William Rae of Staxigoe, 1876, The Johnston Collection, courtesy of the Wick Society (Ref. JN05974P048) A Brief Introduction In the hundred years from 1820 to 1920, over two million emigrants left Scotland for the New World.[1] Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa were popular destinations, but not as popular as the United States, where… Read more »Read more
A Special Edition of Stories From The Archive This edition of Stories From The Archive was researched and written by Dr Madison Marshall. Madison is a a White Rose scholar affiliated with the University of Leeds, though a permanent resident of Caithness. As part of her PhD study she undertook a one-month Researcher Employability Project… Read more »Read more
‘Government will yield nothing to justice, but a great deal to fear’ – Hugh Miller, 1846 [1] A Brief Introduction The above quote is from a private letter of Hugh Miller who worked for the pro-Free-Church newspaper Witness. Miller is lamenting the ‘quiescence’ that Highlanders and Islanders in Scotland were showing in response to the… Read more »Read more
A Brief Introduction Archives are unique historical records that allow us insight into the past, present and future. They allow for knowledge growth, community forming, wider perspectives, social pride, jurisdiction and accountability. In this edition of Stories From The Archive we’d like to focus on a different kind of narrative. Through exploring a specific collection,… Read more »Read more
A Brief Introduction Travelling throughout Caithness it is hard to miss the abundance of ruined grey stone buildings stood defiantly within the landscape. From the roadside you will see many such roofless structures and on a closer walk around the countryside the foundations of others almost completely demolished. These old croft houses are perhaps the… Read more »Read more
A Brief Introduction In this edition of Stories From The Archive we will be exploring some of the prose and diary entries of Hetty Munro. Much is remembered and celebrated of Hetty’s life in Caithness and approaching the task of writing a blog about her collection was rather intimidating. The broad extent of her writing… Read more »Read more
A Brief Introduction Our focus in this edition of Stories from the Archive will be Operation Snowdrop 1955, an unbelievable exercise in response to emergency across government departments, the armed forces, the police, the health service and throughout the general population. In January and February of 1955 severe snowstorms caused disruption across the north of… Read more »Read more
A Brief Introduction This month we will be showcasing the harbour master log books: an endless source of official declarations, of harbouring and passing ships, of social unrest in the town, of tragic deaths at sea and on land, of unthinkably violent storms and gales. We hold the annual log books for the years 1849-1890… Read more »Read more
A Brief Introduction to the Series We all tell stories and revel in those of others. Our minds seem in many ways compelled to attain the heights of the fictitious and nothing, I would argue, can inspire or engage us more than a real-life account of something extraordinary. The past, in many ways, feeds this… Read more »Read more
