A former Keeper of the Records of Scotland, Athol Murray, is the latest to lend his support to a petition condemning plans to split up the holdings of the Scottish Catholic Archive in Edinburgh and redistribute them across the country. Signing the petition he stated:
As Keeper of the Records of Scotland (1985-90) I was not only concerned with the national archives but also with the preservation and recording of records held by other institutions or individuals throughout Scotland. The Scottish Catholic Archives are of international, not just national significance and it is vital that they should be kept intact in the care of a qualified archivist and in a location where they are accessible and freely available to researchers, who are willing to travel from elsewhere in Britain and overseas to consult them. It is sad that the support given by the late Cardinals Gray and Winning to the then archivist Mark Dilworth is not being continued by their successors.
Other signatories have included historian Domhnall Uilleam Stiubhart, Your Family History editor Nick Barratt, members of professional bodies AGRA and ASGRA, and many more.
To sign the petition please visit www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-roman-catholic-church-in-scotland-keep-the-scottish-catholic-archives-in-edinburgh-2?utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition.
For background to the present situation, visit previous coverage at http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/controversy-over-catholic-archive-plans.html and http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/shock-closure-of-scottish-catholic.html
Chris
Check out my Scotland's Greatest Story research service www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk
New book: It's Perthshire 1866 - there's been a murder... www.thehistorypress.co.uk/products/The-Mount-Stewart-Murder.aspx (from June 12th 2012)
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