The Data
The main project database contains 111579 Kennedys and their spouses as of January 24th, 2010; 18278 Families (couples), of which 12138 are Root Families ie have no parents and 5646 of those have descendants, this is the number of branches of the overall Kennedy family tree. Searches in the main database should be requested by email to the project.
Catalogue (last updated 1.1.2010)
Kennedy marriages (Scotland) 1855 to present
I have started the long process of cataloging the data for publication. Version 3 of the catalogue, published 1.1.2010, is for civil Kennedy marriages in Scotland where I have downloaded certificate images from ScotlandsPeople plus the bulk of New Register House transcriptions, total 1481 records (about twice the size of v2 which was downloaded 105 times in under two months). It includes about 50 brand new transcriptions mostly of Margaret Kennedy marriages which I haven't merged into the main database yet, which thus have a blank family id. I have removed date information from the more recent records to protect privacy. If making enquiries about a catalogue entry please cite the family id number in the first column where available. Check back later for further updates.
Kennedy data at the Guild Archive
Click on the image above for a sample search from the Guild archive!
Please read the notes below before accessing the archive otherwise your searches may well fail. The main database contains much private information which prevents me providing online access. However I have now uploaded to the Guild of One-Name Studies archive the vast bulk of civil marriage index transcriptions in a searchable format. Some minor restrictions to the search are in place to ease the load on the server and prevent mass downloads. Because of the standardised format of the archive, it is not possible to cross-link it to the main database. Note that the text at the Guild archive is also standardised; although it says 'In some circumstances, the data holder may have further information about the data displayed' in fact I have at least the full date and location if not a lot more for approximately half the marriages on view. It is not my wish that the marriage index should be your first port of call; that should be to make contact with me as that way you will obtain access to the full study.
Marriages 1855-1875 were indexed by the LDS and the summaries - full names of parties and exact date but only parish location - can be seen at various web sites. Marriages post 1932 can only be viewed at New Register House in Edinburgh and Park Circus in Glasgow - I currently hold full details of about 600 in this category. The current uploaded index covers the years 1876-1930 and contains 4701 marriage records.
Note that the search form uses exact matching for the Spouse's forename, if you want to find a spouse who may have had a middle name you must add the wild-card * character at the end of their forename. This is in contrast to the Forename field where a wild card character at the end is assumed. Registration district must be as listed at GRO Scotland. Please let me know of any other problems.
The Kennedy marriage archive can be accessed here.The top registration district in the archive is Blythswood, one of the Glasgow districts, which has almost double the Kennedy marriages of its next rival, Paisley. The top rural district is Lochs on southern Lewis.
I will continue to monitor both usage and feedback and will add further data to this archive if there is positive feedback.