Kilmarnock visit

On 14 November 2018 we headed to Kilmarnock to find out more about genealogical resources available there. Our thanks go to Helen, Linda, Heather, Clare, and Joy at the Burns Monument Centre, and Bruce at the Dick Institute, for providing us with such an interesting and informative day.

BURNS MONUMENT CENTRE

Our visit started at the Burns Monument Centre in Kay Park which opened about ten years ago and, in addition to providing Registration Services and a Ceremony Room, houses a Family History Research Area, Local History Area, and East Ayrshire Archives.

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH AREA

Helen Watt and Linda Miller introduced us to this area which contained a number of computers with access to the Scotland’s People Records. The area is open Monday to Friday with a charge of £15 for a day ticket, however bookings are required, and it can be closed at short notice if too few people are booked in or not enough staff available to man it.

Workshops are held on Wednesdays (mornings and afternoons) when staff are available to assist with research at a charge of £10 for two hours.

Family Tree Packages are available for those who do not wish to do their own research. Staff will carry out the research and produce charts and / or booklets containing copies of all the relevant records. Bronze, Silver and Gold Packages are available depending on the extent of family history requested. In addition searches can be made of the local history resources and included if wished (e.g.: relevant newspaper articles), and Gold Package booklets can also include the client’s own family photos.

LOCAL HISTORY AREA

Heather Dunlop gave us a tour of the local history area and then allowed us to browse the resources there. The area is open daily and there is no need to make an appointment. Items held in this area are mainly published items where more than one copy exists as opposed to the Archives who hold the records where no other copies exist. Some of the items are listed in the online East Ayrshire Library Catalogue, but others are not.

Resources available included:

·         Microfilm:

o   Local Newspapers from 1842 onwards (no newspapers have been digitised)

o   Poor Relief Registers for all Ayrshire – some have indexes. An index to Ayrshire Poor Relief Records can be found on the Ayrshire Roots website www.ayrshireroots

o   Old Parish Registers & Census Records

·         Maps including an old map of Kilmarnock dated 1819 with names of the residents

 Books

Well-used pre 1855 MIs (photo Michelle Leonard)

• Valuation Rolls for Kyle, Carrick & Cunningham
• Statistical Accounts for the whole of Scotland
• Trade Directories from 1833 
•   Local History Books for Ayrshire & Scotland – Parish histories, Pictorial histories of towns
• Books about occupations in the area – Mining, Poetry, Glasgow & South Scotland Railway

·         Box Files (Information and articles filed under topics with content indexes in each box).

•  Box file titles include Place Names, Family Names, Military, Industry, Mining etc. For my own family history I was particularly interested in the Box titled: “Guthries of Ochiltree”, and an article on the Irvine Valley Lace Industry in “Industry Box 2”.

·         Family History Section including:

•  Monumental Inscriptions (Burial records are held by the Bereavement Services)
•   Information about specific families & family trees which had been gathered from research done  (this is not included in the online catalogue)
• Information about public war memorials
• Lists of WW 1 Dead – with details of where they enlisted which is not found in other records

EAST AYRSHIRE ARCHIVES

Clare (Assistant Archivist) and Joy (Graduate Trainee) showed us round their purpose built storage area which is shared with local history & registration services, and described the types of records they held, then allowed us time to have a look at some items they had put out on display especially for us.

Introduction to the Archives (photo Michelle Leonard)

Background

Ayrshire Archives was founded in 1996 by Ayrshire Council with the aim of preserving and providing access to local authority records. The earliest record held is Ayr Burgh Charter dated 1205. Their main store and headquarters is at Auchincruive, a few miles east of Ayr which is also the access point for South Ayrshire Archives and is open to the public on Tuesdays (by appointment). East Ayrshire Archives is open on Wednesdays at the Burn’s Monument Centre, and Irvine Townhouse is due to open soon (one day a week) housing records from North Ayrshire. In each case viewing of records is by appointment only as the items requested may have to be brought from Auchencruive. 

