South Ayrshire History Fair

Just back in the door from the big event of the weekend, nae the year, the one everyone has been talking about, the one everyone has been waiting for - yes, I'm talking of course about the South Ayrshire History Fair!

The event was located at the Walker Hall in Troon, and I popped down with my wife and kids for an hour or so. Proceedings seemed to be as busy as last year's and I caught up with all sorts of good folk there. Helen Grant and colleague were there from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions (www.scottish-monumental-inscriptions.com), for example, having photographed more cemeteries yesterday and even one this morning, and fresh from a major upload of some of her resources to Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com). Don't forget if you are down under that Gould Genealogy is also stocking Helen's CDs at www.gouldgenealogy.com.au.

I also bumped into Guy Etchells and his wife from Anguline Research Archives (http://anguline.co.uk) - although I bump into Guy occasionally down south, he's actually from Clackmannanshire, and I think this is the first time I've come across him at a Scottish event. If the name is familiar, it is because Guy is of course the gene genie who secured early access to the 1911 English and Welsh census, and whose subsequent victory with the 1939 English National Register paved the way for access to the Scottish equivalent a couple of years back - and also inspired my own successful Freedom of Information request for the Northern Irish equivalent from PRONI in Belfast, allowing me to check up on my grandparents during the Second World War (see http://scottishancestry.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/more-on-northern-irish-1939-national.html). Don't forget that as well as Guy's ebooks being available on CD from the Anguline website, they are also now available for digital download, if you require more immediate access!

Lots of familiar faces from several family history societies were present, particularly from Renfrewshire, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire, but the biggest surprise was with the Aberdeen and North East Scotland FHS stall, where I discovered several copies of my Discover Scottish Church Records book for sale. Having been published in Australia by Unlock the Past (http://unlockthepast.com.au/unlock-past-publications), I think this is the only time I've every seen it on sale in Britain since publication last year, so if you're looking for a copy, there's a few going in Aberdeen!!! Keep an eye out also soon for a similar book from the publisher on Scottish land records, already submitted and on its way soon.

I did not attend any of the talks, and so was only there for an hour or so, but good to see so much available for local based research. For details of vendors in attendance visit http://southayrshirehistory.wordpress.com/ - I look forward to popping down again next year!

Walker Hall, Troon

Chris

Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)