Welcome to

Friends of the Argyll Papers

The family and estate archives of the Campbell Family, earls and dukes of Argyll.

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Welcome

The Friends of the Argyll Papers was established to support the development of the family and estate archive of the Campbell family, dukes of Argyll, and to promote its use and enjoyment by a wide audience.

The Argyll Papers have been described as one of the most important private archives in Britain (Professor Allan Macinnes, 2014). It is a rich resource for Scottish and British history from the thirteenth to the twenty-first centuries and attracts visitors from all over the world, researching a wide range of subjects including family and local history, Gaelic studies, place names, military history, political history, economic and social history, agriculture and industry, architecture and more.

The Argyll Papers are the family and estate archive of the Duke of Argyll. Dating from the 13th century, the archive records 700 years of the family’s participation in Scottish, British and international events, their private lives and interests and the management of their extensive estates.

The Argyll estates covered most of Argyllshire, including the islands of Tiree, Iona and Mull, as well as the Lordship of Campbell in Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Fife.

Most of the people living on the Argyll estates were not Campbells: many other Highland names appear in the records for Argyll and the islands, and lowland names predominate in the records of the Lordship of Campbell in central Scotland.

It is the records of the management of the estates, dating from the late 18th century, which are most useful for family history research.

The estate records detail:

the people living on the land and their families (estate censuses, rentals);
how and where they lived and worked (estate surveys, petitions and memorials, correspondence, reports, accounts);
and give details of their houses and occupations (surveys, building plans).

Become a Friend

Do you have Campbell ancestry and want to help preserve your family archive? Are you interested in history and opportunities to connect with like-minded people? Have you used the Argyll Papers and wish to support the archivist’s and volunteers’ work? Whatever your reason for joining, by becoming a Friend you will help to secure the future of this very special archive and become part of a friendly, interesting and dedicated group of people.

Benefits of Membership

A regular newsletter with contributions from Friends, volunteers and researchers
Volunteering opportunities – see our Volunteering page for details
Social and educational events – see Events page for details
Sharing your interests and knowledge with others
20% discount for Inveraray Castle admissions, tea-room and shop

Caring for an archive of this size and importance, and making it available to researchers, is an enormous responsibility which is both costly and time-consuming. The archive does not receive any public funding, but Friends’ memberships and donations provide a valuable small regular income which contributes towards collection care and improvements to the research facilities. The Friends also support volunteering opportunities in the archive and fund-raising initiatives to help with conservation and cataloguing. You can find out more about what we do and how you can get involved by following the links on our website.

Support the preservation of this amazing archive, become a Friend of the Argyll Papers.

Friends’ News

Dr.Robert Irving

New addition to the archive catalogue

We are absolutely delighted to announce that Lord Archibald Campbell’s collection of West Highland funerary monument rubbings has been added to our online catalogue. A total of 179 life-size rubbings contained within 20 bound volumes have been individually described, and high-quality digital images of each rubbing are now available to view online, for free!

The archive is profoundly grateful to volunteers Dr Robert (Bob) and Faith Irving for all their hard work over several years to bring this project to fruition. Special thanks go to Bob for painstakingly scanning each rubbing and stitching the images together. Those who have seen the size of the rubbings volumes in real life will understand how much of a logistical challenge this has been!

Much of Bob’s work has also taken place on the other side of the world in Australia – a real testament to the power of remote volunteering.

Browse the catalogue here: LINK

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Adopt a Glass Plate Negative!

Our most recent sponsorship campaign focuses on our amazing collection of glass plate negatives, which date from the 1860s to the early 1900s. A total of 97 plates require expert care from skilled conservators, including individual cleaning, repackaging and stabilisation of broken plates. Once conserved, digital images of the negatives will be uploaded to our online catalogue.

78 plates by Scipio Mactaggart depicting Inveraray and its inhabitants in the 1860s are up for adoption at £50 each, and a further 19 from the Campbell of South Hall collection are being offered together for £950. Sponsors will receive high-resolution images of their adopted plate(s) and their names will be recorded in the archive catalogue.

Would YOU like to help us fund this exciting project? Read our adoption catalogue to learn more and pick a plate.

Many of our records bear witness to their age and the varied conditions in which they have been kept over the years. His Grace the Duke of Argyll
provides storage, research facilities and a professional archive team to manage the collection, but additional financial investment is needed to conserve the most vulnerable items. Our latest sponsorship campaign prioritises our fascinating collection of glass plate negatives, used historically to make photographic prints. By working with the Scottish Conservation Studio at Hopetoun House, Argyll Estates Archives will ensure that these plates and the unique images captured on them are preserved for future generations. Once conserved, digital images of the plates will be uploaded to our online catalogue.
By ‘adopting’ a glass plate negative, you will be lending your support to this important work. In return, sponsors will receive high-quality digital images of their adopted plate(s) in both negative and positive formats, produced using our specialist scanner. Sponsors’ names will also be recorded for posterity in our online catalogue.