Records held include

·         NRS Records – Records belonging to the National Records of Scotland but stored in Ayrshire for ease of access by local researchers. Access and copyright guidelines are set by the NRS. These records include:

o   Church Records (e.g.: Papal Bull dated 1322-1323)

o   Customs & Excise Records (e.g.: Fishing / Shipping Registers for Ayrshire)

o   Justice of Peace Records

·         Maps

·         Local authority records for East Ayrshire, and also some records for Strathclyde Region:

o   Council Minutes

o   School Records

o   Electoral Registers, Valuation Rolls

o   Poor House Records

o   Ayrshire & Arran Health Board Records

·         Private Deposits:

o   Societies and Clubs

o   Estate Records

o   Business Records

o   Family Records

Records on display

A number of items were put out on display for us including:

·         Council Minutes

·         Plans for the Burns Monument Centre (example of a modern record)

·         Kilmarnock Academy Register - showing admission and leaving dates and where pupils went when they left school

·         Diaries, with notes & drawings belonging to Margaret & Effie Kennedy, daughters of Thomas Kennedy of Glenfield & Kennedy

·         Kirk Session Minutes showing an interesting case brought before the Kirk Session over several meetings

Online Catalogue

There is no one online catalogue but separate catalogues for each collection, details of which can be found on the website.

·         Kilmarnock Burgh Catalogue has recently come online.

·         Kilmarnock Academy Catalogue 1896-2008 is currently being compiled, and will go online at the beginning of next year. This collection includes lots of school records, some with photos.

Recent Records

Most items have 100 year closure but if records are provided to show that person is deceased it may be possible to see some items, and someone wanting to see their own records may do so if they provide proof of identity.

Further information about Ayrshire Archives and their online catalogues can be found at: http://www.ayrshirearchives.org.uk/

DICK INSTITUTE

After lunch we made our way to the Dick Institute where Bruce Morgan showed us round the Museum and shared with us the history of the building and some of its exhibits.

Background

The finance to create the Dick Institute came from James Dick who was born into a poor family in Kilmarnock in 1823 but became a businessman of worldwide importance and, although living in Australia, wanted to give something back to the town of his birth. The museum was opened in 1901 and features the largest museum and exhibition space in Ayrshire.

The ground floor houses Ayrshire Central Library and a café, while the upper floor holds displays of some of the collections cared for by East Ayrshire Council.

(Photo Michelle Leonard)

Since our visit coincided with the 100^th anniversary of the WW1 Armistice we were met with drapes of knitted poppies in the entrance hall and stairs and on the upper hallway was a display of WW1 photos including photographs taken in and around the building when it was an auxiliary hospital during WW1.

From the upper hallway doorways lead to the North and South Museums.

North Museum

The North Museum houses a display of old musical instruments, and arms and armour, as well as objects from their natural history sciences and archaeology collections.

South Museum

The South Museum contains displays linked to the local and social history of the area, including a display of items and manuscripts relating to Robert Burns.

Kilmarnock History

Over the nineteenth century Kilmarnock was transformed from a country town to an industrial town, and many of the displays provide information about the industries in the area and key people involved in those industries:

·         Mining

·         Railways

·         Engineering firms such as Glenfield and Kennedy

·         Printing – John Wilson, an early printer in the town printed the first edition of “Burns Poetry”, and the museum has a working model of the Benjamin Franklin press.

(Photo Michelle Leonard)

·         Johnnie Walker – the whisky company which was first set up in the town in 1865 and continued in production until only a few years ago when it was taken over by Diageo.

The Loom Room

The Loom Room is dominated by an industrial weaving loom, and devoted to displays about the textile industry - in particular lace making in the Irvine Valley which took off when Alexander Morton brought a machine from England and set up in competition to the Nottingham lace factories. By the late nineteenth century lace and madras (a muslin type fabric) were produced in dozens of factories in the Irvine Valley of which only a couple are still in production. The growth in machine lace led to the demise of the hand loom weaver, and a portrait of Matthew Faulds of Fenwick who was the last hand loom weaver in the locality hangs on one wall. Information about carpet manufacture and shoemaking, and a display of Ayrshire needlework can also be found in this room.

