Registers of Scotland

Registers of Scotland is the Scottish Government agency responsible for compiling and maintaining records relating to property and other legal documents in Scotland.

The important element about any system of land tenure is evidence - evidence to support the claim of the person entitled to the land. In the early days of the feudal system this evidence was provided by the ceremony on the ground of 'giving sasine'. The word sasine being derived from the old-French word 'seiser' meaning to seize, this ceremony was performed every time a feudal grant of land was made.

History of the registers

It may be claimed that Scotland was the first country to establish a national system of registration giving rights to the public rather than particular groups. Registers were kept in Edinburgh Castle from about the 13th century. The Register of Sasines, a public register of deeds covering all of Scotland, was set up by an Act of the Scots Parliament in 1617. The records were later moved to the old Parliament House at the end of the 17th century. In 1765 plans were made to establish a building to house the registers with funds provided from the forfeited Jacobite estates. The famous architect Robert Adam was commissioned to design the building now known as Register House in Princes Street. As work expanded, the Agency outgrew Register House and moved to the Meadowbank House site in 1976 and as of 2006 occupies additional premises in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The registers were originally set up...
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