FROM THE ARCHIVE: Family history gives different insight
The final class in our archives for beginners set focuses on family and personal papers and it always proves to be an interesting way to round off the course, writes Highland Archive Centre's Jennifer Johnstone.
Family papers by their nature, are very personal to the individual who created them. This gives us a unique insight and a very different voice than the official documents we see in a lot of our other main collections such as local authority records (school records and poor relief records), church records and court records.
There is a huge variety in what can be classed as family and personal items; just think of the sort of documents and records you and your family generate – everything from household bills and bank statements to social media posts and emails.
You may have birth and marriage certificates, papers relating to your job, letters from your parents, evidence of school or subsequent education and items that you or others have amassed during a lifetime. They may be specifically linked to your family or they may be representative of you and your interests.
These documents can give us glimpses into social history, politics, the development of local areas or industries, gossip, contemporary local evidence of national events, individuals’ personal feelings, and so much more.
One such collection that is housed at the Highland Archive Centre is that of the Barron family, at one time proprietors and editors of the Inverness Courier.
There are three generations represented in the Barron family papers. James Barron became editor of the Inverness Courier in 1873. Born in Edinkillie, Moray, in 1847, he joined the Courier in 1865. He became sole proprietor in 1910 and edited the paper until his death in 1919. He was also a founding member of the Inverness Scientific Society and Field Club (established December 8, 1875), was twice its president, and, from 1875, was editor of the transactions. With his wife Isabella Macleod James had five children – James, Evan, Helen, Anne and Janet.
The bulk of this collection is made up of correspondence between various family members. Some of the most touching letters within the collection are between James and Isabella’s eldest son James and his wife Eveline.
The letters start during the couple’s courtship and continue to see them engaged in 1903 and married in 1907. Their daughter Isabella Eveline MacLeod Barron was born in September 1913.
There is a beautiful letter from Eveline to James in which she tells him of her pregnancy… “and that brings me to a secret I have to tell you dear. I didn’t want to tell you till I could whisper it in your own ear but I think I must let you know now. Can you guess dearest? I am sure you will be glad and you know I am, though I feel rather too wretchedly bad to rejoice over much however I am told I shall feel better in a month or two. There dearest you know now, don’t you?”
Sadly, just 27 days after her daughter’s birth, and as a result of it, Eveline Barron died; two years later, James was killed in action at the Battle of Loos (1915).
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