Paper Records

The Institute holds some paper records particularly in relation to its collections (e.g.: the Boyd Records), however some have been lost over time, and some items are held by archives and museums elsewhere. After the 1909 fire appeals were made for items from other museums to replace items that had been lost, and recently some items were identified in Doncaster Museum which had been donated to them by the Dick Institute after a fire there.  Any documents they do have are accessible to the public by appointment, and Dean of Guild Records are held by East Ayrshire Archives.

The Dick Institute is open Tuesday to Saturday and more information about their collections, and others in East Ayrshire can be found at https://eastayrshireleisure.com/

Author: Lorraine Stewart, Kincardineshire Ancestors 

Dundee archives - everything from Robert the Bruce to a scone!

The new V&A drew many people to Dundee from 14th September; Scottish Genealogy Network members ploughed their own furrow and headed there on the 20^th to visit Dundee City Archives and Dundee University Archives. The thirteen of us had a great day and it was good to meet some new faces too. Many thanks to staff in both archives for their time and enthusiasm in hosting our visit. Commiserations to SGN members who had to miss the event at the last minute for various reasons.

Dundee City Archives

This archive is, like a few others, in a basement. It’s the basement of Dundee’s Caird Hall, on City Square in the centre of Dundee. Full marks for a very easy to reach location. The City has had an archivist since 1969.

Ship plans in the strong rooms (photo Ali Murray)

Inquisitiveness is a characteristic of genealogists so we were delighted to start our visit with a tour of the archive stores or strong rooms and a good nose around. The same number did emerge as went in, though there were many temptations to linger. A run of Council minutes from 1533 onwards may not sound the most interesting but just think what could be waiting there.

1327 charter ( photo Merle Palmer)

Archives handle a huge variety of documents and Dundee is no exception: from council house sales through teachers’ mark books to a 1327 charter from Robert the Bruce, the oldest document in its care. 

As a port city, it’s no surprise that there are several series of records relating broadly to the sea. They include shipyard records, such as the Caledon Yard, with plans of ships at different stages of construction.  Once complete, the Shipping Registers, 

part of the Customs and Excise records, provide details of a boat’s specification (length, type of rigging etc) and ownership, with updates as the 64 shares changed hands or, unfortunately, if the boat was lost at sea. To access these registers you need a fairly accurate idea of the year of completion but there is an A-Z index in each volume.

Details of boat share owners (photo Merle Palmer)

Though most of the records of jute companies are at the University, the City has those of the Victoria Spinning Works including wages information the late 1800s to the 1970s (job title, name and wages). 

As is usual on these visits, the staff had a set of more unusual documents out for us to view. Among them were:

• A 1776 map of Dundee naming individual buildings;
• Working copies of valuation rolls for Dundee (just think how useful the changes could be for family history);
• A Register of Inebriates (following the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1903) complete with photographs, physical and character description. This was bought at auction.

Access the archives: 

There is no online catalogue, yet; information on some classes of documents is on the City Archives website (click on Related links). It is best to phone before a visit as space is limited.  

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday: 9.30am to 1pm and 2pm to 4.30pm.

Dundee University Archives

Matriculation records, with student signatures (photo Merle Palmer)

How handy to be able to visit two archives with complementary collections in one day, especially with only a short walk between them. As you would expect, these archives are at the University. In a basement once more. Established in 1976. 

Public engagement and promotion are key aspect of the University Archives work and I was particularly struck by the range of University programmes engaging with their resources. On the other hand, housing student projects throws up some particular challenges like conserving a scone baked in the 1980s, part of an art project. 

