Wednesday 23 February 2011

Fairlie House

It was a full house for last night's(22 February) talk by Sandra Liquorish on her home, Fairlie House, between Dundonald and Gatehead.  Although its official title is Fairlie House her residence is better known to many local people as "Fairlie fivelums" because of its distinguishing five chimneys.  Sandra talked, with some humour, not just about the house but about the people involved in designing, building and maintaining it.  A thoroughly informative and enjoyable evening.

Thursday 17 February 2011

Programme of Meetings Throughout Ayrshire

Ayrshire is very fortunate in having a large number of very active societies with an interest in local and family history.  The Ayrshire Federation of Historical Societies is the "umbrella" organisation which coordinates and supports the activities of many of these organisations.
The AFHS annually produces a diary of all the talks taking place in Ayrshire which are arranged by its member organisations.
The diary for the early part of 2011 is reproduced below.


Ayrshire Federation of Historical Societies.
Diary for 2011 - February to May.

AA Arran Antiquarians. Meetings in Brodick Public Hall, Brodick, at 2 p.m.
AANHS Ayrshire Archaeological & Natural History Society. Meetings in Carnegie Library, Ayr, at 7.45 p.m.
*. This particular meeting will be held at the Citadel Leisure Centre, South Harbour Street, Ayr, at 7.45 p.m.
ASA Alloway & Southern Ayrshire Family History Society. Meetings in Alloway Church Halls, Alloway, at 7.45 p.m.
BHS Beith Historical Society. Meetings in lounge of the Eglinton Inn, Beith at 8.00 p.m.
CHS Cumbrae Historical Society. Meetings in Hiccups Lounge, Newton Bar, Millport at 7 p.m..
DHS Dundonald Historical Society. Meetings in Dundonald Castle Visitors Centre, Dundonald, at 7.30 p.m.
EAFHS East Ayrshire Family History Society. Meetings in Gateway Centre, Foregate Square, Kilmarnock, at 7.30 p.m.
FHS Joint Joint Meeting of Ayrshire Family History Societies. St Columba’s Church, Largs, at 7.45 p.m.
KCCS Kyle and Carrick Civic Society. Meetings in Loudoun Hall, Ayr, at 7.30 p.m.
KDHG Kilmarnock & District History Group. Meetings in Kilmarnock College at 7.30 p.m.
Largs HH LDHS Hakon Hakonsson Lecture. In Vikingar!, Largs at 8 p.m.
Largs Jt. Joint meeting of LDHS and LNAFHS. In St Columba’s Session House, Largs at 7.30 p.m.
LDHS Largs and District Historical Society. Meetings in Largs Museum at 7.30 p.m.
L(MS) LDHS, Marine Section. Meetings in Largs Museum at 7.30 p.m.
LNAFHS Largs & North Ayrshire Family History Society. Meetings in Largs Library, Allanpark Street, Largs at 7.30 p.m.
PHG Prestwick History Group. Meetings in 65 Club, Main Street, Prestwick, at 7.30 p.m.
SHS Stewarton & District Historical Society. Meetings in John Knox Church Hall, Stewarton, at 7.30 p.m.
SWT Scottish Wildlife Trust: Ayrshire Members’ Centre. Meetings in The Green Room, Auchincruive, Ayr, at 7.30 p.m.
TAFHS Troon @ Ayrshire Family History Society. Meetings in Portland Church Hall, South Beach, Troon, at 7.30 p.m.
WKCS West Kilbride Civic Society. Meetings in Community Centre, Corse Street, West Kilbride, at 7.30 p.m.


