It is usually time-consuming to find information about any individuals in Scotland who lived prior to mid-19th century, but there may be opportunities for researching enslaved or former enslaved individuals in Scotland. Church attendance for enslaved individuals was not allowed in most colonies on the grounds that baptism might have prompted enslaved individuals to claim their right to freedom as Christians. Once in Scotland, however, many enslaved people were allowed to be baptised, and evidence of this should be in old parish registers of baptisms. At the point of baptism enslaved or former enslaved individuals often took the surnames of their enslavers, which should be borne in mind when searching baptismal registers. Released enslaved people were also allowed to marry and you may find an entry for their marriage in the old parish registers of marriages.
In correspondence (social letters) and household records of families which enslaved people you might find letters or diaries referring to household enslaved individuals or accounts for things purchased for them. They sometimes also contain copies of wills, which might reveal if any enslaved people lived in the household and whether they were bequeathed themselves or were the recipients of the bequests. Lists of enslaved individuals are occasionally found in estate collections and these vary in the amount of detail they give, but they usually include the names of the enslaved person, their age, any other family members and sometimes origin and medical condition.
Some former enslaved individuals were employed as apprentices with tradesmen. To find out more about the different types of trade records, read our guide to crafts and trades.
In the late-eighteenth century there was a tax on some categories of servants in Scotland and surviving tax rolls for these are held by the NRS, arranged by burghs and counties and then by household, with the names of the servants and sometimes their jobs (NRS reference E326/5 and E326/6). For more details read our guide to taxation records.
After their release (or successful escape), some former enslaved people joined the Army. Muster rolls list new recruits and might mention any former enslaved persons that joined. Searching them can be an arduous and time-consuming task, so you should ideally know the regiment the individual served in and their complete name. For more information on muster rolls, see our guide on military records.
Until the abolition of slavery, the release of slaves was formalised through a 'manumission' (a legal document granting the slave his or her freedom). Manumissions are contained within the papers of the Colonial Office and Foreign Office, held at The National Archives (TNA) - see below under United Kingdom government sources.
