In an age before records of births were kept, Birth Briefs were used by individuals who needed to provide proof of their identity. These were obtained by having witnesses swear under oath, before magistrates of the town, that the family and the individual were known to them personally, and that they were willing therefore to verify that the claim to kinship was honest. Thereafter a sealed declaration was provided by the town clerk, giving written details of the individual's antecedents. Taken from the Aberdeen Propinquity Books, these listings provide detailed information about the individual and their families.
Frances J. McDonnell
(1995), 1998, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 44 pp.
ISBN: 9781888265538
101-M0053