February 2011

Thurs 3rd PHG David Rowan and Alisdair Cochrane  - Posted in Prestwick
Mon 7th KCCS John Pelan - The Scottish Civic Trust
Mon 7th SHS I Dickson - The City of Petra
Tues 8th LNAFHS Mrs N Cameron - Wemyss Bay Station
Tues 8th KDHG KDHG Members - History on the Web
Thurs 10th EAFHS Valerie Campbell - Thomas McDougall Brisbane
Thurs 10th AANHS Gordon Stewart - Dundonald Castle
Mon 14th CHS Jim Walker - The Antonine Wall: Rome’s North West Frontier
Tues 15th ASA Brenda Kidd - History of St Andrews Ambulance
Tues 15th TAFHS Carolina Borwick - Blair Castle and its People
Tues 15th SWT Paula Baker - Alternative Lochwinnoch
Mon 21st LDHS James Brown - Crossraguel Abbey – Ayrshire’s Ancient French Connection
Tues 22nd WKCS Stanley Sarsfield - Mauchline Ware
Tues 22nd KDHG Sandra Liquorish - Fairlie House – Its Architects and Inhabitants
Thurs 24th AANHS Fraser Hunter - Romans in Scotland
Thurs 24th BHS Lesley Charlton - The Importance of Place

March 2011

Thurs 3rd PHG Members - Pot Pourri
Mon 7th KCCS Edwin Lawrence - All the Fun of the Fair
Mon 7th SHS Bill McGregor - Trams and Buses, Part II
Tues 8th KDHG Graham Boyd - Kalliningrad
Thurs 10th AANHS* Ian Cornforth - Bats (Chiroptera)
Thurs 10th EAFHS Joyce Brown - Hamilton Palace
Mon 14th CHS Dugald Cameron - Scotland’s Aviation – From Pilcher to the Planets
Tues 15th TAFHS tbc
Tues 15th ASA Sheena Andrew - Auld Ayr
Tues 15th SWT Davy McCracken - Chough Stuff: Developing Chough Conservation Strategy in Scotland
Mon 21st LDHS Shirley Watson - The Scottish Battlefields as Cultural Artefact
Tues 22nd KDHG Alastair Dinsmore - The History of Glasgow Police
Wed 23rd FHS Joint Chris Paton - Researching Your Irish Ancestry
Tues 29th WKCS John Hume - Victorian Churches
Thurs 31st BHS Alex Grey - New Riverside Museum

April 2011

Mon 4th SHS A Adamson Scottish Civic Trust – 20 years of Buildings at Risk
Thurs 7th PHG Jean Lockley and Graham Humphreys - Man’s Mark
Tues 12th TAFHS Sandra Liquorish - Fairlie House and its People
Tues 12th LNAFHS Donald Cameron - Street Names of Largs
Thurs 14th EAFHS John Stevenson and Daniel Mackay - Strang’s Foundry, Hurlford
Mon 18th CHS Pauline Hunter - The Hunters of Hunterston
Tues 19th SWT Scott Shanks - Small Blue Butterfly Reintroduction at Gailes Marsh
Tues 26th ASA John Hume - Victorian Churches in Ayrshire
Thurs 28th BHS Gerald Cummings - Old Roads of Ayrshire

May 2011

Thurs 5th PHG Members - Blether of 2011
Mon 9th SHS David Clement - Local Place Names and their Origins, Part II.
Thurs 12th EAFHS Dane Love tbc
Tues 17th ASA Sheila and Andrew Dinwoodie - The Girvan – Boer War Connection

Friday 11 February 2011

Scottish Place Name Society Conference in Troon: 7 May 2011

Scottish Place-Name Society


Comann Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba


Day conference and AGM – Saturday 7th May 2011


Walker Halls, South Beach Esplanade, Troon



10.30–11.00 Registration and coffee/tea

11.00-11.05 Welcome

11.05–11.35 Rob Close, Ayrshire Federation of Historical Societies: There isn’t always an answer - Ayrshire Street and House Names.

11.35–12.15 Thomas Clancy, University of Glasgow: At St Meddan's Convenience: place-names of Troon and the surrounding area.

12.15-12.55 Terhi Nurminen, University of Newcastle: Hill-terms in the place-names of the historical counties of Northumberland and Durham



13.00–14.00 Buffet lunch (bookstall available)



14.00–14.35 AGM – reports, accounts and elections.



14.35–15.05 James Butler, University of Glasgow: The Places within the Texts: Onomastic Research and the Corpus of Modern Scottish Writing.

15.05–15.35 Alexander and Jennifer McKay: From the Needle's Ee to Hell's Lum: an exploration of some place-names around Troup Head, Banffshire.

