Struggling to write your family history? Have Scottish ancestors?
The Year of Stories 2022 — #YS2022 — starts January 2 in the Kilted Ancestors Facebook group, and they want to help you put pen to paper or cursor to screen.
In this Facebook group, each month will have a dedicated theme throughout 2022. Each week, Christine Woodcock and Clare Wilson will give prompts to help you get your stories written down. Then each month, they will also have a guest or two drop by to help you even further.
They will ring in the new year with an overview of some of the drop-in sessions planned for the year to get you ready to share the stories of your Scottish ancestors.
These are the monthly topics:
January – Folklore
February – They Moved to Scotland
March – They Left Scotland
April – Crime Stories
May – Police Stories
June – Skeletons & Scandals
July – Weaving & Textiles
August – Mining
September — Steel Works & Ships
October – Retail & Shopping
November – Food & Recipes
December – Scottish Drinks
All of the monthly events are free.
Conferences
Kilted Ancestors will also host four virtual conferences this year.
Each conference has a theme, and the speakers will give presentations based on that theme.
March 19 — Emigration/Immigration
Dr Marjory Harper — Voices of the Diaspora
Dr Keir Strickland — Excavating the Highland Clearances
Jessica Evershed — The Highland & Island Emigration Scheme Database
Christine Woodcock — Scots in Atlantic Canada
June 18 — Crime and Punishment
Donna Moore — The Lock Trilogy: historical crime fiction novellas
Chris Paton — The Mount Stewart Murder
Robert Howie — The Story of Jekyll & Hide (Deacon Brodie)
Roddy Greig — Fife FHS Kalendar of Convicts
September 10 — Industry/Occupations
Stephen Clancy — Paisley Weavers
Justin Parkes — Scottish Steelworks and the Coal-fired Ironworks Industry
Irene O’Brien — My Ancestors Was… Researching Ancestor Occupations
Neil Fraser — Historic Scotland’s Industry Collections
December 10 — Uniquely Scottish
Paula Duncan — Kilt Making as a Heritage Craft
Nick Fiddes of DC Dalgleish — All About Tartan
Carol Jackson — Ellis Gin
Chef Gary MacLean — Scotland’s Larder
Registration opens January 2 for the these quarterly #YS2022 #KiltedKulture conferences. You can register for one, all four, or mix and match to suit your interests. Each conference is £10 (CDN$17).
If you book all four events, you will be invited to a free event on October 15 to help you put your stories together so they can be shared with others and across the generations.
