School log books
Log books kept by head teachers of schools are an important source of information on education in Scotland since 1872. From 1872 until 1979 the head teacher of each state school was obliged to keep a daily log book of occurrences at the school, particularly factors affecting pupil attendance (such as epidemics and severe weather) and staff absences. Other information which might be entered, depending on the circumstances of the school and the thoroughness of the head teacher, include attendance statistics, lists of teaching staff and subjects taught, dates and results of visits by HM Inspectors and end-of-term or end-of-year prize giving. Log books of faiths schools run by the Roman Catholic or Scottish Episcopalian Church may have visits by church dignitaries or festivals on saints’ days. Some log books may contain references to wider events, such as the arrangements for schools when their buildings were requisitioned by the armed forces at the start of the First World War, or the admission of a group of Belgian refugee children in 1914-1915. There may be references to cookery competitions, particularly during war-time and rationing periods, or to other types of competitions, such as local music, art or drama festivals in the mid-20th century. They are unlikely to hold information about individual pupils: pupils would usually only be mentioned by name if there was a tragic death, a police enquiry or an outstanding accomplishment.
School log books do not survive for every school. Most that survive have now been placed in the local archives service but some may still be held within the schools themselves. In general, although the names of staff may be listed, school log books tend not to include personal details about identifiable individuals. Where there is personal information, the log books will be subject to closure periods of up to 100 years. Most log books are open 30 years after the last entry in the volume.
Contributors: Alison Lindsay (National Register of Archives for Scotland, 2002); Robin Urquhart (SCAN, 2002); Editor: Elspeth Reid (2021)
Related Knowledge Base entries
Will I find details of pupils in a log book?
In most cases, no. Individuals named in log books are principally members of staff. Occasionally pupils may be mentioned, for example as prize winners in end-of-term or end-of-year award ceremonies, and sometimes the annual dux of the school (i.e. the pupil with the best academic record) is mentioned. The main record kept by a school of individual pupils is the admission register. For further details see the Knowledge Base entry on admission registers.
How do I find log books and other school records for a particular school in Scotland?
If you know the name of the school then you should first contact the local archives service. You can find contact details in Your Scottish Archives. You may also find up to date details in the published Records Management Plan of the relevant local Council. Every Council in Scotland is required to make proper arrangements for its archives and other records. Many Councils run their own archives service or support an arms-length organisation to run the archives service on their behalf, but some Councils run a joint service with another Council or have deposited their older records with one of the larger archives services.
If you do not know the name of the school, then for the period after 1873, there are several options. Postal Directories for each county and town have, in many cases, an appendix with a list of educational establishments. In the case of cities, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, these are subdivided by district. Many are online at <https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/> [accessed 26 April 2024]. Francis H Groome’s Ordnance Gazetteer for Scotland (various editions) mentions how many schools were in each place (in most cases) but does not name the schools.
If the education authority (e.g. school board, county council, etc) published a diary or annual handbook, these might be held by the local authority archive service or local studies library for the area concerned, and these usually list the schools and other educational establishments in the area. The local archives or library may have other resources or might have compiled lists of schools to help with these kinds of enquiries.
Once you know which schools were operating in the area concerned, you can use maps to work out which school was nearest to where your ancestor lived. If your ancestor was Roman Catholic, look for the nearest Roman Catholic School.