Borders Family History Society

24/05/2026

Richard and Susan Brown, from Minnesota, called in to see us last week to research Richard’s Brown ancestry, originally from Earlston

22/05/2026

More shelf stocking in our Online Shop, and a "Sale" on "The Kirk Yetholm Gypsies".

We have added another 13 Monumental Inscription booklets to the online shop, as well as our first "Sale" item.

The Monumental Inscription booklets added are:

Ayton
Channelkirk & Legerwood
Fogo
Foulden & Mordington
Traquair & Kielzie
Gordon
Nenthorn & Westruther
Mertoun
Eccles Birgham and Leitholm
Cavers & Kirkton
Edgerston
Ednam
Bedrule
Polwarth.

Our "Sale" item is "The Kirk Yetholm Gypsies" a paperback pamphlet sized copy of AV Tokely's book on the Gypsies and their connection with Kirk Yetholm.

This normally retails for £2.75, however we are discounting it to £1.99…and if you are a BFHS Member and logged into the website, that drops to £1.79!

21/05/2026

A big thank you for a very kind and much appreciated gesture from one of our customers. Lovely scones from Bulldog Bakes thank you

A lovely surprise delivery for our neighbours at Borders Family History Society today 💙🥰

One of their customers from America kindly ordered a tray of our freshly baked scones as a thank you for all the amazing work the society did helping trace their family history here in the Scottish Borders 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

We were delighted to help make it happen! Nothing beats seeing kindness, appreciation, and a few good scones bringing people together across the world 🌍✨

If you’ve never checked out the fantastic work Borders Family History Society do, they’re absolute experts in uncovering the stories and roots that connect families across generations 📖

21/05/2026

Members Surname Interests - Private Survey For Members Only

All BFHS Members should now have received an email with a private link to a survey we have created.

We value your opinion as an old or new member of the Borders Family History Society as we endeavour to develop the new website with your needs in mind. We very much want the website to be "Member Driven" wherever possible.

You may recall that it was possible on the old web site for any visitor to register their interests, combining surname, location and date period. This was then available to anyone to search, and allow people to contact each other by email if they had common interests.

We have kept a copy of this data from the old database with a view to potentially making it accessible to Members Only, if it is considered of value to do so.

To help us in making the decision, we would be very grateful if you could complete the survey. It should only take a couple of minutes. Any results will be confidential.

Thank you so much for your help in the development of the Society website.

19/05/2026

Two New Galashiels Monumental Inscription PDF downloads added to the Shop.

Two more items added to our online Shop this morning - instant downloadable PDF versions of Monumental Inscription booklets for Galashiels Eastland & St Peters, and Galashiels Heatheryett...and dont forget, BFHS Members get 10% discount on every purchase! (you must be logged into the website to have the discount applied).

19/05/2026

We are looking to return this painting of Laidlawstiel Cottage to family of Ann Thornton who was ward sister at Peel Hospital and BGH. Please get in touch if you know of any family members

17/05/2026

We have been stocking the shelves of our online Shop this afternoon! - bulk upload of Monumental Inscription publications, some on CD and some as hard copy booklets - including Ashkirk, Ancrum & Longnewton, Bungle & Preston, Cranshaws, Duns, Gavinton, Galashiels Heatheryett, Houndwood, Hounam & Linton, Jedburgh St Johns, Longformacus, Lyne Megget Manor, and Stow - we will get the downloadable PDF versions of these in the Shop as soon as possible...and dont forget, BFHS Members get 10% discount on every purchase! (you must be logged into the website to have the discount applied).

14/05/2026

We are open today 10-4, if you are in Galashiels pop in to see us. We are also happy to receive email research requests
research@bordersfhs.org.uk

09/05/2026

This week we had a visit from Kurt and Janet Ballantyne from Colorado. Kurt’s direct ancestors Francis Ballantyne (grocer) and Margaret Robson came from Castleton. Their son William Ballantyne emigrated to Ontario Canada in 1842. Kurt is keen to know of anyone else who shares the same ancestors

08/05/2026

After the introduction of the "Monumental Inscriptions" database into the Research area of the new website in March, we are pleased to announce the next Research feature to go live today - the "Magazine Article Index".

Since the first edition of our Society magazine, published in 1985, we now have over 1000 articles available. Members of the Society have shared their research on their ancestors, places in the Borders and around the world and much more.

The Article Index includes all issues up to the latest published issue in the search database.

Use the search form to find out which articles include a topic in which you're interested, or alternatively look at the list of distinct topics to see which ones are included. Please note that most articles have more than one associated topic, and that some topics are associated with more than one article.

We aim to eventually have all the magazine back issues available to purchase in the Shop as digital download PDFs. However with over 100 issues to create listings for, that will take time. In the meantime, if you see an article you are interested in, please contact Sales to arrange purchase of the magazine issue number.

Since the first edition of our Society magazine, published in 1985, we now have over 1000 articles available. Members of the Society have shared their research on their ancestors, places in the Borders and around the world and much more. The Article Index includes all issues up to the latest publish...

05/05/2026

We have just added another very interesting book to our online Shop!

"We're from Kelso"

Kelso Connections' storyboards about people from Kelso who have made a contribution around the world.

Price (non Members): £4.50
Price (Members): £4.05 (you must be signed into the website to get the discount).

Purchase it as this link:

Kelso Connections' storyboards about people from Kelso who have made a contribution around the world.