Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list.
Monday, February 8 2016, 7 pm
The History of the Victoria Cross
Alex Hall, Glengarnock
Venue: Newton Lounge
Cumbrae Historical Society
Monday, February 8 2016, 7 pm for 7.30 pm
BBC Scotland: Early Years and the Edinburgh Connection
Mike Shaw
Venue: Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place, Edinburgh
Monday, February 8 2016, 7.30 pm
Midlothian Castles Then and Now and Peebles Town History
Andrew Stewart
Venue: Dalkeith Baptist Church, North Wynd, Dalkeith
Monday, February 8 2016, 7.30 pm
Open Evening
Venue: Luncarty Church Centre
West Stormont Historical Society
Non-members: adults £3, concessions £2. (Open discussion meetings at Luncarty are free)
Monday, February 8 2016, 7.30 pm
National Trust of Scotland Archives
Ian Riches, NTS Archivist
Venue: Gibson Craig Memorial Hall, Lanark Road West, Currie
Currie & District Local History Society
As we wander and delight in the gardens, the properties and the landscape who knows what else is held? Ian Richies, NTS Archivist, leads us on a visual trip into the vast archives of the NTS.
Monday, February 8 2016, 7.30 pm
TBA
George Haggarty
Venue: Partick Burgh Hall, room 1, 3-9a Burgh Hall Street, Glasgow, G11 5LN
Monday, February 8 2016, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm
Uncovering a Medieval Transport Hub: Cambuskenneth and its lost causeway and harbour
Dr Murray Cook
Venue: Alloa Town Hall (Tommy Downs Room)
Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society
Speaker is Archaeologist, Stirling & Clackmannanshire Councils
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 2.00 pm
St. Athernase Church & Scottish Churches Trust
Roma Roy
Venue: Kirkcaldy Old Kirk, Kirk Wynd
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 2.00 pm
Genealogy of Fishermen
Iain Murray
Venue: Fife Fisheries Museum, Anstruther
Speaker from Fife Fisheries Museum
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 6 pm
Focus on Built Heritage for Communities: Scotland’s canal buildings, Scotland's Sporting Buildings
Nick Haynes
Venue: Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, University of Dundee, DD1 4EN
Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 6.00 pm - 7.00 pm
The origin of the Picts? Excavations at Dunnicaer sea stack
Dr Gordon Noble
Venue: Regent Building Lecture Theatre, Regent Walk, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Dr Gordon Noble, University of Aberdeen, will present this lecture at the Regent Building Lecture Theatre, University of Aberdeen, hosted by the Aberdeen and North East Section of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 7.30 pm
One Small Step for Amphibians, but a Giant Leap for Life on Earth
Dr Nick Fraser
Venue: Auditorium, Eastgate Theatre and Arts Centre, Peebles
The evolution of vertebrates from water to land some 350 million years ago is a major step in the history of life on earth. Until recently, there was a worldwide gap in the fossil record but discoveries in the Borders have filled this gap. Dr. Fraser, Keeper of Natural Sciences at the National Museum of Scotland, will explain the significance of these finds and how they provide a fascinating insight into the development of land-living vertebrates.
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 7.30 pm
The Sixth Earl of Mar
Murray Dickie, local historian
Venue: Dining Hall, Dollar Academy
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 7.30 pm
Birdie Bowers of Scott's Antarctic Expedition
Drew McKenzie
Venue: Largs Library Community Room
Largs and North Ayrshire Family History Society
Tuesday, February 9 2016, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm
Dugald Semple (1884-1964): The Hermit of Linwood Moss and the Idea of Life Reform in the Early 20th Century
Steven Sutcliffe
Venue: Masonic Halls, Collier Street, Johnstone
Wednesday, February 10 2016
Travellers in East Lothian
Jess Smith , author and traditional storyteller
Venue: Coastal Communities Museum, School Road, North Berwick, East Lothian EH39 4JU
Wednesday, February 10 2016, 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm
Sir Edward Elgar’s Life and Work
Paul Bassett
Venue: Kincardine Community Centre - Hepburn Room
Kincardine-on-Forth Local History Group
Wednesday, February 10 2016, 2.15 pm
Dundee Afternoon Lecture: ‘Independent and Individualist’ – Art in Dundee 1867-1924
Venue: D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building, University of Dundee
Wednesday, February 10 2016, 7.30 pm
Little Ross Lighthouse: How it came to be built
David Collin
Venue: Parish Church Hall, St Mary Street, Kirkcudbright, DG6 4DN
Kirkcudbright History Society
Wednesday, February 10 2016, 7.30 pm
Someone to Watch Over Me: Kirk and Community
Margaret Fox
Venue: Volunteer Hall, Galashiels
Wednesday, February 10 2016, 7.30 pm
Kolkota, Scots Cemetery
Ian Stein
Venue: Smith Museum and Art Gallery, Dumbarton Road, Stirling
Central Scotland Family History Society
Wednesday, February 10 2016, 7.30 pm
Arthurian links with Dumbarton, the Rock and the local area
Hugh McArthur
Venue: Concord Community Centre (next to the Denny Theatre), Dumbarton, G82 1LJ
There is tantalising evidence of King Arthur across Scotland, even at Dumbarton Rock. Hugh has studied the subject for many years and has published his findings.
