It is common knowledge that Australia was originally treated as a penal colony by the British Empire. In May 1787 the first fleet of convict ships set sail from England and arrived in Botany Bay some 8 months later in January 1788. As a punishment for persistent offenders – most commonly crimes of housebreaking, theft … Continue reading Pastures New: Scottish Emigration to Australia
Scotland’s Census 2021 – Homeless People Count
With planning for the next census in 2021 well underway at National Records of Scotland, our Statistical Futures team are focussed on understanding the needs of our users, data users and respondents. As part of our preparations, Sophie Davies and Anna Krakowska from the Enumeration team have been engaging with groups and organisations that work with … Continue reading Scotland’s Census 2021 – Homeless People Count
Open Book Podcast – Episode One
In the first Open Book Podcast, Professor Gerard Carruthers looks at the radicalism of Robert Burns and what newly-discovered documents reveal about his working and artistic life during the turbulent 1790s.
“D Day” 1971 – All Change
Our archivists have retrieved some items from the NRS archives to mark the 47th anniversary of decimalisation in the UK on 15 February. The first is a still from the film “All Change”, produced in colour in 1969 by World Wide Pictures Ltd. for the Central Office of Information, on behalf of the Decimal Currency … Continue reading “D Day” 1971 – All Change
Home From The Front
National Records of Scotland holds a wealth of military records from many conflicts dating back to the start of the seventeenth century. As these records sometimes reach us in a disorganised state, our archivists catalogue them to make them more accessible to the public. We recently began a project to catalogue First World War Pensions … Continue reading Home From The Front
Records & Responsibilities
In December, the Keeper of the Records of Scotland (the Keeper) agreed the Records Management Plan (RMP) of Food Standards Scotland. This was the 207th RMP to be agreed by the Keeper but more significantly, it was the first RMP agreed for an authority which didn’t appear on the original Schedule of the Public Records … Continue reading Records & Responsibilities
Criminal case papers brought to life by University students
This Saturday, 3rd February, legal students from the Universities of Aberdeen and Dundee will be delving almost 130 years into the past and, using High Court and Crown Office archive records held by the NRS, will stage a mock trial of a notorious Dundee crime which resulted in the city’s last ever execution. William Bury … Continue reading Criminal case papers brought to life by University students
Life expectancy in Scottish areas
How does where you live affect your lifespan? In September, NRS published life expectancy estimates which showed that a boy born in Scotland in 2014-2016 could expect to live until he was 77 years old and a girl could expect to live until she was 81 years old. Today NRS publish life expectancy in Scottish … Continue reading Life expectancy in Scottish areas
Feline Christmassy?
This year's Christmas e-card from National Records of Scotland features one of the more light-hearted items from our Register House Plans series – a ballroom filled with cats enjoying a Christmas party, dancing, gossiping and having fun. We think that this could be the item containing the most cats in the NRS collections! In creating … Continue reading Feline Christmassy?
Aiming for quality: selection, capture, QA and preservation of the NRS Web Archive
This week we dig into the procedures that power the NRS Web Continuity Service. We are a multi-faceted service, dealing with numerous stakeholders and subject areas. With that in mind, we need to ensure our processes are efficient and effective, to help us deliver a high quality web archive. But what do we mean by … Continue reading Aiming for quality: selection, capture, QA and preservation of the NRS Web Archive
