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New Register House

New Register House is a living repository of Scotland's people and their history. Close to the east end of Edinburgh's famous Princes Street, it was designed by Robert Matheson, the Clerk of Works at the Office of Her Majesty's Works in Scotland, who was responsible for government buildings at the time. He also designed Edinburgh's former General Post Office building nearby.

Dundas Room

New Register House was built in 1861 to house the Statutory Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths which began in 1855. The Dundas Room is named after William Pitt Dundas (1801-1883), the first holder of the combined post of Deputy Clerk Register and Registrar General. He held this post from September 1854 until April 1880; and following the untimely death of his successor Roger Montgomerie, for a further period from November 1880 until January 1881.

Construction

The New Register House site, on Gabriel's Road, was acquired in 1859. The architect's aim was for the new building to harmonise with the existing Register House designed by Robert Adam in the 18th century. A portico was added to the south elevation to give it the character of a public building; and the style of internal finish was kept simple. The building was first occupied in 1861 and completed in 1863 following the addition of five offices to each floor on the north side. The Accountant in Bankruptcy and Lord Lyon's departments were also allocated rooms. The cost of the build, complete with fittings, was nearly £35,000.

The main feature of this elegant building is the lofty fireproof central repository, the Dome, which consists of five tiers of ironwork shelving and galleries similar to those at the British Museum in London. The Dome is a large and striking circular chamber, over 27m (90 feet) high and of considerable interest as a piece of 19th century functional architecture and structural engineering.

The Dome in New Register House, containing five tiers (and 6.5 km) of records of Scotlands people, past and present

The 6.5 km (4 miles) of shelving contain half a million volumes. These included some 400,000 statutory registers of all the births, deaths and marriages in Scotland since 1855; still being added to every year. Red birth volumes are on the first tier, the death volumes in funereal black on the second, and the marriage volumes in green on the third. The original marriage schedules, which are signed by the parties immediately after marriage ceremonies in Scotland, are shelved on the top tier of the Dome as are the open Census records from 1841 to 1901.

The old parish registers are perhaps the greatest treasures in New Register House. The oldest volume dates from 1553 and is for the parish of Errol, near Perth.