The Argyll Papers have been described as one of the most important private archives in Britain (Professor Allan Macinnes, 2014). It is a rich resource for Scottish and British history from the thirteenth to the twenty-first centuries and attracts visitors from all over the world, researching a wide range of subjects including family and local history, Gaelic studies, place names, military history, political history, economic and social history, agriculture and industry, architecture and more.

Why we need your help

Caring for an archive of this size and importance, and making it available to researchers, is an enormous responsibility which is both costly and time-consuming. The archive does not receive any public funding, but Friends’ memberships and donations provide a valuable small regular income which contributes towards collection care and improvements to the research facilities. The Friends also support volunteering opportunities in the archive and fund-raising initiatives to help with conservation and cataloguing. You can find out more about what we do and how you can get involved by following the links on our website.

Using the archive

During ‘normal’ times, the Argyll Papers are open to individual researchers and for group visits and tours.

For information about accessing the archives, please click here.

Please note that the archive is currently closed to volunteers and researchers due to Covid 19. The archivist is working limited hours and can only support limited and specific enquires for now. For more information about the contents of the archive see the Collection Description.

Events for Friends

The 2020/21 seminar series is being delivered online, using Zoom. Seminars are open to members and non-members (although non-members are asked to make a donation to the Friends). The programme is available here.