Follow the LINK to find out more about the negatives, the conservation process, and how you can contribute.
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Argyll Mausoleum Visitor Information Display Project
(Photographs by permission of the Duke of Argyll.)

Bob Reid reports that this exciting project moves on a pace at Dunoon’s Community Shed with the final preparations for the new display unit for the Mausoleum, at Kilmun. After the Reformation the Campbell burials were moved from the KiImun collegiate church aisle to their own private burial site and mausoleum.

The mausoleum is of great interest to visitors from all over the world. It is looked after by the volunteers of Historic Kilmun.

The inscriptions on the tombs are becoming difficult to read and they are not permitted to fix information boards to the walls.

A solution was found by way of a free-standing aisle display. Surplus oak pews from the church were recycled by the woodworkers at Dunoon’s Community Shed. They were led by master craftsman, John Ferrie. John has maintained the quality standards of the Victorian carpenter’s. Much of the structure is held by hand made wooden oak plugs. Where screws were needed they had to be slotted, brass and set in a brass cup. Even those that will never be seen!

The unit in its final stages, getting ready to receive the two information boards.

The one shown is only a mock-up. Hoping to be ready to install for January 2025.

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Palaeography Group Online Workshop

Monday 27th January 2025 – 6.00pm.
Alison Diamond
(Archivist)
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Seminar series 2024/25.

The Friends of the Argyll Papers are delighted to introduce a series of online seminars informed by research undertaken in the archive, to take place on Zoom. All seminars are scheduled for a Friday, at various start times to allow Friends around the world to participate.

Fri 17 Jan

14:30

Paul Warde

Land, family and economic life in two nineteenth-century Tiree townships

This talk will examine the history of two neighbouring townships on the island of Tiree during the nineteenth century: Balinoe and Balemartine. Covering the period of the rise and fall of the kelp economy, the potato famine, mass migration and the ‘Crofters’ War’, it provides a detailed history of these crofting communities and how landholding and economic life was shaped by wider economic forces, family choices and the policies of the landlord, the Duke of Argyll. We will look at the controversial issue of rent rises and access to land for the community of ‘cottars’ and how the experience of particular families shaped their actions in struggles over the land in the 1880s. The talk will also consider some of the challenges and pitfalls in using the records in the Argyll papers to reconstruct a history of the land in Tiree.

The seminar will be given on Zoom.Attendance at the seminar is free to members of the Friends. Non-members are asked to make a £10 donation to the Friends at Donate to Friends of the Argyll Papers (enthuse.com).

All attendees should book their place by emailing Alison at: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com

Seminars will be delivered on the Zoom platform and will include a 45 minute presentation followed by 15 mins for Q & A.

Everyone who wishes to attend needs to book a place for the sessions by emailing: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com

For the full story click on the LINK

For information on past seminars, please visit the Cache Page

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Summoned by Bells: Duke Niall and the Inveraray Bell Tower

A fascinating and interesting article written by Ann Galliard a Trustee of Friends of the Argyll Papers.

Ann a trustee at Friends of the Argyll Papers

The article is based on material held by the Argyll Estates Archives, at Cherry Park, Inveraray, Argyll, Scotland.

Nial Diarmid Campbell, (1872-1949) the 10th Duke of Argyll and MacCalein Mor was, to say the least eccentric, and became known as “Scotland’s Most Picturesque Duke”. An antiquarian totally immersed in his Clan history, he had other many interests, including horticulture and stamp collecting, but mainly the Celtic church, doctrine and the architecture of church buildings. He avoided innovations like the motor car, put off installing electricity and had no telephone, but also had an adventurous streak, setting off on long journeys on his bicycle. He strongly defended his sometimes radical ideas, could be argumentative, rude and confrontational, but there is no doubt that he had a genuine and deep affection and concern for the extended family of his clan and the people working and living on his vast estates.

For the Full Article Follow this LINK

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Welcome to the Archives by the Duke of Argyll

Using the archive

The Argyll Papers are open to individual researchers and for group visits and tours. We support genealogical, local history and academic research. Please book an appointment to visit. We offer school visits, resources, internships, and work experience placements.

For information about accessing the archives, please click on the image.