18th April Meeting Report

As this meeting was the AGM, business came first and an AGM report will appear in the next Journal. Thereafter we were delighted to have as our Speaker Sheila Murray, a founder member who has served over the years in several capacities on the Society’s committee and who is the current hardworking editor of the journal and our SAFHS representative. Her topic was "James Crosbie’s Diary".

A few years ago Sheila was asked if our Society would be interested in a diary kept by James Crosbie (1805 - 1893), who had been an elder and then Treasurer of Alloway Church from 1868 to 1886. The diary turned out to be a treasure trove of information on Alloway and district. Sheila extracted details of births, marriages and deaths and published these in May 2006. What we heard this evening was Sheila’s research into the man himself and the people and local places he mentioned. He seemed to have been greatly concerned with mortality and a vast number of his entries were concerned with the deaths of local people - a source of great interest to family historians. Sheila had built up an excellent PowerPoint presentation to accompany her talk; together they provided us with an insight into our own neighbourhood in a bygone age.

Sheila D.

18th March meeting report

The annual joint meeting of the four Ayrshire Family History Societies took place on Tuesday. 18th March, 2008 and was hosted by the Troon club in Portland Church Hall, Troon. A large audience, including fifteen of our own members, heard short reports from representatives of the four societies and then welcomed the Speaker, Frances Wilkins, acknowledged world authority on the smuggling history of the Ayrshire coast and author of many publications on this topic. The title of her presentation, "The Smugglers of Kyle," which was beautifully illustrated by a slide show of relevant documents and pictures, repudiated many preconceived notions and gave us all an in-depth awareness of how our own area was part and parcel of this eighteenth century trade. First surprise was that so many respectable Ayrshire merchants were involved; second surprise was that this illegal trade appears to have been carried on by almost all the inhabitants of Dundonald; and the third surprise was that the wherries ferrying contraband goods, firstly from the staging point of the Isle of Man and later from Gothenburg or Dunkirk, were actually legally insured against loss while at sea, even though they were all involved in illegal trading. Smuggling of tea, brandy and anything else from the East Indies which was liable for high taxation in Britain, was Big Business indeed at this time and, as such, had its own high-flyers like David Dunlop and John Cullen, its own cartels and its own need of large-scale financial backing.

Although some smugglers would ruthlessly attack other wherries, the main danger occurred at the actual landing points, mainly in the dark of the moon during winter months, on the Ayrshire coast particularly at or near Troon. There the merchants involved had to organise the fast removal of the goods from the shore to their customers often running the gauntlet of Excisemen and soldiers. We had to laugh at the incident where a shipmaster mistook one bay for another and landed his cargo on a deserted cove north of Culzean while the would-be recipients were anxiously waiting at another. Particularly impressive is the wealth of written information surviving in e.g. letters between merchants and shipmasters and in Scottish customs records which Frances Wilkins has unearthed over years of what must have been fascinating research. Who knows what we might yet discover about our local eighteenth century forebears!

The meeting ended with a lovely supper organised by the Troon club and greatly appreciated by their guests.

Sheila D.

21st February Meeting Report

This month’s speaker, Mr John Millar, author of "Lithuanians in Scotland" and winner of a Churchill scholarship in 2003, gave his talk the intriguing title of "Smugglers Who Saved A Language." We were eager to learn more. And what a tremendous amount we all learned! Mr Millar, a tall, erect, imposing figure whose appearance belied his 85 years, regaled us with a family history story of tremendous courage, adventure and poignancy which held his audience riveted. The scene was set in a border area of Lithuania towards the end of the nineteenth century when the country was occupied by the Russians who, he said, had let it be known that their underlying aim was to have a "Lithuania without Lithuanians." To this end churches and schools were closed, the publication of books and newspapers written in Lithuanian stopped. Even the speaking of the Lithuanian language was forbidden. In spite of punishments, these edicts merely forced the language underground and created a determination to keep it alive. Mr Millar’s father and uncle, as young men, were among many courageous men and women, who risked fines, incarceration or, worst of all, deportation to Siberia, to smuggle in to the occupied country newspapers and books printed in their own language beyond the borders. In one sense they were indeed smugglers, but there was no financial gain for those who took part, only danger and the fear of being caught and they are more truly called the Book Carriers. Fortunately the two brothers were warned that the Russian authorities were about to swoop on them and they were able to flee the country unscathed. Their aim was to reach America and so, in 1900 with barely any money, they made their way overland to a German port. But the fare to America was £5 and that was beyond their resources. A berth on a ship to Leith, Scotland cost £1 and that they could afford. Having no passports and with Lithuanian names that Scottish officials could neither spell nor pronounce, when the brothers reached Scotland, the surname of Millar was given to our speaker’s father.

The Churchill Scholarship Award enabled our Mr Millar to make a six week visit to Lithuania in 2003 to trace his roots and to see how the Book Carriers had been remembered and honoured. It must have been a wonderful and emotional homecoming. He has returned at least once since then and hopes to make one more visit. How’s that for an 85 year old?

It was at Question Time that members realised the ten visitors who had swelled our numbers were people with Lithuanian family links and they had much to ask and to add from their own family stories. A final moment of sheer serendipity was that when one gentleman inquired about his family name, Mr Millar recognised it, for as a boy he had known the visitor’s father and could mention several family members. This whole evening was a delightful experience for not only did we learn of the Lithuanian strand in our own Scottish nation, we were also privileged to hear the moving story of one Lithuanian family’s involvement in history.

If you have a Lithuanian branch in your family and you want help to trace it, SEND US AN E-MAIL via the "Contact" page, and we will send on your query to Mr John Millar who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of how to find Lithuanian ancestors both here and in Lithuania.

Sheila D.

Research requests

Please note that requests for research, from people unable to visit our area personally, can only be undertaken for ASAFHS members. We have seen a dramatic increase in research requests from non-members via this site so please make sure you have sent in your membership application and have received your membership number before making a request.

This service is provided on a "best efforts" basis by local members, co-ordinated by our Research Officer. The only charges you will see are those to cover out-of-pocket expenses, with no charge for the time they take. You may care to express your appreciation of this service by a personal donation to the club funds, sent to the Research Officer...

17th January Meeting Report

After the delight of having the use of the Octagonal Hall for the first four meetings of the 2007/8 session, returning to the Small Hall for our first meeting of the new year was inevitably going to seem cramped quarters. What we had not anticipated was a full house composed of a big turnout of members and a fair number of railway enthusiasts keen to hear our speaker, Mr Robin Nelson give his presentation "How Railways changed Ayrshire."

After a few minor computer hitches, Mr Nelson showed how difficult and limited journeys for people and goods had been in Ayrshire before the advent of railways. These were built initially to meet the needs of expanding 19th century industrialisation and the resultant trade and later to cater for ever-increasing holiday travel to the Clyde coast. He gave us a comprehensive view of how the early routes were established, an account of the main railway companies, the engines and trucks used and their gradual improvement, the signalling system and, best of all, some of the early stations, designed for practical use but also with an eye to their aesthetic appeal. Fortunately, several of these still remain in a good state of preservation.

It was especially interesting to discover that several "Halts" were provided so that businessmen could journey out to the Ayrshire golf courses in the morning with a suitable return being scheduled for later in the day! Unfortunately, today this practice has been replaced by the use of personal road transport.

Mr Nelson’s presentation was a real tour de force and raised such a barrage of questions and personal comments that he had difficulty getting round to a much-needed mug of tea.

Sheila Dinwoodie