Stirling Local History Society

This looks like a rather specialised event but, with some well-known speakers and being held at the University of Stirling on 9th to 11th July, might be of interest to some local people; You can book 'per day' too; the programme and booking form are here or you can get further information at www.plantationsamidstsavagery.wordpress.com

With the lead-up to Bannockburn well under way, there is going to be a good deal on this topic. This looks like being a wide-ranging event with a broad perspective - and is FREE if you register soon for your tea and coffee!


New perspectives on the Scottish Wars of Independence: Scotland and the governance of England in the thirteenth century.



Free day conference as part of the AHRC-funded project, 'The Breaking of Britain: cross-border sociaety and Scttish independence 1216-1314'.



Friday 23 August

(Senate Room, Univ. of Glasgow)



9.10 Registration

9.30 Preliminaries



Part I: Government and People in Scotland and Northern England

9.45–11.15

Beth Hartland, ‘The People of Northern England: Cumberland, Westmorland and Northumberland, 1216–1286’.

David Carpenter, ‘The King’s Government in Northern England in the thirteenth century’.

Matthew Hammond, ‘North of the Forth in the Ragman Roll’.



11.30–12.30

Richard Cassidy, ‘Sheriffs, kings and rebels in Cumberland and Northumberland’.

Keith Stringer, ‘Scottish Royal Lordship in the Thirteenth-Century English Borders’.



Part II: English politics in Scotland

13.45–3.15

John Reuben Davies, ‘England in the Chronicle of Melrose’.

Fergus Oakes, ‘Alexander III and the Barons’ Wars’.

Sophie Ambler, ‘The Montfortian revolution and Scottish political thought’.



Part III: Law and the construction of Scottish independence

3.45–4.45:

Alice Taylor, ‘Robert I’s legal reforms, 1318’

Sarah Tebbit, ‘The legal context of the formulation of nationhood in early fourteenth-century Scottish texts’



4.45–5.15: Summing up (Dauvit Broun)



Please register on-line at http://newperspectives.eventbrite.co.uk/ by 16 August if you wish to have free teas/coffees and lunch, and to guarantee your place.

Carnegie Publishing in Lancaster are holding an author talk/book launch at the New Lanark Mill Hotel to celebrate the publication of Dr Barrie Trinder's new book, Britain's Industrial Revolution.

It is one of a series of events across the county, and the one at the hotel is on 17 June from 7–9pm.

The flyer for the event can be seen here - you do need to book and it costs £5 though this will be discounted against a copy of the book if you purchase one! Or anybody wishing to buy a ticket can contact them on 01524 840111.

A free conference - now that's something you don't hear of every day!
This event will take place at Stirling University on the afternoon of 7th June and through the day on 8th.
There is a wide range of speakers with the general themes 'Heritage, Identity and Place' on Friday 7th and of 'Access and Resources' on Saturday 8th.
The organisers hope that local people will 'pop in' for items of particular interest - though you are welcome to attend the whole event.
Items of particular local interest are;

On Friday 7th at 16.00 Richard Tipping (Stirling Uni) on 'Bannockburn, 1314: An environmental Reconstruction' (20 minutes)

On Saturday 8th at 14.00, AndrewTyler on 'Contaminated Land from War-time Activities in the Forth Valley: The Radium Legacy' (45 minutes).

You can get the whole programme, locations etc by clicking here.

We have had an enquiry from Stephen Dow, who writes:

Primarily I am looking for a Robina Horn(e). In the 1901 Census her address was 'Sunny Side', Park Place, Stirling in the parish of St Ninians. She worked as a servant and lived with Duncan and Elizabeth Robertson (both 64) and their daughter Jessie (40). This is the only census record I can find for Robina. While there are other Robina Hornes, no information matches her. Her place of birth on the census was Alva, Clackmannanshire and she was approximately 23 (born about 1878). I have been unable to find her birth registered with the Scotland's People website.

