BCGS Seminars
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The BCGS is pleased to present our Spring 2025 seminar, with speaker Chris Paton
Saturday 8 March 2025
10:00 am - 12:15 pm via Zoom
(virtual doors open at 9:30)FREE for BCGS members $20 for non-members
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Scottish Burgh & Trade Incorporation Records
In this session family historian Chris Paton will explore Scotland's historic burghs, enterprise zones set up within the country's ancient feudal system in the medieval period as a means to facilitate the manufacturing of goods and their sales. As the forerunners to Scotland's towns and cities, the burghs were home to urban communities and organisations who operated under their own set rules and regulations, generating many records along the way.
Chris will discuss the various types of burghs that existed, the records of the councils, merchants and trade incorporations, and how their records can be used for our family history research today.
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What is Ireland? Understanding the Lay of the Land
Looking for Irish ancestors may be one of your key priorities, but understanding what Ireland actually is may be quite another! Who are the various peoples referred to today as “the Irish”? What were the changing administrative boundaries that we need to be aware of when carrying out research in Irish documents from across time? Where are the main gatekeeping institutions in Ireland and beyond which preserve the Irish ancestral story?
Inthis talk, Chris provides a much-needed background primer to help provide context to your Irish research!
REGISTER HERE
Non-BCGS Members register here:
Chris Paton BA (Hons), HND, PgDip Genealogical Studies
Originally from Northern Ireland, but with both Scottish and Irish roots, I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Genealogical Studies from the University of Strathclyde, and work as a professional genealogist, running the Scotland’s Greatest Story research service. I have been a resident of Ayrshire for almost two decades, but in the past have also been based in the English cities of Plymouth and Bristol, the Scottish city of Glasgow and town of Helensburgh, and the Northern Irish town of Carrickfergus, from where I originally hail.
Check out Chris Paton’s website,
“Scotland’s Greatest Story”,
for an expanded Bio.