special Collections

Guthrie Genealogy’s growing Special Collections section curates records of historical and genealogical importance. Every mention of the Guthrie surname or place has been explored and extracted for use in your genealogical research. That’s hundreds of translations, transcriptions, and important details.

If you are planning to document the origins of the Guthrie family, very distant Guthrie ancestors, or just want to browse some of the fascinating life experiences, trials and tribulations of Guthries in the Medieval Era and Middle Ages, this is the place to get started.

Guthrie Genealogy’s Special Collections.

Primary Primary Sources (SCT)
  • A list of Primary Sources in Scotland for Guthrie Research, 1100s-1600s
  • Many of these are already available as part of the Special Collections
  • Includes a list of some other published Primary Record Series that have gathered information from specific sources.
  • These Scottish records go far beyond Guthrie research and should be used for any of your genealogical research in Scotland.
Aberdeen Registers

The Aberdeen Council Registers (Volumes 1–8, 1398–1511) form the earliest and most complete surviving run of Scottish burgh records and have been recognised by UNESCO as part of the UK Memory of the World. For Guthrie family research they are of exceptional value. Within these volumes we find some of the earliest documented appearances of the surname in north-east Scotland, including Andreas Guthry (1406), Master David Guthre who served as Provost of Aberdeen, Robert Guthre of Lounan/Glensauchan who acted as factor for the heiress Isabel Buchan, and several other individuals bearing variant spellings of the name. The registers capture Guthries in a wide range of roles—burgesses, legal representatives, property holders, arbitrators, and participants in inheritance disputes—providing rare insight into their social standing, occupations, land connections (particularly with Angus), and relationships in the late medieval period. Because so few Scottish records survive from this era, these entries offer an unusually rich window into the early history of the Guthrie name in and around Aberdeen and form a cornerstone of any serious investigation into the family’s medieval origins.

Acts of the Lords in Council: Civil Causes & Public affairs

Civil Causes: Volume 1 (1478-1495) is not available online
Civil Causes: Volume 2 (1499-1501), Volume 3 (1501-1503)
Public Affairs: 1501-1554

The Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil Causes (also styled Acta Dominorum Concilii) is one of the most important surviving records of late medieval and early modern Scottish governance and justice. It preserves the decisions of the Lords of Council — the king’s chief advisory and judicial body — in a wide range of civil disputes involving land, inheritance, debt, contracts, and family affairs. 

Arbroath Abbey Register

Liber S. Thome de Aberbrothoc. Registrorum Abbacie de Aberbrothoc (commonly known as the Register of Arbroath Abbey) is the principal published cartulary of one of medieval Scotland’s wealthiest and most influential religious houses. Edited by Cosmo Innes and Patrick Chalmers and issued by the Bannatyne Club in two volumes (1848–1856), it contains the abbey’s charters, grants, and administrative records from the late twelfth century into the sixteenth.

For Guthrie genealogy the work is of particular importance because the family held lands and exercised local authority within the abbey’s extensive regality in Angus. The registers preserve early references to Guthries as tenants, landholders, witnesses, and officials (including bailies of the regality), supplying some of the earliest documentary evidence of the family’s presence and influence in the Arbroath and Kincaldrum districts.

Burgh of Edinburgh

14 Volumes covering 1403-1718

Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh (14 volumes, published 1869–1967 by the Scottish Burgh Records Society) is a comprehensive printed edition of the surviving minutes, accounts, and administrative records of Edinburgh’s Town Council from the late medieval period through the late 18th century. Edited by scholars including J.D. Marwick and Marguerite Wood, the series transcribes and calendars key civic documents—including council acts, treasurer’s accounts, dean of guild records, and legal proceedings—providing an unparalleled window into the governance, economy, trade, law, and daily life of Scotland’s capital. Digitally accessible via HathiTrust, it remains an essential primary source for historians, genealogists, and researchers studying urban Scotland, Reformation politics, burgh institutions, and the Guthrie family’s long involvement in Edinburgh’s civic affairs.

Calendar of Papal Registers

The Calendar of Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland is one of the most valuable published sources for tracing the careers of Scottish clergy and the patronage activities of landed families in the later Middle Ages. For Guthrie research it is especially rich. The volumes covering the mid-to-late fifteenth century document the rise of Richard Guthry as monk and abbot of Arbroath, his service as confessor to James III and papal chaplain, the provision of James Guthery as abbot of Kinloss, the foundation of the Collegiate Church of Guthrie by David and Alexander, lords of Guthrie, and the appearance of David Guthry of Kingoldrum as royal treasurer. They also preserve references to lesser clergy, prebends, and benefice disputes that illuminate the family’s wider network in Angus and beyond. Together these records supply a detailed picture of Guthrie influence in both the Church and the royal administration during a critical period of the family’s history.