In 1899 Robina had an illegitimate baby boy with a farmer called William Menzies Dryden (of Midtown Farm, Cambus). William was already married with a son (Jeanie and William). The child was called Adam Dryden and was boarded with a couple called James and Margaret (nee McKay) Dow. Adam is listed in the 1901 census as staying with James and Margaret at 16 Lower Bridge Street, Stirling. In 1901 Adam was formally adopted by James and Margaret and named David Dow (my Paternal great grandfather) . I have the adoption document and Sunny Side, Park Place, Stirling is given as Robina's address. Having searched I do not think the solicitors exist anymore.

William Dryden and family emigrated to Canada in the early 1900's but that is another story

Would be grateful for any help or suggestions.

SLHS adds;
There is no house on Park Place displaying the name Sunny Side today. It is a road including several substantial villas where servants would have been employed. Duncan & Jamieson's Street Directory of 1868-9 lists a John Robertson, grocer,  as living at Number 19; however, new houses have been built since that time and all probably renumbered. There was a well-known Stirling grocery store called Robertson and MacFarlane c. 1900 and this might be the proprietor, the sort of person who would live on Park Place and have servants. Street Directories can be accessed via the National Library of Scotland website, Licensed Digitial Collections tab and it might help to check some of those around 1900.

Any help in finding Robina Horn's birth or other details would be appreciated. There must also be a story about what happened to her later - she has evidently been able to continue working with the Robertsons, in spite of the illegitimate baby.

A 'first' for the society with the launch of a new, hard-copy publication produced in conjunction with Friends of the Holy Rude Kirk. This 22 page booklet describes the burial grounds at the Top of the Town of Stirling and the gravestones and monuments they contain.
The changing use of the area and the emerging styles of gravestones over the centuries are discussed. So, too, is the 'educational sculpture garden' created in the late 1850s as a setting for the town's new cemetery.
The pamphlet brings together material previously only accessible in scattered sources. It has 26 illustrations (mainly in colour) and was written by historian John G Harrison.
Copies can be obtained through any of the Stirling Community Libraries or at the Church of the Holy Rude itself and cost only £2. Copies will also be on sale at the meetings of SLHS next season (if there are any left

Forth Naturalist and Historian who will be hosting a public lecture by Dr Iain Banks from the Glasgow University Centre for Battlefield Studies about local battlefields on Wednesday 5th June at the Raploch Community Campus at 7pm. This is the second of these annual lectures and is of immediate interest as Iain is amongst those presently investigating potential sites of the Battle of Bannockburn, as we prepare to mark the 700th anniversary next year.

There will be a short AGM at the beginning of the meeting and a chance for questions and discussion afterwards. Last year's lecture, about the Blairdrummond gold hoard, was a great success and this year's promises to be every bit as exciting.


You can download the poster here.

We have featured this site before. Today news arrives of some 8000 new images added to what was already an amazing resource. Many of these are from the 1930s - so surprisingly early for aerial photos. I have not had time to check out the new list so far - but take a look and if you find any Stirling goodies, do not hesitate to let us know!

Attached here is a list of forthcoming archaeology and heritage events in the area. There should, surely, be something of interest to almost anyone!

News arrives of a workshop at the Map Library in Edinburgh.

This year's LocScot Dayschool focusses attention on one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of the local studies researcher - the map.

The day's sessions will give an overview of the history of mapping, will look at working with maps specifically for local studies research, and of the practicalities of curating collections of these materials. A variety of types of map will be looked at (beyond the well-known OS maps) which all provide different types of information and are of interest to researchers in a wide spectrum of fields. The more technical aspects of cataloguing/classification/metadata/finding aids/storage/conservation will be looked at too, to provide guidance and assistance in dealing with these special collections materials. The day will also look at digital mapping and map resources available online, and the impact that these can have in the field of local studies.

It should be of interest to anyone working/researching in local studies; to those who are responsible for map collections as part of a wider remit; and to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of this extremely useful material.

Tea/coffee will be available at registration and a sandwich lunch will be provided.

This event is free to LOCSCOT members, and is available to non-members at the bargain rate of £3 (as a contribution towards catering costs). Non-members: please register using the Non-Member ticket option and pay on the day.

The Dayschool will take place at the National Library of Scotland’s Causewayside Building (159 Causewayside, Edinburgh, EH9 1PH) on the 24th of April 2013, from 1000 to 1600.

Please register for this event at: http://locscot2013.eventbrite.co.uk/