Thursday, February 11 2016
Members' Night
Elie & Earlsferry History Society
Thursday, February 11 2016, 4.00pm-6.00pm
The Journey to the District Asylum: Royal Asylums, Private Madhouses, and Stirling District Asylum
Dr Iain Hutchison, University of Glasgow
Venue: A96, Pathfoot Building, University of Stirling
The surviving records of Stirling District Asylum, opened in 1869, and known locally as Bellsdyke, were recently deposited with the University of Stirling's archive collection where they have been cleaned, repaired and catalogued in readiness for their use as a valuable research resource. Institutional confinement of people with mental troubles prior to the opening of Bellsdyke and other district asylums was made by "the Royals" - a network of seven asylums that catered for both pauper and private (i.e. fee-paying) patients - in accommodation that befitted their social stations and economic circumstances. The modest fees for lowly paupers were nonetheless too high and "extravagant" in the eyes of some parochial boards administering the Poor Law and this enabled privately-run "madhouses" to offer an alternative. This structure of dual provision began to change following probing investigations in 1855 and the implementation of the Lunacy (Scotland) Act in 1857. The Act resulted in the gradually construction of district asylums, such as Bellsdyke, for pauper lunatics - a development that was to see the Royals direct attention solely towards private patients, and the closure of private madhouses. This paper will trace the roles of the Royals, private madhouses, and district asylums in nineteenth-century Scotland. It will endeavour to gauge inmate experience, with particular reference to Stirling's Bellsdyke Asylum. Iain Hutchison is Research Associate in Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow. He is on the Board of the worldwide Disability History Association and, more locally, he is a member of the board of trustees of Disability History Scotland. He is reviews editor for H-Disability. He has recently been working on the history of Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children, funded by Wellcome and other bodies; and on the Leverhulme-funded "Matrons to Microbes" project where he has been investigating the history of infection control at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Glasgow Royal Infirmary. However, he is primarily an historian of disability and most recently was the research historian for the HLF-funded "Seeing Our History" project for RNIB Scotland. This event is free and is open to staff, students and members of the public.
Thursday, February 11 2016, 7.30 pm
Raised from the Ashes - the Levenhall Story
Nick Aitken, ranger, East Lothian Council
Venue: St Peter's Church Hall, High Street, Musselburgh
Musselburgh Conservation Society
Thursday, February 11 2016, 7.30 pm
Forth Estuary Forum
Christopher Cutts
Venue: Queens Hall, Charlestown, KY11 3EG
The North Queensferry Heritage Trust is a long established group that has been dedicated to preserving and promoting the history and beauty of North Queensferry and the immediate surroundings. It aims to encourage, preserve, develop and improve features of historic, architectural or environmental value. Their role in the future development of the town’s tourist industry is vital. The Trust was originally constituted on 4th May 1988 as a charity, registered in Scotland and is a member of Scottish Civic Trust, Scottish wildlife Trust and the Forth Estuary Forum. James Lawson is Chairman of the trust and will be telling you all about the recent attractions and activities that the Trust have actively been involved with.
Thursday, February 11 2016, 7.30 pm
Your Local Archive
Venue: MacRobert Hall, The Square, Tarland
The Archive Team will be launching the Cromar History Group archive web-site which will give public access to all the material categorised to date. Full of fascinating items – pictures, postcards and artefacts – come and see what we hold and how you can access details and photos of the material in the archive.
Thursday, February 11 2016, 7.30 pm
Waterloo Uncovered: The archaeology of Europe’s most famous battle
Tony Pollard (University of Glasgow)
Venue: The Shawl Gallery, Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley
Renfrewshire Local History Forum
Speaker is Director, Centre of Battlefield Archaeology, University of Glasgow
Thursday, February 11 2016, 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm
History of Lanark Visitors Centre
Ainsley Gough
Venue: Johnnie Walker Bond, Strand Street Kilmarnock
East Ayrshire Family History Society