Calendar of Cecil Papers in Hatfield House, 24 Volumes 1306-1668

The Calendar of the Cecil Papers in Hatfield House (24 volumes, 1883–1976) publishes detailed summaries of the extensive archive of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, and his son Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, still preserved at Hatfield House. A complete search of the series for Guthrie and variant references produced only three entries. Two are of moderate interest: a 1572 Portsmouth detention involving James Guthrie of Leith, and a 1590 Edinburgh suit brought by Marion Guthrie, widow of David Borthwick of Lochhill. The third, however, is of high genealogical value—a 1624/5 petition from James Guthrie, younger son of Alexander Guthrie, 4th of that Ilk (himself the victim of a violent feud killing), which supplies a rare first-person account of the long aftermath of that murder and the fortunes of a cadet who became a Dundee mariner and burgess.

British History Online: Cecil Papers in Hatfield House

Calendar of State Papers Relating to Scotland, 1547-1603

This multi-volume calendar, published between 1898 and 1969 in 13 volumes (some issued in parts) by H.M. General Register House / H.M. Stationery Office, provides detailed English-language abstracts and summaries of original state papers, correspondence, treaties, intelligence reports, and related documents concerning Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots. The materials are drawn primarily from the Public Record Office (now The National Archives), the British Museum (British Library), and other English repositories. Edited successively by Joseph Bain (vols. 1–2), William K. Boyd (vols. 3–9), William K. Boyd and Henry W. Meikle (vol. 10), Annie I. Cameron (vol. 11), and later editors including M. S. Giuseppi and J. D. Mackie (through vol. 13), the series covers the critical period from the death of Henry VIII through the early reign of James VI, encompassing the Scottish Reformation, Anglo-Scottish diplomacy, Mary’s reign and long imprisonment in England, border affairs, and the complex political networks of the Tudor era. For Guthrie family research, these calendars are a valuable secondary finding aid that can reveal references to individuals of the surname in official correspondence, commissions, intelligence reports, or local Scottish contexts, particularly in Forfarshire/Angus and other regions, offering both genealogical leads and broader historical context for the period.

Calendar of Treasury Books (England and Later Great Britain)

The Calendar of Treasury Books is a multi-volume series published by the Public Record Office (later The National Archives) that calendars the official records of the English (and after 1707 British) Treasury from the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 through the early eighteenth century. The volumes available on British History Online cover the period 1660–1718 across 32 volumes, with a related continuation in the Calendar of Treasury Books and Papers.

These records include warrants, money orders, salary establishments, petitions, secret-service payments, and civil-list accounts. Because the Treasury controlled government expenditure, the calendars capture a wide range of people who received official salaries, pensions, bounties, passage money, or who appear in administrative or legal contexts involving Crown revenue.

British History Online: Calendar of Treasury Books

Commissariot Records of Scotland

The Commissariot Courts of Scotland were the ecclesiastical courts responsible for confirming testaments (wills and inventories) from the sixteenth century until the early nineteenth century. Beginning in the late 1890s, the Scottish Record Society published a series of abstracts of these registers under the editorship of Francis J. Grant. The volumes cover the major commissariots—including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Brechin, and Aberdeen—and remain an essential finding aid for Scottish genealogy. Because the original records are held at the National Records of Scotland, these published indexes provide the quickest means of identifying testaments that name members of the Guthrie family (and spelling variants) across several centuries and regions.

Criminal Trials in Scotland

Robert Pitcairn (1793–1855), a Scottish antiquary, Writer to the Signet, and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, produced one of the foundational collections of early modern Scottish criminal records. Guthrie records cover a wide variety of involvement as perpetrators, victims, witnesses, and legal representatives. There are all manner of crimes ranging from adultery, bigamy, and theft to feuding, slaughter and treason.

Edinburgh Apprentices

The Register of Edinburgh Apprentices (multiple volumes spanning ~16th–18th centuries) records formal apprenticeship contracts in Edinburgh. It details young men (often with family backgrounds) bound to masters in trades for training, board, and guild pathways. Key focus: parentage, master’s trade, dates, and occasional transfers/sureties. Valuable for tracing family occupations and social mobility, including Guthrie entries as apprentices or masters.

