Tay Valley FHS AGM 2026

The society AGM will be held 24th September. Glasite Hall, King Street, 7pm for 7.30 and will be run it as a 'hybrid' meeting with a Zoom link. The agenda and reports will be placed in the Society Documents section (for members) nearer the time.

Nominations are sought for new Council members

Vacancies

Deputy Chair
Council Secretary
Two Council members

Nomination deadline 13th August

Nomination forms are in the Society Documents area of Member Downloads.

Q&A for the 'Bonnetmakers' talk is on Monday 27th July, 8 pm UK time - link to register is now available - members go to Video Talks resources for the EventBrite page. Details of the talk below.

The latest Talk for Tay Valley FHS, 'Bonnetmakers: The Early Male Hand Knitters of Scotland' by Michael Harrigan, now available at https://youtu.be/PKepFv6Jvj4 is based on Michael's research for his M. Litt. degree from Dundee University. Michael says: ‘This study examines the male-dominated hand-knitting industry in Scotland from the earliest Bonnetmaker guild formation in the late fifteenth century through the introduction of machine knitting in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Specifically, a comparison is made between the bonnetmaking guilds of the burgh of Dundee and the small Ayrshire town of Stewarton in respect of their management of members, products and markets.’ Did you have Bonnetmakers in your family? Many with Dundee ancestry did - and the Bonnetmakers are still present here as a craft incorporation, one of the Nine Trades, though now they are an ‘open’ trade (which indeed has the largest membership of the Dundee trade incorporations), involved, like the other incorporations, with charitable and educational work. And there were, of course, bonnetmakers elsewhere in our area!

The Q&A will be held somewhat differently this time - as Michael lives in Thailand! Please can you send questions or comments to talks'at'tayvalleyfhs.org.uk and they will be passed on to Michael who will respond and we'll share the responses in the Q&A. Details for registering will be available to members on the 'video talks' area of the website, and to our Tay Connect group on Facebook. If you're not a member of TVFHS you can contact that 'talks' email to find out about the Q&A.

A table of contents for this issue is attached to this 'news' post. Members can view the new issue - June 2026 - by clicking the journal link. You will need to log in with your usual email address and password.
Some great articles to complete your Bank Holiday reading!

We received a request from a University Of Strathclyde PhD student who is looking to make contact with Scots with Polish or Italian heritage.  If you are willing to assist in the research, please use the link or email Benjamin directly.

In a new venture some of the society's publications have been converted into digital documents.  These are offered for sale as downloads in the online bookshop.  These are available for purchase by members with the advantages of immediate availability and no postage charges.  Initially, a number of our memorial inscription pamphlets have been uploaded.  However, if there are other publications you would like to see in this form, please contact us at tvfhs@tayvalleyfhs.org.uk .