Doors Open Days 2022 has returned to Edinburgh and East Lothian and the theme of this year’s festival is “Standing Strong”, highlighting the value of regular building maintenance and community approaches to looking after buildings and places. As archivists, conservators, and collectors of data, National Records of Scotland (NRS) we cast our eyes down to … Continue reading West Register House – Two centuries in the heart of Edinburgh
The Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland 350th Anniversary Lectures
In today’s guest post Dr Joseph J. Morrow, Lord Lyon King of Arms – head of the Lyon Court, a Scottish public body based at New Register House, and colleagues of NRS – looks at upcoming events being held to mark the 350th anniversary of this venerable Scottish institution… Copyright: Army Communications. The Court of … Continue reading The Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland 350th Anniversary Lectures
‘O Tannenbaum’: The root of a Christmas tradition
“O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum,wie treu sind deine Blätter!Du grünst nicht nur zur Sommerzeit,nein auch im Winter, wenn es schneit.” - Opening lines to Ernst Anschütz's 1824 version of the German song ‘O Tannenbaum’ (O Christmas Tree, or ‘O Fir Tree’), variations of which go back to at least the 16th century. Prince Albert, the consort … Continue reading ‘O Tannenbaum’: The root of a Christmas tradition
Archives Online – Maps and Plans
RHP7041 – Architectural drawing of Dalkeith Parish Church, 1848, W Burn and D Bryce, architects. ScotlandsPeople is our ancestry research service and Scotland's leading website for genealogical research. In addition to records of births, deaths and marriages in Scotland going back centuries, you can also find many more record sets from the National Records of … Continue reading Archives Online – Maps and Plans
The Declaration of Arbroath: HES and NRS education resources
The Declaration of Arbroath "As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with … Continue reading The Declaration of Arbroath: HES and NRS education resources
Ancestry Research: Lightbulb Moments and False Trails
A chance discovery last year, in one of our registers inspired NRS Registration casework officer Rachael Lloyd to investigate the life of Malvina Wells – born into slavery in Grenada, and later making a life for herself in Edinburgh in the 1800s. Little did Rachael know that while she was researching her article Frances Macdonald, … Continue reading Ancestry Research: Lightbulb Moments and False Trails
The “Radical Rising” of 1820, Part Two
In our previous article, published on 29 May, NRS archivist Simon Johnson and conservator Jackie Thorburn shared the first of two articles relating to their work to open up improved access to the trial papers of the Scottish ‘Radical Rising’ of 1820 (NRS ref. JC21). They set the papers in their historic context and focused … Continue reading The “Radical Rising” of 1820, Part Two
“Stench, Corruption and Filth”: The Leith Plague of 1645
Empty streets, self isolation, physical distancing... Not scenes from 2020 as you might expect but Leith in 1645, the year the bubonic plague ravaged the port and killed over half of its population. Scotland was no stranger to the plague. The country had suffered waves of the disease ever since the time of the Black … Continue reading “Stench, Corruption and Filth”: The Leith Plague of 1645
The “Radical Rising” of 1820, Part One
Conserving the Evidence of a Revolution NRS archivist Simon Johnson and conservator Jackie Thorburn recently collaborated on a six-month project to improve public access to the trial papers of the Scottish ‘Radical Rising’ of 1820. This facilitates our plans to mark the 200th anniversary of the Rising in September 2020. In the first of two … Continue reading The “Radical Rising” of 1820, Part One
Update: The 100-year-old mystery album…
Some time ago, NRS appealed to the public to help us identify the contents of a photograph album dating from the 1920s. We’re still on the trail of the people in the album, which was found in an Edinburgh hotel and was eventually handed in to the National Register of Archives for Scotland, but we … Continue reading Update: The 100-year-old mystery album…
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