Sasines, Confirmations and Inventories

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Sasines from 1781 to 1947
A sasine is a legal document recording the transfer of ownership of a piece of land or a building. This document would normally give the names of the new owners and of the previous owners as well as a basic description of the property involved. Only a very small proportion of the population would appear in the sasines register as up until the 20th century the vast majority of people rented accommodation. The local studies library holds sasines for Renfrewshire from 1781 until 1947

• 1781 - 1869 no index available
• 1869 - 1872 indexed by deceased person's name only
• 1873 - 1947 indexed by deceased person's name and place

For further information about sasines please visit the National Archives of Scotland website.

Confirmations and Inventories from 1877 to 1936
The Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories indexes all wills that have been confirmed in Scotland between 1877 and 1936. The estate had to have been worth over £50 sterling but the deceased did not have to be resident in Scotland. The statement will provide:

• name of the deceased
• date and place of death
• value of the estate
• date of the will

It will also show:

• where and when the confirmation was granted
• which court books it was recorded in
• whether it was testate or intestate

It is worth noting that:

• confirmation of a will could take some time and does not always appear in the year of death
• married women are indexed under their married name

The confirmations are arranged alphabetically and are bound by year. You can view them in Renfrewshire Libraries' Local Studies Library.

For further information about confirmations and inventories, please visit the National Archives of Scotland website.

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