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Archive a First for Comhairle
Funding for a new Archives Service for the Western Isles was announced this week.
The three year project was has received significant support from the European Regional Development Fund, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Comunn na Gaidhlig and is the result of over a year of consultation and research by the Comhairle with a wide range of heritage partners across the Western Isles, and national partners.
A report commissioned by the Comhairle by the University of Dundee Western Isles Archives and Records Study (2009) was instrumental in helping to identify priorities and develop the vision. A number of academic historians also helped and encouraged the Comhairle. Visits to Archives in other areas of Scotland defined good practice, and the views of local heritage partners were crucial to developing a model that would be relevant and inclusive to the Outer Hebrides.
The new Archives service will support the preservation, awareness and access to the archive collections in the Outer Hebrides by increasing the level of professional support and advice available to public agencies. It will build on the richness of local archive collections, and promote the Gaelic language, culture and heritage of the Western Isles.
The ground breaking project represents a significant opportunity to develop a Hebridean Archives brand which will be a catalyst for cultural and ancestral tourism and academic research, generating economic growth and employment opportunities.
A team of three new staff will be employed to deliver the project from April 2010. A Project manager, an experienced archivist, will be supported by a Gaelic speaking trainee Archivist (partly funded through Comunn na Gàidhlig’s Graduate Placement Scheme) and a project assistant. The team will be based initially at Stornoway Library.
The Comhairle has also applied for Heritage Lottery Funding to create a new archive repository and search room as part of the redevelopment of Lews Castle.
Cllr. Angus Campbell, Council Leader
“It is great news that the Comhairle has reached its aspiration of having a professional Archive Service. Thanks go to those that have helped us reach our goal. This will consolidate Herbidean Culture and Heritage across all our communities and also have a tangible economic benefit in these Islands”.
Cllr. Kenny MacIver, Chair – Genealogy Member/Officer Working Group.
“I am delighted that for the first time ever the Comhairle will be supporting an Archives Service that will benefit the whole of the Western Isles through professional support and partnership. It is a result of over a year of determined work by the Comhairle’s Genealogy Members/Officers Working Group and would not have succeeded with out the help of local heritage and cultural partners, colleagues in the wider Archives domain and academic historians. We were also honoured to have the support of George Mackenzie, Keeper of Records, National Archives Scotland. The new service signals a bright future for our unique historical records and the opportunity for local people, researchers, visitors, genealogists and the Scottish Diaspora to enjoy enhanced access to our recorded memories”.
Patricia Whatley (Centre for Archive & Information Studies at the University of Dundee)
“This is an exciting development and will secure the long term preservation of the archival heritage of the Western Isles. It will facilitate unprecedented access by historians, genealogists and other researchers to the many collections held by the Comhairle and other organisations. This is a landmark event in the history of the isles”.
George Mackenzie, Keeper of Records, National Archives Scotland
“This is great news for the Western Isles and for Scotland, underlining the importance of archives to understanding our shared past. Interest in family and local history – who we are and how our communities came to be here, is growing all the time. A new centre to preserve and to make the archives available in the islands, has been a dream for many years. I congratulate the Comhairle for their successful bid for European regional development funds to finally realise that dream. The National Archives of Scotland will be working with colleagues locally to enrich the new centre with digital and original records from the national collections”.
Annie Macsween, Head of Gaelic at Lews Castle College
“This certainly is good news for Gaelic language and heritage groups in the Western Isles. The comainn eachdraidh and other groups will benefit from the skills provided by this project and Lews Castle College UHI will explore the possibilities of developing courses as a spin-off from this initiative . The college will be pleased to work closely with the Comhairle and other interested groups to develop this project”.
Angus Macleod, Chairman of The Caidreachas
This is certainly good news from the point of view of The Caidreachas who have envisaged a central Western Isles Archive over many years. I am certain members will willingly engage with the Archive Service staff to preserve the wide ranging material already held and assist in ensuring that this material will be centrally available for future generations.
Dr Andrew Mackillop, Department of History at the University of Aberdeen
“The Western Isles have a unique political, economic, social and cultural history that is both distinct from inextricably linked to that of Scotland as a whole. Be it the centuries of the Lordship of the isles, the epoch of the clans to the era of commercial landlordism, clearance and emigration, no serious historian of Scotland would seek to deny the islands’ unique experience. It is wonderful that this history will now be reflected in the provision of appropriate and up-to-date archival provision and infrastructure”.
Dr Dòmhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and the University of Edinburgh
“The wonderful news that Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has secured funding from the ERDF for a new Western Isles Archives Service is a dream come true. It is of huge importance to all of us who care for the islands’ rich and fascinating past, locals and visitors alike, genealogists and historians, or those with a passing interest in their own township or parish.
The new Archives Services will be of significant economic benefit to the islands, employing new staff and attracting new visitors. But it will also bring about less measurable but just as important advantages by increasing awareness of our history, and increasing our self-confidence. With a dedicated professional archive, our history, our past, will be just as valid as that of other regions of the country.
The new Archives Services will help to put the islands at the centre of their own history, rather than at the extreme edge of somebody else’s. The new Archives are not just about the islands’ past, but about their future as well”.