Talks
September 2019 Meeting
19th September 2019
Dunfermline Historical Society, 7:30pm
Professor Sir Geoff Palmer, “Scotland and the Slave Trade”
Sir Godfrey Henry Palmer OBE is Professor Emeritus in the School of Life Sciences at Heriot-Watt University and a human rights activist. In his academic career as a botanist, he specialised in grain science and brewing and has been honoured with multiple honorary degrees and scientific awards.
Sir Geoff is also deeply involved in charity work and the promotion of human rights. He has written many newspaper articles on education and race relations and a book on the history of slavery, The Enlightenment Abolished: Citizens of Britishness. He is the Honorary President of the Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council. In 1989, he became the first black professor in Scotland, becoming a professor emeritus after he retired in 2005. He was knighted in the 2014 New Year Honours List.
As usual we meet in the Abbey Church Halls for the first meeting of our new session, and welcome all members, new members and visitors.
May 2019 Meeting
16th May 2019
Dunfermline Historical Society, 7:30pm
Sam Foster, Dunfermline Town Planning
Sam is an architect in Dunfermline specialising in contemporary ecological architecture. As a member of “Friends of Dunfermline” he is involved in work to regenerate the former Pilmuir Works and the town centre more generally. It should be fascinating to hear about the history of Dunfermline from Sam’s perspective.
As usual we meet in the Abbey Church Halls for our last meeting of this session, and welcome all members and visitors.
April 2019 Meeting
18th April 2019
Dunfermline Historical Society, 7:30 pm
Prof. Richard Oram, “Quite Happy – The Diary of James Fyffe a Cattle Dealer 1836 – 40”
Professor Oram is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Professor of Medieval and Environmental history at the University of Stirling. A graduate of St Andrews University, he worked in commercial property before returning to academia as an honorary lecturer in History at Aberdeen. His research interests include; Environmental History of the North Atlantic region, epidemic disease and its associated social impacts in medieval and early modern Scotland, lordship and landscape in medieval Britain and Ireland and Monastic landscapes in northern Europe c.1100-c.1350. In 2008 he was appointed to the Historic Environment Advisory Council for Scotland, which provides advice to Scottish Ministers on aspects of policy and public engagement in the sector.
We meet at the Abbey Church Halls as usual and all visitors are warmly welcome.
March 2019 Meeting
21 March 2019
Dunfermline Historical Society.
David Spaven ……. ‘A History and Geography of Scotland’s Railways’ .
David has spent his working life in and around the rail industry, primarily in the freight sector and for two decades he was a leading campaigner for the Borders Railway. He has also written eight books on the geography, history and politics of railways, including the award-winning Mapping the Railways and Highland Survivor: the story of the Far North Line – and most recently, Border Union Dream: the inside story of Britain’s boldest railway preservation bid.
As usual we meet at 7:30 pm in the Abbey Church Halls, all welcome.
AGM and February Meeting
21st February 2019
The Annual General Meeting of the Dunfermline Historical Society will take place at 7:30 pm in the Abbey Church Halls. It will be immediately followed by a talk “Ye Jacobites By Name” by Donald Smith.
Donald is a founding member of the Scottish Storytelling Forum, Edinburgh’s Guid Crack Club and is currently Director of TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland) which brings together Scotland’s traditional arts. He also curates two Festivals: TradFest in the spring and the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in the autumn.