News: Across the Divide: AJ Balfour and Keir Hardie in 1905

What links two political opponents and their very different houses? The answer can be found in a display at the National Records of Scotland which highlights the different social spheres inhabited by the Conservative Prime Minister of the day, Arthur James Balfour, and the founder of the Independent Labour Party, James Keir Hardie MP.

The Valuation Rolls for 1905 are complemented by other fascinating documents from NRS collections. Discover what separated Balfour and Hardie, what they had in common, and how the Valuation Rolls can help open up new avenues of ancestry research.

The Valuation Rolls, which detail owners and tenants of property throughout Scotland, and contain 2.4 million names, became available online through ScotlandsPeople in January 2013.

Free display at General Register House, Edinburgh, 25 February - 26 April 2013, Monday to Friday: 9am – 4.30pm, except for certain public holidays (see elsewhere for further details).