Key collections, apart from the University’s own records, include: 

• Jute and other textile companies, relating to both Dundee and India. The University has one of the largest collections in Europe.
• NHS Tayside (custodial rather than ownership) including Strathmartine and Sunnyside (Montrose) asylums. It was interesting to see an example of an asylum record which included a good family tree and to be reminded of how humane these institutions could be, bringing in fiddlers to entertain patients, for example. 
• Brechin Diocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church. There is a database of names for Arbroath and Stonehaven church registers.
• The Glasite church, Scotland and Connecticut.
• The photographs of Michael Peto.
• Records and library of the Grampian Club (hillwalking, ski-ing and mountaineering). 

It was good to be reminded of the sheer diversity of records that are potentially of use for family history. For example:

• Railway companies who had to pass through people’s land – possible information on those people, any opposition raised and so on;
• Solicitors’ firms archives – some contain private family papers;
• Factories – though full staff records are fairly rare, don’t forget accident books and “half-time” school registers;
• Hospital papers – who recommended a patient? Often charitable trusts.

 

Maternity hospital records - quite a spike in 1919! (photo Valerie Stewart)

 

And the oldest record in the Archives? A papyrus from AD99 relating to the sale of a slave. 

Access the archives

There is an online catalogue. There is also a very long-term project to index the hospital registers in their care, including parish of origin.  

Opening hours vary between semester and vacations; closed Thursdays.

Lloyds Banking Group Edinburgh Archives visit

Debits and credits, numbers, don’t be mistaken, there’s far more to banking archives. We had a great visit to the Lloyds Banking Group Edinburgh Archives on 14 March 2018. Many thanks to the archivists there for their time and enthusiasm. 

Background

Lloyds Banking group includes the Bank of Scotland, HBOS, some TSB Scotland, Scottish Widows and a range of small banks acquired or merged  along the way. Generally, the Bank of Scotland’s own records are the most complete.

The archive is in Sighthill, Edinburgh and is open to the public, 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday, advance bookings are needed. There is no publically available item level catalogue but there are collection level lists. Personnel records, as you would expect, are closed for 100 years and some business records for shorter periods.

The records

People crop up in bank records in three main ways, as customers, shareholders and staff, each with their own records.

Customers

Archie keeping a watchful eye (K.Keter)

In the early days there were no branches, only the main office in Edinburgh. Lending decisions for the first 100 years or so were therefore noted in the Bank of Scotland’s minutes. There is a complete run from 1695 and they are generally very well kept with a margin index. Entries include the name of guarantors too so are potentially very useful. Similarly the bank’s head office ledgers for the earlier years include details of transactions with individuals and companies.  

The branch network began to develop from around the 1770s. Branch ledgers are indexed with name and type of business noted. Unfortunately they survive for only the early years of each branch. 

From the insurance side there are policy ledgers from 1824-1940s. Health issues are noted but not the beneficiaries. 

Shareholders

The Bank of Scotland was founded by an act of the Scottish Parliament in 1695 and the original lists of subscribers, signed at inns in Edinburgh and London, both survive. There are printed lists of shareholders/subscribers from 1697-1950 and it is possible to track sales and purchases of shares.

Staff

Most complete for the Bank of Scotland, partial for other businesses, but generally very good. They go back to the 1730s but tail off by the 1920s/30s. To use these records you need to know the branch at which the ancestor was employed as that then gives access to information on their role, salary (from the 1830s) and any transfers, so it could be possible to work forward or backward. You may also be fortunate enough to find a staff report: “writes a fair hand” and “well qualified for manager of a country branch” were some of those we saw. These reports were for staff below the level of agent (manager) and occasionally contain rather controversial information!

The agent was responsible for entries in the branch procedure books, a log of the branch activity, detailing hiring and firing, repairs, new furniture and the like. Not all survive but they can include information on customers and loans made to them.

The Widows Fund (Bank of Scotland only) records, 1821 to 1883 could be a good source for pre-1855 births.  It was a contributory scheme so as well as employees’ details, names of wives’, date of marriage, names and birth dates of children were also listed.

