NRS Registration casework officer Rachael Lloyd looked more deeply into intriguing entries in our registers and uncovered a surprising tale of slavery, service and freedom in nineteenth century Scotland... Malvina Wells was born around 1805, on the Island of Carriacou in Grenada. She was born into slavery, and although she will have been far … Continue reading Voices from our Archives: Malvina Wells, c.1805 – 1887
Statistics on homeless deaths in Scotland
Today NRS published experimental statistics on homeless deaths in Scotland for the first time, in response to user demand. Similar information was produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for England and Wales in 2018, and there has been considerable demand since then from a wide range of stakeholders for comparable Scottish figures. We … Continue reading Statistics on homeless deaths in Scotland
Web Archiving & Web Continuity
National Records of Scotland is today celebrating World Digital Preservation Day. We caught up with our web continuity assistant Barbara Fuentes at West Register House, who told us about her work on archiving websites, helping to ensure that digital records are captured and preserved for the future… Digital Records NRS has been archiving paper records for … Continue reading Web Archiving & Web Continuity
Talking obsolescence in Oban: 2019 Community Archive Workshop Tour of Scotland
We’re constantly surrounded by digital material – tweets, photos, videos and much more – but stored information is surprisingly vulnerable and easy to lose, with community archives’ content particularly at risk. World Digital Preservation Day is an annual celebration of efforts across the globe to secure and preserve our digital record. In this blog post, … Continue reading Talking obsolescence in Oban: 2019 Community Archive Workshop Tour of Scotland
Tulloch, Burke and Brook
On 2nd August 1847, a young man named Archibald Burke allegedly attacked and raped Elspeth Duffus, the wife of the local carter, on a quiet country road in Couper-Angus. Under normal circumstances, once any physical evidence of wrongdoing had been gathered and once the proposed list of witnesses had been finalised and their declarations duly … Continue reading Tulloch, Burke and Brook
The Dummy Dodge – Part 2
While awaiting his trial for assault in 1853, David Brook was temporarily incarcerated at Kirkcudbright Prison where he evidently took great care to secure the good opinion of the Prison Keeper, James Clark. Of his charge Clark wrote: ‘His general conduct is good. He is quite willing to work. He can write and that is … Continue reading The Dummy Dodge – Part 2
The Dummy Dodge – Part 1
On the 30th March 1855, an article appeared in the Aberdeen Free Press seeking to alert its readers to the emergence of a worrying new phenomenon: a ‘class of sturdy beggars’ who falsely assumed the appearance of disability in order to reap ‘a rather plentiful harvest’, while leading lives of idleness and dissipation. Denounced as … Continue reading The Dummy Dodge – Part 1
Accuracy and Fidelity: Scotland’s District Examiners
There are 678 Registrars in Scotland and they record around 140,000 "life events" every year. These include births, still births, marriages, civil partnerships, and deaths, and National Records of Scotland have been safeguarding these records since compulsory registration was introduced in 1855. That's a lot of records, and what many people don't know is that … Continue reading Accuracy and Fidelity: Scotland’s District Examiners
Fringe Festival Exhibition – ‘Prisoners or Patients? Criminal Insanity in Victorian Scotland’
‘Prisoners or Patients?’ is the latest part of a major project I began in 2016, to use the lessons of history to stimulate awareness of mental health issues in the modern world. Using free podcasts, social media, and photo exhibitions of asylum and prison patients I tried to reach out to sufferers and those close … Continue reading Fringe Festival Exhibition – ‘Prisoners or Patients? Criminal Insanity in Victorian Scotland’
Scotland’s Changing Population
Demographic information about Scotland’s population Today we’ve published ‘Scotland’s Population 2018 - The Registrar General’s Annual Review of Demographic Trends’, and here our statisticians explain the key findings in the report. How is Scotland’s population changing? Scotland’s population has continued to increase and now stands at a record high of 5.44 million. Since 2008, … Continue reading Scotland’s Changing Population