15.35–16.15 Gilbert Márkus, University of Glasgow: From Goill to Gall-Ghàidheil - farm-names and language change on Bute.



1615 coffee/tea and biscuits then skail



The cost for the day will be £20, inclusive of conference, tea / coffee on arrival and departure, and buffet lunch. Full-time students £10. Book early!

If you would like to attend please complete the form below and send with a cheque for £20 (or £10) per person payable to SPNS, to Pete Drummond, 8 Academy Place, Coatbridge ML5 3AX by April 30th (although late bookings can usually be accepted). For late bookings after 1st May, phone Pete Drummond on 0776968 0293.



NOTE 1: Minutes of previous AGM will be posted on website from 1 May. If you would like hard copy, send SAE to SPNS Secretary, c/o SLD, 25 Buccleuch Place (basement), Edinburgh EH8 9LN.

NOTE 2: The Walker Halls are on sea-front c.400 m from Troon railway station.



(Acknowledgements will not be sent.) (Retain this part for programme, venue location, etc.).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Please find enclosed my cheque for £ __ for __ place(s) at the May 7th Troon SPNS conference. Name (please print) ___________________

Address ____________________________________________________

Phone number _________________ Email _______________________

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Launching Our New Website

Thanks to Gary Torbett and Graham Boyd for last night's presentation to launch our new website.  Around 60 members were at Kilmarnock College to learn a little about the website and our discussion forum.  Gary took us through the procedure to access the Forum and how to register as a Follower, which will enable members to contribute items of interest or observations to the Forum.
Graham demonstrated how to access the Historic Scotland and "Buildings at Risk" websites.  He also briefly described how to access old pictures of Kilmarnock on the East Ayrshire Council site.
Members were given a lot of information in a relatively short time, but hopefully the handout supplied will enable them to have a look at some of the websites which were discussed.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 22 February at 7.30pm, when Sandra Liquorish will talk to us about her own home, "Fairlie House", which has some interesting Robert Burns connections.
You can see from the picture why it is known locally as "Fairlie Five Lums"!.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

How to join the KDHG Blog / Forum

If you wish to join the Forum and do not already have a 'Blogger' sign in, please click here and follow the simple instructions. This will only take you a few moments.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Should you experience any difficulties, please e-mail us on info@kilmarnockhistory.co.uk

We have also placed some useful links on the following KDHG page after the syllabus.
http://www.kilmarnockhistory.co.uk/about.php
This will be expanded on as new links are recommended to us.




Many thanks

Monday 7 February 2011

History on the Web

Some Useful Websites for Amateur Historians

Kilmarnock & District History Grouphttp://www.kilmarnockhistory.co.uk/

KDHG Discussion Forum
http://kilmarnockhistorygroup.blogspot.com/

National Archives of Scotlandhttp://www.nas.gov.uk/

National Archives of UKhttp://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

A2A Access to Archives – England & Waleshttp://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/

National Archives of Irelandhttp://www.nationalarchives.ie/

National Archives of USAhttp://www.archives.gov/

National Archives of Australiahttp://www.naa.gov.au/

National Library of Scotlandhttp://www.nls.uk/

British Libraryhttp://www.bl.uk/

Library of Congress USAhttp://www.loc.gov/index.html

Commonwealth War Graves Commissionhttp://www.cwgc.org/

Buildings at Riskhttp://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/BAR/

Historic Scotlandhttp://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/

East Ayrshire Councilhttp://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/

Maps of Scotlandhttp://maps.nls.uk/

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Google Art Projecthttp://www.googleartproject.com/

World Newspapers Onlinehttp://www.onlinenewspapers.com/

The Louvre Museum, Parishttp://www.louvre.fr/llv/commun/home.jsp?bmLocale=en

Wednesday 2 February 2011

History on the Web

Next Tuesday's meeting (8 February) will give members the opportunity to see for themselves a little of the huge amount of information available on the internet to people interested in any aspect of history.  Members of the group will provide information about some of the very useful websites which can be easily accessed by historians as well as giving an introduction to our very own website and blog, which can be viewed at


Kilmarnock &; District History Group Forum

and

Kilmarnock & District History Group Website