Welcome to

Friends of the Argyll Papers

The family and estate archives of the Campbell Family, earls and dukes of Argyll.

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Welcome

The Friends of the Argyll Papers was established to support the development of the family and estate archive of the Campbell family, dukes of Argyll, and to promote its use and enjoyment by a wide audience.

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.

The Argyll Papers are the family and estate archive of the Duke of Argyll. Dating from the 13th century, the archive records 700 years of the family’s participation in Scottish, British and international events, their private lives and interests and the management of their extensive estates.

The Argyll estates covered most of Argyllshire, including the islands of Tiree, Iona and Mull, as well as the Lordship of Campbell in Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Fife.

Most of the people living on the Argyll estates were not Campbells: many other Highland names appear in the records for Argyll and the islands, and lowland names predominate in the records of the Lordship of Campbell in central Scotland.

It is the records of the management of the estates, dating from the late 18th century, which are most useful for family history research.

The estate records detail:

the people living on the land and their families (estate censuses, rentals);
how and where they lived and worked (estate surveys, petitions and memorials, correspondence, reports, accounts);
and give details of their houses and occupations (surveys, building plans).

Become a Friend

Do you have Campbell ancestry and want to help preserve your family archive? Are you interested in history and opportunities to connect with like-minded people? Have you used the Argyll Papers and wish to support the archivist’s and volunteers’ work? Whatever your reason for joining, by becoming a Friend you will help to secure the future of this very special archive and become part of a friendly, interesting and dedicated group of people.

Benefits of Membership

A regular newsletter with contributions from Friends, volunteers and researchers
Volunteering opportunities – see our Volunteering page for details
Social and educational events – see Events page for details
Sharing your interests and knowledge with others
20% discount for Inveraray Castle admissions, tea-room and shop

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.

Support the preservation of this amazing archive, become a Friend of the Argyll Papers.

Friends’ News
Palaeography Group Online Workshop

Monday 11th November 2024 – 6.00pm.
Alison Diamond (Archivist)

Finding your Scottish Family:
Family and Clan History in Argyll and Highland Archives

A Two-Evening Online Study Event Wednesday 6th November 2024 18:00-20:00 GMT & Wednesday 13th November 2024 18:00 – 20:00 GMT

Follow this link for all the information on the event. COMING SOON

Seminar series 2024/25.

The Friends of the Argyll Papers are delighted to introduce a series of online seminars informed by research undertaken in the archive, to take place on Zoom. All seminars are scheduled for a Friday, at various start times to allow Friends around the world to participate.

Friday 8 November 2024 AGM at 1400hrs – Seminar 1500hrs – UK Time

Dear Friends

The 2024 AGM of the Friends will take place on Fri 8 Nov at 14:00. This will be an online event hosted on Zoom. Please find agenda and draft minutes from the 2023 AGM attached to the email sent to members. Please note that the zoom link for the AGM is at the foot of the Agenda.

The business meeting will be followed at 15:00 by the next seminar in our current series. Please note that there is a separate zoom link for Ed’s talk – register to receive this in the usual fashion.

AGM Seminar: The genetic signature of Dougall of Argyll & Lorne and his present-day, male-line descendants

Our AGM presentation in the Friends seminar series 2024/25, will take place via zoom on Friday 8 November 2024 at 15:00 UK time when Ed Sweeney will present ‘The genetic signature of Dougall of Argyll & Lorne and his present-day, male-line descendants’.

Image with permission of Shutterstock.com

Edward Sweeney, an adoptee, will explain the genetic and genealogical research methods used to identify and corroborate his biological parents, and how the same methodology has been used to reveal the genetic signature of Dougall of Argyll and Lorne and his male descendants. Heretofore, it was believed that male-line descendants of the three remaining branches of Clan Dougall had expired or “daughtered-out” (where in the absence of male descendants, the chiefly lines continued through the female lines). The Dunollie male line ended in 1953, Gallanach in 1888, and Lunga in 1915. Extensive Y-DNA (male-line) and autosomal DNA testing of MacDougall men has revealed 60 living, male-line descendants of the chiefly line. The genetic signature of one of these testers, and his corroborated pedigree back to Allan of Torsay and Gallanach, and son of Duncan MacDougall, 16th of Dunollie, serves to correlate the genetic signature with this branch of the Clan Dougall. Extensive research of available historical records is helping to build out a fuller Clan Dougall family tree with the aim of stitching the earliest known ancestors of DNA testers to the latest known “twigs” of the Clan Dougall Tree.

Edward Sweeney: PG Dipl, MSc candidate University of Strathclyde. Retired Fortune 500 Company Executive. Edward Sweeney (adoptive surname) used genetic genealogy techniques to discover his biological families, and in the process launched a research project aimed at revealing the genetic roots and branches of the Clan Dougall.

The seminar will be given on Zoom.

Attendance at the seminar is free to members of the Friends. Non-members are asked to make a £10 donation to the Friends at Donate to Friends of the Argyll Papers (enthuse.com).

All attendees should book their place by emailing Alison at: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com

Seminars will be delivered on the Zoom platform and will include a 45 minute presentation followed by 15 mins for Q & A.

For information on past seminars, please visit the Cache Page

Everyone who wishes to attend needs to book a place for the sessions by emailing: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com

For the full story click on the LINK

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Welcome to the Archives by the Duke of Argyll

Using the archive

The Argyll Papers are open to individual researchers and for group visits and tours. We support genealogical, local history and academic research. Please book an appointment to visit. We offer school visits, resources, internships, and work experience placements.

For information about accessing the archives, please click on the image.