Services for Members
We regularly undertake projects relevant to family history and have produced a number of publications (see the shop for details). In addition to issuing to our members two journals and a Christmas bulletin each year, East Ayrshire FHS tries to assist members, particularly those who live outwith the area, with simple and specific research.
Please remember that the Society is run entirely by volunteers and it may not always be possible to find someone able to work on a request. You would be asked to pay any expenses incurred, such as postage and photocopying. If any large expense is likely then you would be notified before proceeding. The Society holds some research materials and has access locally to microfilms of Census and Old Parish Records for all Ayrshire parishes. Therefore if you have a census reference or a likely OPR reference found, say, by using the www.familysearch.org website we should be able to look up the entry for you and transcribe the details.
The Society holds CD Indexes to the 1851 and 1861 Censuses for Ayrshire and has finding aids to entries in the 1881 and 1901 and 1911 Censuses for Ayrshire. We also have access to an index on microfiche to the 1891 Census for Ayrshire. Details of the 1841 Census for Ayrshire are available without charge on the FreeCen website – and the 1851 Census is also becoming available free on that site. Indexes to all the available Censuses of Scotland are available on the pay-per-view website www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk . Scotlands People is the official government online source of genealogical data for Scotland and holds the 1855 and onwards statutory Birth, Marriage and Death records for the whole of Scotland.
The Society holds several books of Monumental Inscriptions (mainly pre-1855) for graveyards in Ayrshire.
Other resources include:
Indexes to Poor Relief Applications for Ardrossan and Kilmarnock
Kirk Session records up to 1900 for Kilmarnock Laigh Kirk
Local maps
CD set of Soldiers who died in WW1 and WW2
It is recommended that members make use of the online Members’ Forum as an aid to their own research.