Edinburgh Burgesses

The Roll of Edinburgh Burgesses (1406–1700 and related) is the official list of individuals admitted as burgesses (freemen) of Edinburgh. It granted rights to trade, property ownership, and civic participation. Entries note inheritance (sons), marriage rights, apprenticeships, fees, military obligations (e.g., arms), and special grants. It complements the Apprentices Registers by showing post-training status and highlights Guthrie family networks in burgh life.

Exchequer Rolls of Scotland

23 Volumes covering years 1264 – 1600

These rolls record royal revenues from crown lands, baronies, burgh customs, teinds, and feudal casualties, together with the appointments and activities of chamberlains, custumars, sheriffs, and other officials. They supply an unparalleled window into Scotland’s fiscal machinery, land tenure, economic conditions, and the networks of lairds, merchants, and crown servants who operated within it.

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII is a fundamental calendar of the state papers of the English crown for the years 1509–1547. Although an English source, it contains a significant amount of material relating to Scotland, especially during periods of diplomatic contact, war, and the minority of Mary Queen of Scots. For Guthrie research it yields three clear mid-sixteenth-century references: the provost of the collegiate church of Guthrie appearing in a high-level request from James IV to the pope in 1509, Alexander Guthre serving as herald and diplomatic messenger for the Scottish government in 1544, and William Guthre being summoned for treason in connection with the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546. These entries illuminate both the continuing status of the Guthrie collegiate foundation and the involvement of individual Guthries in the ceremonial, diplomatic, and political life of Scotland during a turbulent period.

British History Online: Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

A chronological Guthrie Master Index of NLS primary documents with any Guthrie reference 1471 – 1780, with a few from the 19th century.

The National Library of Scotland, located in Edinburgh, is the country’s legal deposit library and holds the world’s most comprehensive collection of Scottish literature, history, and archival records. For the Guthrie Research project—which traces the extensive genealogy, migration, and local history of the historic Scottish Guthrie family—the library serves as an invaluable, irreplaceable repository. It houses critical primary source materials, including centuries-old land charters, personal family papers, and rare regional manuscripts that allow researchers to chart the family’s lineage with pinpoint accuracy. Ultimately, the library provides the foundational documentary evidence required to preserve the Guthrie family’s distinct historical legacy within the broader fabric of Scottish heritage.

National Records of Scotland (NRS)

A chronological Guthrie Master Index of NRS primary documents with any Guthrie reference. There are also a few additional documents/references added to the list.

  • Pre-1500s, 1500s, 1600s, 1700s (pending), 1800s (pending), and Undated

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) serves as the primary national archive preserving Scotland’s legal, civil, and historical documents from the 12th century to the present. For Guthrie research, the NRS is uniquely vital because it houses the specific, private papers of the historic Barons of Guthrie (collection GD188), which include land writs, charters, and estate records dating back to 1388. Beyond these noble papers, the archive provides essential access to Old Parish Registers, wills, and Kirk Session documents that allow researchers to trace ordinary Guthrie lineages well before the onset of modern statutory recording in 1855. These resources collectively bridge the gap between early medieval Clan origins in Angus and modern genetic genealogy.

People of Medieval ScotlanD (PoMS)

The People of Medieval Scotland (PoMS) database is a free and valuable resource for anyone researching Scottish ancestry before the era of parish registers. Covering the period 1093–1371 (with ongoing expansion), it indexes individuals mentioned in surviving medieval charters and related documents. Rather than offering compiled family trees, PoMS uses a factoid-based structure that records people performing specific actions — such as witnessing charters, holding land, or interacting with institutions. This makes it especially useful for identifying associates, landholding patterns, and social networks in medieval Scotland. For Guthrie researchers, PoMS provides helpful early context regarding the lands of Guthrie and the possible connection to the de la Carneille / de la Kernelle family in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Records of the Parliaments of Scotland

All Guthrie mentions beginning with the Reign of James III (1460-1488) through the Reign of Queen Anne (1702-1714).

