Ayr’s Newfoundland Heritage

Come along to find out more about the Newfoundland Regiment’s experiences in WW1, and their time spent in Ayr, as the teams from South Ayrshire Libraries & Museum service and the Remembering Auld Ayr Facebook Group come together to share to host their first-ever joint event! Together we will share the Newfoundlander’s stories through film, […]

News of Peace comes to Ayrshire 1918

In towns throughout Ayrshire, the arrival of news on Monday 11th November 1918 that an armistice to end the Great War had been signed with Germany brought crowds onto the streets. Workplaces and schools declared a holiday, bells were rung, and churches hastily organised thanksgiving services. Events in Troon were typical, as reported by the […]

Armistice Day Centenary Pop-Up Exhibition at Rozelle House

The 11th November 2018 marks one hundred years since the end of The First World War. To honour this occasion South Ayrshire Museums will install a pop-up museum in Rozelle House recalling local involvement and remembrance of The Great War. This small exhibition will open outside the tearoom in Rozelle House and run from 26th October […]

Votes for Women

On 6th February 1918, the Representation of the People Act 1918 was given royal assent and became law. For the first time, British women were entitled to vote in general elections, provided they were over 30 and were property-owners. (Many women could already vote in local elections.) The years immediately preceding the outbreak of […]

Ayrshire and the Great War U-Boat threat

Engineers surveying the seabed of the Firth of Clyde and the North Channel on the route of a planned undersea power cable recently came across a wreck. It was identified as that of a First World War German submarine, or U-Boat, either UB-82 or UB-85. Much press coverage resulted, due to the bizarre claim made […]

Exploring the life and times of WWI Official Artist, Sir Muirhead Bone

‘Inspiring Landscapes’ exploring the life and times of WWI Official Artist, Sir Muirhead Bone, is now open at Rozelle House Museum & Galleries, Ayr. Supported by funding from Museums Galleries Scotland, this project has involved local people researching the life and times of Sir Muirhead Bone, and creating Fine Art Prints inspired by the South […]

Ayrshire’s soldiers at Gallipoli

One hundred years ago, families spread across the whole of Ayrshire were mourning the loss of loved ones. News was arriving of the heaviest loss of life the county had yet suffered in the Great War. On 12 July 1915, Scottish soldiers of the 52nd Lowland Division rose from their trenches and charged part of […]

Next of Kin: Scottish Families and the Great War

Next of Kin, an exhibition created by National Museums Scotland, opened on 4 July at Rozelle House. It presents a picture of Scotland during the First World War through treasured objects from official and private sources, kept by close relatives and passed down through generations. South Ayrshire Libraries and Museums team are delighted to host Next […]

South Ayrshire’s Great War 1914 -1918: Exhibition and Events

Exhibition Wednesday 6th August – Saturday 30th August 2014, Carnegie Library, 12 Main Street, Ayr To commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, an exhibition of photographs and memorabilia will be on show in Ayr’s Carnegie Library. It will cover the battlefields and the home front, including auxiliary hospitals. Tributes will […]