*** LINKS to Ayrshire Resources ***

[RootsChat]

Some links to Ayrshire resources to aid research:

To help find things more quickly, resources have been grouped in categories.  The links here have been compiled from topics submitted by RootsChatters. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed 

New Links: If you have any useful links that can be included here, please start a new topic and a moderator will transfer the link to this topic. Broken Links: Occasionally, links change or are no longer available. If you find a link on this page that is no longer available, just click on the 'Report to Moderator' button on the r/h side bottom corner, with a brief description and that link can be modified or changed.


Archives

• Ayrshire is divided into three local authority areas. See here for further details on Archives - www.ayrshirearchives.org.uk 
• Libraries and Archives in North Ayrshire - www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/CommunityLifeAndLeisure/LibrariesAndArchives/LibrariesAndArchives.aspx See also http://www.ers.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/heritage/localandfamilyhistory_gettingstarted.cfm 
• Further details on a wide range of Archive offices and resources here - www.ayrshireroots.com/Genealogy/Records/Archives/Archives.htm
• See also - hwww.ancestryroots.co.uk/archivehistory.htm

If you are planning a visit to an archives or family history centre, always worth contacting in advance to confirm what they have and what you are looking for. Things change over time, sometimes the info on the links above becomes outdated.

Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Some guides here on RootsChat to help you:

• Where to start with Scottish Research? - www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,24468.0.html
• Getting the best out of Scotlands People  - www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,562668.0.html
• The Scottish Way of Birth and Death...(1855-1939)  www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,578172.0.html
• Stair Parish Baptismal Register for 1862-1917 - http://stairchurch.homestead.com/baptismal.html

Burials and Monumental Inscriptions

• List of burial grounds and cemeteries in Ayrshire - www.ayrshireroots.com/Genealogy/Records/Burial/Burial.htm
• Have a look at this link by town to see whether any burial/MI information has been included - www.ayrshireroots.co.uk/Towns/index.html  For example, this is the Stevenston MI page www.ayrshireroots.com/Towns/Stevenston/Stevenston%20MIs.htm
• Carrick MI's - www.maybole.org/history/Books/monumentinscriptions/carrick.htm
• Dalrymple Chuchyard gravestone inscriptions - http://www.rootschat.com/links/0upe/
• Headstone index for Ochilree Parish - http://ochiltreechurch.homestead.com
• Headstone index for Stair Parish - http://stairchurch.homestead.com
• Headstone index for St.Margaret's RC Churchyard, Ayr - http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,529495.0.html
• A number of Ayrshire cemeteries mentioned in this post here on RC - www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,292912.0.html
• A number of Ayrshire cemeteries being added to this site (pay to view, but some general info available from general searches). See 'Database Coverage' link at the bottom of page - www.deceasedonline.com/servlet/GSDOSearch

[MonicaL]

Census

• Freecen https://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl has now excellent coverage of the earlier censuses. 100% coverage of the 1841 and 1851 censuses (as at May 2012 - check here for updates www.freecen.org.uk/statistics.html). These are transcripts compiled by volunteers. Original images for the 1841 - 1911 censuses are only available from the pay to view site www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
• Researchers often look to what may be available before the start of the censuses as we know them, from 1841. This provides an excellent summary of what is available across the whole of Scotland and locations of archive documents or material - www.myainfolk.com/Resources_files/Scottish_Population_Listings_Pre1841.pdf

Family History Groups and Societies

• North Ayrshire Heritage Friends - www.northayrshireheritagefriends.com/
• East Ayrshire Family History Society - http://www.eastayrshirefhs.co.uk/
• Alloway and Southern Ayrshire Family History Society - Closed 31 March 2015.
• The Glasgow & West of Scotland Family History Society which includes Ayrshire - www.gwsfhs.org.uk
• Largs & North Ayrshire Family History Society - www.largsnafhs.org.uk
• Troon and Ayrshire Family History Society - www.troonayrshirefhs.org.uk/home.htm

History and General information

• Genuki for Ayrshire - www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/AYR/
• FamilySearch.wiki pages for Ayrshire  - https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ayrshire,_Scotland and also see https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Category:Ayrshire
• Ayrshire Wikipedia pages see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrshire and also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ayrshire
• Lots on info on this site, this link by town - www.ayrshireroots.co.uk/Towns/index.html
  

Images and Photograph Archives and Collections

• The Ayrshire Libraries Forum’s Working Lives images collection - www.workinglives.org.uk
• The Geograph Britain and Ireland project has a growing collection of photographs - www.geograph.org.uk
• National Library of Scotland - Scottish Screen Archives – Ayrshire - http://ssa.nls.uk/search.cfm?search_mode=Browse&sid=03.01&location=5|Ayrshire
• Varied collections here - http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ayrshire/
  
• The George Washington Wilson Collection of Photographs - Ayrshire www.rootschat.com/links/0o87/  Main index for the Collection for Scotland www.rootschat.com/links/0o7x/

[MonicaL]

Maps

• County maps of Scotland - www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/
• Parish maps of Ayrshire - www.scotlandsfamily.com/parish-map-ayr.htm and www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sctayr/ayr.jpg
• National Library of Scotland Town maps - http://maps.nls.uk/towns/index.html  See also http://maps.nls.uk/counties/index.html#ayrshire and www.nls.uk/collections/maps
• Further collection of maps here - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genmaps/genfiles/COU_Pages/SCO_pages/ayr.htm
• Great new (modern) mapping site, 'Where's the Path?' - Free Ordnance Survey Mapping side by side with Google Aerial Imagery. Just insert place name on the l/h side box at the top, the select a place http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm Great mapping site for those more remote places! Also covers more populated areas.

Mining

• Great resource for the research into Scottish mining and people - http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/155.html
  
• The miners' voices project - http://www.minersvoices.co.uk/About%20Miners%20Voices.html

Miscellaneous

• Post Office Directories for the general Ayrshire area - www.nls.uk/family-history/directories/post-office/index.cfm?place=Ayrshire  New release of later directories here http://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Ascottishdirectories&sort=-publicdate
• The story of Maybole, its people and history - www.maybole.org
• Resources for those with an interest in Dalrymple Parish - www.geographyhigh.connectfree.co.uk/dalrymple.html
• Lots of interesting and varied info on Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Steventston here - www.threetowners.com From the same site, Kilwinning - www.threetowners.com/Kilwinning/kilwinning.htm
• A collection of entries for Ayrshire people who died abroad compiled here - http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ayrshire/indexforeign.html
  

Newspapers

• A guide to Scottish Newspaper Indexes by the National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/collections/newspapers/indexes/index.cfm
• New resource for the UK, pay to view, some general info available from the general search index info - www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Workhouses

• A list of poor rolls, registers of poor, volumes of poor relief applications and various other records containing lists of paupers for parishes in Scotland. A great summary of what is actually available by parish and where to look for the records that remain - www.myainfolk.com/Resources_files/Records_of_the_Scottish_Poor.pdf

Ayr Poorhouse
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Ayr

Kyle Combination
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Kyle/

Cunninghame Combination
http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Cunninghame/