Where do we start?? (J. Russell)

In general

For ancestors with bank accounts or an insurance policy (does the inventory after they died mention one?), or, even better, who worked in a bank, there is probably lots to discover here. Armed with dates and places and perhaps time to do detailed searches, you could discover gold (sorry couldn't resist that pun). Find out more

Scottish Genealogy Network Visit to Perth Archives February 2018

We had a very healthy attendance of seventeen members of The Scottish Genealogy Network who attended the latest SGN event on Saturday, 3 February 2018 with a visit to Perth and Kinross Archives.   For anyone who has not previously visited these archives, they are located in the AK Bell Library.  

Courtesy of Michelle Leonard

Located on the main road into Perth town centre from the south-west, the AK Bell Library is a large standalone building, built in the 1830s, recognisable by its classical facade.  The building originally housed the County Infirmary but has been extensively renovated to provide modern facilities for both the Library and Archives

The good news is that there is car parking in the grounds of the building (£4 for 4 hours) as well as ample car parks nearby.  Even better is that the building not only has its own coffee shop but one large enough to accommodate all of the attending members of Scottish Genealogy Network at the start of the visit.  Where else were we going to meet?

We were welcomed to the building by Dr Nicola Cowmeadow, the Local History Officer with Perth & Kinross Council.

Courtesy of Lorna Kinnaird

Throughout the visit, Nicola demonstrated a wonderful enthusiasm for her work.  The archives section is located separately to the Local and Family History section in the Library although both are located on the first floor of the building and it was clear there is good coordination between both departments.

Courtesy of Lorna Kinnaird

The first session was led by Colin Proudfoot of the Local and Family History section in the Library.  Again members were impressed by the enthusiasm demonstrated by Colin throughout his presentation.  When considering local research it is often easy to simply go straight to the local archives carry out your research without first considering what may be available in the library.  For any genealogist researching a connection in the Perth and Kinross area that would certainly be an error.   The Local and Family History Section has a broad range of materials and collections readily available and not restricted to the Perth area.  Colin had a number on display and invited members to browse these at their leisure.

The library's approach in recent years has been to obtain a wide range of family and local history records and sources but including those not solely related to the Perth and Kinross area.  The library has available OPRs for the Perth area as well as a number covering areas out with.   In addition, they have copies of the Scotland-wide Calendar of Confirmations & Inventories from 1876 – 1936 as well as a good collection of Post Office Directories from the late 19^th century which are primarily covering Perth but also other areas of Scotland.   There is also an extensive range of local newspapers and local interest books as well as published genealogies.

Courtesy of Michelle Leonard

Courtesy of Michelle Leonard

A couple of examples on show were Crieff in the Great War and A History of Blairgowrie.  Both books were rich in detail on the local history and would be of great interest to someone researching a family in these towns with many residents and local characters mentioned in the text.

The archives and library have been assisted by a number of volunteers who have helped to index small local collections which are available for consultation in the library for researchers. The library also holds a good collection of local maps, some, but not all of which are in the National Library of Scotland Collection.  Colin also reported on how the library is prioritising the purchase of Monumental Inscription collections including those from outwith the Perth area.

We then moved into the archives section which sits adjacent to the Local and Family History Section.  Nicola took us on a tour of their facilities and in particular the strong room where the bulk of the collections are held.  Nicola provided information on what records are held and it was clear to members that the archives and archivists are pro-active in engaging with other private collections in the area to support their work and the preservation of their collections.  The group even learned a little about cow genealogy!!!

Courtesy of Michelle Leonard

Back in the main archive office, we were shown examples of the Trade Incorporation and Apprentice Records.  Perth has a particularly good collection of these records with some dating back to 1300s.  The detail of information contained in these documents means that these would be a wonderful resource for someone researching an ancestor who may have been a member of these trades or an apprentice in Perth.  

Courtesy of Michelle Leonard

The Archives appear have adopted an open approach to visitor access. Whilst enquires can be made on spec it is, of course, best to contact staff in advance of any visit and they be able to assist as much as they can.  A good element of this archive is that storage of documents is on site so problems of storage off-site is not an issue at these Archives. Certainly, a number of members who had visited these archives in the past spoke of the assistance and professionalism shown by the staff members.

