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We know much about Beatrice Garvie, who was doctor on North Ronaldsay in the 1930’s and 40's. See In Search of Beatrice Garvie to find out more. But did you know there were at least fifty women doctors in Orkney in the period up to 1948? We currently have a small display of items we hold relating to just a few of these remarkable women, and this blog accompanies it. [This exhibition is now over]…
Our team of volunteers have been hard at work sifting through the bundles of documents in the Balfour of Balfour & Trenaby papers. They have been finding lots of interesting documents and we are gradually listing them all on our new online catalogue , so that everyone can see the list too. Last week Anne was looking at bundle 9 in the 26th box. It is a bundle of bundles. Rather than individual…
New post by Guest Blogger: Joan Barrett Part One: When I read on Facebook an invitation to volunteer for work on the LIFTE project from the University of the Highlands and Islands, I immediately responded, offering to help with the transcription of 17th-century Orcadian documents. My grandfather was born on Westray in 1884; his mother’s family traces there to the mid 1600’s. Over many years I had…
Four Photos from the Tom Kent Collection sent me on a journey of discovery to find out more about this man, Charles Millot. In July 2021 we posted a couple of the photos on Twitter (now X) and they were very popular. Many people asked questions such as how did he get here? Why was he wearing those clothes? Where did the dog come from? What happened to him after he visited Orkney? So I set myself…
Today marks 80 years since VE day - the end of WWII hostilities in Europe. Listen below to weel kent* Orcadian Brigadier S P Robertson as he talks about his experiences of VE Day whilst stationed in Hamburg, Germany. Robertson was born in Kirkwall in 1914. His earliest memory was sitting on the shoulders of his brother John who had returned home to recover from a shrapnel wound in 1918. In 1939,…
Please do not come to the library on Monday the 5th as we will be closed. We are pretending it is because of the public holiday. We are actually planning a high stakes poker game with some tricksy sailors which will either make our fortunes, or ruin all our lives. Wish us luck and see you all on the other side...
Photo L9670/1 [388.342], by Ian Tulloch, from our Copy Collection L9477/2 [551.645] It’s been a beautiful morning in Orkney, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the birds have been singing their peedie hearts out. Even us archive staff have been whistling a merry tune as we kick our heels down the strong-room corridor. We’ve made it to the end of the month, and we’re also celebrating adding…
To celebrate we share with you some heartfelt words of love written in a letter in 1808. The letter is written by Mary, Mrs William Balfour, 1788-1820, Captain William Balfour's first wife (and first cousin, daughter of William Manson). ' It is extremely painful for me to communicate or correspond with you while my mind is in its present distress...' She is writing to John Balfour, 3rd of Trenaby,…
Many apologies dear researchers, the archive search room and Orkney room will be CLOSED tomorrow -Saturday 1st of February. We shall be open again on Monday the 3rd. Please accept this image of a man riding a pig taken from William Aberdeen's map of Grain, Kirkwall dated 1766 in atonement:
No, it’s not a description of how we are all feeling as we plough on through the seventy third day of January, but a headline from the front page of the Orkney Herald of 18 th January 1955. It’s a wild day here today as the tail end of Storm Éowyn arrived last night; some staff have commented that matchsticks might be needed to keep eyes open after a restless night worrying about roof tiles and…
