Kilmarnock & District History Group · Kilmarnock · Ayrshire · KA1 3HY

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Stirling to Essen by Roger Leivers

 Roger Leivers has been in touch with us as follows;..just wondering if your members might be interested in the book I published in 2017 called 'Stirling to Essen', the story of a Short Stirling bomber that crashed coming back from a raid on the 11th April 1942. The book tells the story of the...

Troon and The Great War by Gordon Hunter

Keen amateur historian Gordon Hunter has published what he describes as 'a weekly account of Troon during WW1, with everything from the weekly casualty lists, the huge amount of voluntary work, launches at the shipyard and rationing. I have also added some golf, bowling and football scores..'Gordon...

Mayflower talk by George English - Friday 12th March

KDHG member George English, who spoke to us in March 2020, will deliver a talk on Friday 12 March at 6pm on '1620 - The Mayflower Journey: Who went, where from, and why did they go?'The European Society of Mayflower Descendants have organised this. Details can be found on the Research Through P...

Fund raising campaign

Thanks for opening this article. One matter we discussed at our recent AGM was the fact that we have not collected any subscriptions this session and are therefore going to post a deficit for y/e 31 January 2021. However, we continue to incur unavoidable cost such as hosting the website, Zoom member...

Notice of AGM - Tuesday 9th February 2021

Members will have received notification of  the AGM which was delayed in 2020. This will take place at 7.30pm on Tuesday 9th February via the Zoom platform.Members who have not received a notification or who would like to dial in via telephone should contact us via [email protected]

Alexander Brown Robertson (1884-1939) - can you help?

 We have received the following e-mail;Hello. I am an amateur historian based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  I’m looking for a photograph of Alexander Brown Robertson, a noted mechanical engineer, who was born in Kilmarnock on 29 December, 1884. His parents were Andrew Robertson and Isabe...

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all or members and friends.It has been an interesting, challenging and extremely strange year. Hopefully everyone is in good health, good spirits and looking forward to a return to some sort of normality in 2021.We will hold a series of lectures via the Zoom platform in 2021 and w...

Virtual lectures - next one due 1st December 2020

Following on from our recent trial runs, we plan to have a presentation via Zoom on Tuesday 1st December when Bill Fitzpatrick will talk about the RNLI.If members check their inbox there will now be an invite with joining details waiting there. We have had between 30 and 40 participants at the trial...

Can you help Ayrshire Magazine for an article on Kilmarnock's industrial past?

Ayrshire Magazine are working on a piece for the next issue of the magazine - deadline October 21- on Kilmarnock's industrial past.  They are looking, ideally, to speak with people who perhaps remember those days - 1960's probably to the mid 1980's and would be delighted to hear from anyon...

2020-21 Lecture Season - update as at 14 September 2020

The committee met last week to discuss the next steps for the Group, particularly with the lecture season due to kick off in October. You will be aware that the Government announced tighter rules around social gatherings recently which, together with Ayrshire College's restrictions on use of their f...

2020-21 Lecture Programme - as at 20th August 2020

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic we are not yet in a position to announce details of our Lecture Programme for 2020-21.We do have a full programme in place, but with lecture spaces being restricted at present we cannot formally put anything in place. Although the Ayrshire College is open is some c...

Postponement of final lecture and AGM due 24th March 2020

The committee has decided to postpone the final lecture of the session and our AGM until further notice. members will have received an e-mail today with further explanation.We will advise of an alternative date as soon as possible.Thank you...

Notice of AGM

Please note that the group's AGM will take place prior to Frank Beattie's talk on 24th March.Any agenda items should be brought forward by 10th March please....

Robert Burns and the Scottish Economy

You will probably have seen news coverage a few weeks ago to accompany the launch of Prof Murray Pittock’s report on the economic value of Robert Burns and the Burns brand to the Scottish economy.This report is now freely available to download from their website. Just use the link on the right-han...

Jim Richmond BDS

It was with great sadness we learned of the passing of our oldest member on 19th December 2019.Jim Richmond was well known to us as a KDHG member who regularly attended meetings in his 102nd year - although I think the 'link' system in the college being somewhat choosy if it worked or not frustrated...

Best wishes to our members and friends

KDHG would like to wish all members, friends and visitors to our site a very happy Festive Period and a prosperous 2020.Our first lecture of 2020 takes place on 14th January.  See here for details...

Iain McGillivray

It is with great sadness that we learn of the passing of Iain McGillivray. Iain was a great friend of our group and delivered a number of talks over the years with a particular passion of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson.Gabh fois ann an sith ar caraid....

Change of speaker due to illness - 12th November

Unfortunately Ted Cowan has had to cal of at short notice this week. Bill Fitzpatrick has kindly agreed to step up to the plate (or footplate) and will talk about the economic impact of the railways....

Lecture - Tuesday 12th November - Ted Cowan

Our next lecture takes place on Tuesday 12th November when Ted Cowan will deliver a talk called 'Look who we have got for neebours'Ayrshire College, Hill Street, Kilmarnock at 7.30pmLecture programme 2019-20...

Kilmarnock & District Choral Union - 70th Anniversary

The Kilmarnock & District Choral Union are holding a Spring concert as part of their 70th Anniversary celebrations.This will take place on Sunday 28th April at 7.30pm in Kay Park parish Church, Kilmarnock.Tickets are £10 and are available from choir members, on the door or by contacting Elizabe...

AGM and change of speaker - 26th March 2019

Please note that our AGM will take place prior to the final talk of this session on Tuesday 26th March at Ayrshire College, Kilmarnock.John Smillie will talk about Kilmarnock's proud industrial past in a talk 'We Never Had It So Good'...

Change of venue Tuesday 12th February 2019

Please note that this week's talk on 100 years of Gutta Percha by John Stevenson will take place at The Park Hotel, Rugby Park, Kilmarnock. 7.30pm as usual...

2018-19 Lecture programme finalised

We have pulled together an interesting programme for our 2018-19 lecture season which starts on Tuesday 2nd October.Members will receive an e-mail in the next few weeks with subscription details. Those wishing to join for the first time, or re-join after a break, are most welcome at Ayrshire College...

James Allan - Caprington Castle's Head Gardener

We received an e-mail from Justine Sara in Australia this week which included the following interesting story of her ancestors in Kilmarnock. If anyone has any information on the Allan family please let us know and we will pass it on to Justine.NORTHERN CEMETERY - DUNEDINSeven members of my ALLAN f...

Memories of Glasgow Central

We received the following e-mail today. Please contact Jennifer directly if you want to take part in this interesting project.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dear Kilmarnock District History Group,My name is Jennifer and...

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Kilmarnock & District History Group

Kilmarnock
Ayrshire
KA1 3HY

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