In the final half hour, members were able to browse the collections in both the Archives and the Local and Family History Society.  The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to Nicola and Colin for their co-operation and informative presentation. Members were very impressed by the services being offered by Perth and Kinross Council at the Archives and Library and it was reassuring that at a time when local authority budgets cuts are having a negative impact on the availability of local history and cultural services that these services in Perth are in such good hands.

Details of the services at Perth and Kinross Council can be found HERE including access to the online catalogue although during the visit it was emphasised that not all of its collections have been catalogued and it is always best to call and speak to the archivist first.

This month's blog was written by SGN member Gary Lawrie of Heart of Scotland Ancestry - thanks Gary!

Scottish Genealogy Network November 2017 Meeting

New Register House - Edinburgh

On Friday 17 November we held our CPD day in Edinburgh. The background and experience of our members varies greatly: some work in archives, while others lecture at university. Some members have been helping clients research their family tree for many years and others are planning to start their business soon. This diversity made for a great day and wonderful networking opportunities.

Our meeting on Friday was held in the Dome Room of New Register House. This impressive space was created to house the birth, marriage and death records of the Scottish people. You can see the volumes in the photographs; red for births, green for marriages and black for deaths.

For many years now, users have accessed digital images of the records. That is certainly a lot more convenient and preserves the books, but as a group of genealogists, there was something special about sitting in a room surrounded by such a wealth of history.

Our secretary, Emma Maxwell, introduced our first speaker, Jack Davis. Jack spoke to us on the intriguing theme, “Hidden Hospitals”. He was not referring to camouflaged buildings but rather the policy of substituting the name of institutions on certificates with a simple street address. Jack gave us a list of Glasgow hospital addresses, such as 2154 Gartloch Road and 253 Duke Street. When researching it’s a good tip to research the address given on a birth or death certificate.

The Dome - New Register House

Michelle Leonard continued the morning session by answering questions related to using DNA in family history research. This fascinating quick-fire session covered a lot of topics. An interesting point that stood out was the need to think through ‘cousin matching’. This useful tool can aid family history research but as DNA does reveal the truth, you could discover something unexpected. Most genealogists may be excited about that prospect, but it’s always best to think it through before you take the plunge.

Jane Barton rounded off the first part of the day with a report from the Cumbrian Family History Society conference which she had attended recently. Cumbria has a border with the counties of Dumfriesshire and Roxburghshire in Scotland and there has always been a lot of movement of people across the Border. Jane gave a helpful overview of the administrative history of what is now called Cumbria, where to find records and why people may have moved to places like Carlisle.

A large part of the day was now given over to a treasure hunt. Rather than simply sitting and listening to talks it was time to get the grey matter working. We split into teams and tried to solve genealogy puzzles based on real client enquires. The most successful teams drew on the knowledge of the group and researched well using the catalogue of the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

Getting Ready for ‘Two Minute Mayhem' 

After lunch genealogists Graham and Emma Maxwell, from Scottish Indexes, presented the answers, demonstrating the importance of using the excellent NRS catalogue well and not giving up when something is not in an index. For example, not all surviving Scottish wills are to be found on the ScotlandsPeople indexes. If you think the person would have had a will, remember to use other sources such as the Register of Deeds and local Sheriff Court Registers of Deeds.

Next Emma Maxwell revealed the results of the SGN survey. Only 11% of those surveyed want a genealogist to present the results in the format of a report or a chart. Over 30% want help to access specific records.

When asked, “If you were to hire a genealogist, what would you look for?”, only 11% said “Someone who has studied genealogy at university”, while over 50% said “I would want to discuss my needs with them and judge for myself if they are the person I need.”

After looking at the results of the survey in detail we split into workshops to discuss how we can best provide the services clients want. To finish the day we had a ‘Two Minute Mayhem' session where members spoke on a subject of their choice for two minutes!

If you feel like you have missed out, and want to join the SGN and take part future meetings get in touch with our secretary for details of joining.