The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 (RPS) is a comprehensive, searchable database containing the official proceedings, acts, and minutes of the Scottish parliament from 1235 until the Act of Union. For Guthrie research, this collection is incredibly valuable as it documents the legislative, judicial, and political actions of prominent family members, including parliamentary attendance, land ratifications, and official appointments. It acts as a primary tool for tracking the high-level civil involvement of the Barons of Guthrie and early regional branches in Angus, providing vital historical context alongside local estate records. Furthermore, its modern translations and standardized names allow researchers to easily pinpoint specific Guthrie individuals within medieval Latin and early Scots parliamentary texts.

Register of St. Andrews

Liber Officialis Sancti Andree (1845) is a valuable collection of the surviving sentences and acts of the Official’s Court of the metropolitan diocese of St Andrews. 

Register of St. Catherine of Siena

Liber Conventus S. Katherine Senensis Prope Edinburgum (1841) is the cartulary and record book of the Dominican convent of St Catherine of Siena (Sciennes) near Edinburgh. Published by the Bannatyne Club as No. 21, the volume preserves the surviving charters, grants, and internal acts of this small but significant house of Dominican nuns founded in the early sixteenth century. 

Register of the Bishopric of Brechin

Guthrie family members appear across four centuries.

The Registrum Episcopatus Brechinensis (2 vols., 1856 Bannatyne Club edition) is the definitive published collection of the medieval and early modern records of the Bishopric of Brechin. It contains the compiled register of acts, chapter declarations, notarial instruments, and (in Vol. 2) original charters. Guthrie family members appear across four centuries as prebendaries, portioners, lairds of specific estates (Kincaldrum, Balnabreche, Pitforthie, Lunan), civic officials (bailie of Brechin), royal/episcopal administrators, and holders of the collegiate church of Guthre itself. 

Register of the Great Seal of Scotland (RMS)

14 Volumes plus Specialty Tables covering years 1306 – 1424.

The Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum (RMS) or Register of the Great Seal of Scotland is the central record of royal charters, land grants, and titles issued under the crown from 1306 to the present day. For Guthrie research, it provides the legal and territorial foundation for the family’s prominence, detailing the official crown ratifications and successions of the Barons of Guthrie and their various estate holdings. These entries often specify family connections, marriage contracts, and geographic properties, making it an invaluable tool for verifying medieval and early modern lineages. Because it spans centuries of royal administrative history, it bridges the gap between early Clan Guthrie origins and the detailed estate papers found in local archives.

Register of the Privy Council of Scotland (RPSC)

First Series: 14 Volumes 1545 – 1625
Second Series: 8 Volumes: 1625 – 1660
Third Series: 16 Volumes: 1661 – 1691

The Privy Council served as the monarch’s key advisory and executive body in Scotland, handling a wide array of matters including state policy, justice (both public and private litigation), royal proclamations, local governance, religious affairs, border management, trade, military levies, and responses to crises such as plagues, witchcraft accusations, and political unrest. This collection contains 3 series of documents covering council acts from 1545 to 1691 over 38 volumes. All Guthrie mentions have been extracted, transcribed, and the role, historical and genealogical significance explored.

Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland (RSS)

8 Volumes, but only 1 with full online access. Volume 1 covering 1488-1529.

The Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum (RSS) or Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland is the official record of documents authenticated by the monarch’s private seal, spanning from 1488 until the mid-20th century. It primarily contains records of a more personal or localized nature than the Great Seal, including royal appointments, charters, pensions, and passports. For historians and genealogists, these records provide a critical window into the daily administration of the Scottish kingdom and the individuals who interacted directly with the Crown. Because the entries capture property transitions, titles, and official offices, they serve as a vital primary source for tracing corporate, local, and family lineages across centuries of Scottish history.

Treasurer’s Accounts (TA)

10 Volumes

The Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland (TA) form one of the most valuable surviving series of royal financial records for late-medieval and early-modern Scotland. Running from the late fifteenth century through the mid-sixteenth century, they record the day-to-day receipts and disbursements of the Crown—payments to servants, messengers, and officers of arms, compositions for feudal casualties, livery issues, and the movement of money, goods, and people on the King’s or Governor’s business.

For Guthrie family researchers these volumes are especially useful. They capture both the landed heads of the family (the Guthries of that Ilk and their cadet branches at Kincaldrum, Colleston, Kinblethmont, and Kingennie) and a group of professional Guthries who served the Crown as messengers, heralds, and Treasury clerks. The accounts therefore supply dates, places, official roles, and occasional family relationships that are rarely found in the more formal charter evidence, allowing genealogists to distinguish one Alexander, John, or David from another and to place them more securely in time and social context.