Sasines
Sasines are the records of land & building ownership. They record land sales, loans secured over the land, repayments of loans, annuities created, restrictions on the land use, etc. Historic sasines are held by the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Coverage on this site: Brief details about each transaction concerning property in Forgan parish from 1782 to April 1894 (for Newport) and to December 1896 (for Wormit) have been transcribed and are available here. There are a few earlier and some later.
They are not the easiest documents to understand, but I have made the transactions as simple as I can by providing an In Brief explanation for each one alongside it.
The transactions have been linked: first, to plots of land (accessed via the maps listed below); second, to individual properties (accessed via the property pages, the present-day addresses, the properties map or by following a Location link).
Further help is provided by a list of the basic types of sasine transactions and a worked example, fully explained, for one property. There is also full background information together with a more-detailed explanation and a methodology.
To Find the Plots - using Maps
Example: plot ID 134, Craighead lot 17 west
Detailed maps of the feuing areas:
To Find the Plots - using a Property
Example: Property - 100 Tay Street (you will find the sasine information at the foot of that page: Plot: 134 view details.)
Go to the property pages via the Present-day Addresses, the Properties Map, Old House Names, or following a Location link in Directories, Census, Valuation Rolls, etc.
Sources Used
Most of this information is from the printed Sasine Abridgements, and a few full sasines were also consulted for more detail.
The best ways to access this information are given above. However, there are several searchable databases behind the scenes. Keep the searches simple for best results - e.g. try a single surname only first. Present-day street addresses, tenants and occupiers are not given in any of the sasine entries and cannot be searched for. However it is possible to search for a present-day street using the 'Plot Search'.
Alternatively, you can access the database: View all name & place records, 9309 records ; View all plots records, over 680 records ; View all abridgements, 2741 records ; View all extracts from full sasines, 111 records
or search it:
Abbreviations in the notes
t/on - thereon; t/p - turnpike; dw - dwelling; ho - house; pt - part; pce - piece; grnd - ground; bldg - building; Tr/Trs - Trustee/Trustees; dec - deceased; ... - words omitted; pol - poles; yd - square yards; : - bounded; rd - road; ' - feet; " - inches;
Basic Types of Sasine Abridgements Worked example explaining the sasine transactions on the property pages Sasine entries - background information and explanation