Highland Archive Centre

02/09/2026

Last summer we had a visitor from Australia who was interested in researching their Cameron ancestors from the Black Isle. Interestingly they brought with them a 19th century manuscript they were given the opportunity to photocopy in the 1980s. They preserved their copy, not knowing what became of the original, as it included a detailed genealogy of their Cameron family going all the way back to the early 17th century, perhaps 16th century. The opening pages give a brief background:

“The history of Donald Cameron, the ancestor of the numerous family of Cameron who have for the last three centuries overspread the greater part of that district of Ross-shire called Ferintosh, is briefly as follows:

In the latter part of the 16th century (the exact period is not known) he was servant with Cameron of Lochiel whose daughter was married to a Mr McKenzie of Hilltown, Redcastle. After the marriage, Donald left the Chief, and accompanied the young couple to their residence in the same capacity. He remained some time in the their employment and afterwards removed to Ferintosh, where, making choice of Mulchaich as his place of residence, he married and had a family of seven daughters. His wife dying he married a second time, the result of which was as many sons, whose names and places of residence will be found below. The said Donald Cameron had a burying ground in the church yard of Ferintosh, which descended to his heirs and successors and has since been successorly possessed by them in order of the following table of Lineage.”

One of our Family Historians, Alasdair, is busy piecing together a family tree to accompany this manuscript to be displayed at our Doors Open Day event, ‘Heritage at Risk’, this Saturday 5th September at the Highland Archive Centre.

Behind-the-scenes tours will take place at 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2pm (book by emailing [email protected] or phone 01349 781130), advice will be available on how to go about researching your own family history and images from Am Baile will be on display.

Doors are open from 10am to 4pm.

01/09/2026

So excited to share the news of the grant funding awarded to our Skye and Lochalsh Archive Centre. This funding will allow them, along with the other partners involved, to make more accessible a wide range of Gaelic material, transforming its visibility and useability for researchers.

🎉 We are delighted to share that the Highland Archive Service has been awarded funding through the Archives Revealed Consortium Grant programme.
This exciting partnership with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Museum & Tasglann nan Eilean and Scottish Council on Archives project will help preserve, catalogue and digitise important Gaelic archive collections held across Skye, Lochalsh and the Western Isles, ensuring they can be discovered and enjoyed by future generations.

From poetry and literature to community history and theatre, these collections tell powerful stories about Gaelic life, culture and identity. We look forward to sharing more about the project as work gets underway.

Archives Revealed is the only grant programme in the United Kingdom dedicated to cataloguing and unlocking archival collections. The programme is funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, the Wolfson Foundation and The National Archives. Its goal is to ensure that significant archive collections, representing the lives and perspectives of people across the UK, are made accessible for public research and enjoyment.

Read more in the comments.
High Life Highland The Highland Council

The National Archives

31/08/2026

HCA/CI/5/3/162/1/1 Crown School Log Book, 1939-1958

Wartime evacuee children were arriving in the Highlands prior to the official declaration of War on 3rd September 1939. Teachers were assisting in the government scheme of evacuating children from dangerous areas and Crown School in Inverness was receiving children from Edinburgh as is revealed in these entries in the logbook for the 1st to the 11th of September 1939.

This volume will be on display amongst an array of other thought-provoking documents at the Highland Archive Centre’s annual Open Day on Saturday 5th September. Behind-the-scenes tours will take place at 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2pm (book by emailing [email protected]), advice will be available on how to go about researching your own family history and images from Am Baile will be on display.

Doors are open from 10am to 4pm.

28/08/2026

HCA/D1751/2/1/3

Drumnadrochit from the Christopher J. Uncles albums, n.d.

28/08/2026

It's nearly time for the annual Badenoch Heritage Festival which this year runs from 13th-19th September. Once again, we will be supporting the festival by giving a talk at the Highland Folk Museum.

This year's talk, which will be at 11am on 17th September, forms part of the museum's 90th anniversary celebrations and will look at how archives can be used to trace people and places - using the museum and its founder, Dr Isobel Grant, as examples.

Tickets for our talk, along with all other festival events can be booked via the link below -
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/badenoch-heritage-festival-2026-4862945

We hope to see some of you there!

High Life Highland

26/08/2026

📣

We've sent out the latest Highland Archive Service newsletter today (which can also be viewed via the link at the bottom of this post). As always when putting the newsletter together, it's a real pleasure to reflect on the work undertaken by our team across the Highland Archive Service.

We've all been very busy over the past few months and we hope you enjoy reading about our work protecting and caring for archive collections and sharing those collections with schools, communities, and local and international audiences.

In this newsletter we'd particularly like to draw your attention to our 2025/26 Annual Report, which can be found at https://www.highlifehighland.com/archives/highland-archive-service/whats-on/news/highland-archive-service-annual-report-2025-2026 and would like to ask for your feedback following any interaction with the Highland Archive Service.

Feedback can be given via the link in the newsletter or by visiting https://nps.highlifehighland.com/ and selecting the option 'archives' and the relevant archive centre/service. Your feedback helps us to shape our service.

With thanks for your ongoing support of our work!

https://mailchi.mp/highlifehighland/highland-archive-service-10122014

High Life Highland The Highland Council

26/08/2026

The team are busy getting ready for our open day on Saturday 5th September, selecting items to put on display. The theme this year is ‘Heritage at Risk’, and we have all enjoyed thinking about how we can interpret this and showcase what we do to protect the heritage and history of the Highlands.

Pop into the Highland Archive Centre on 5th September, anytime between 10am and 4pm to see these and lots more items from the collections we care for. There are also behind the scenes tours at 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2pm where you can see where we keep these records and learn about all the things we do to protect them and keep them safe for the future.

Spaces on the tours are limited so please phone 01378 781130 or email [email protected] to book your place.

26/08/2026

24/08/2026

Last week we welcomed Heather to the team on a project to catalogue the Dogstar Theatre Company collection.

Here, Heather introduces herself:

I joined the Highland Archive Centre as an Archive Assistant in August 2026 as part of a six-month project partnered with the Highland-based Dogstar Theatre Company. After growing up on the Black Isle, I spent time living in Glasgow and Manchester studying postgraduate research degrees in Geography and Politics, where I developed a keen interest in Highland cultural heritage and history. Now back home, I like hillwalking and cycling in my spare time and enjoy learning about Highland environments through their folk histories and folklore. I also have a long-standing interest in theatre, and by cataloguing the Dogstar collection for this project, I look forward to preserving and sharing Highland theatre heritage.

Dogstar is a Highland-based theatre company that has been touring plays across Highland village halls and International city theatres since 1998. They commission, produce, and tour work by Highland writers, and their productions, such as The Tailor of Inverness or The Stornoway Way, are often inspired by Highland life, culture and landscape. The Dogstar collection preserves records relating to the company’s near three decades of productions and creative output.

21/08/2026

HCA/D4/264 Estate of Tarlogie and others (inc. Balintore, Pitnellies, Mansfield and properties in Tain), Ross-shire, sale catalogue, 1888-1889

This catalogue shows properties from the estate of Tarlogie which were auctioned in 1889. While some of the lots consisted of farms or arable land, there were also properties within Tain such as Lot I, on Chapel Street.