Public to get online access to archive
The material – part of two private collections – spans over 400 years and contains correspondence from local luminaries such as Sir John Sinclair and Robert Dick. It also features correspondence from many families in Caithness.
The letters from President Washington were written to Sir John while the correspondence from Winston Churchill was to Sir Archibald Sinclair who served in the Government during the Second World War.
The collections belong to Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP John Thurso and historian Alan McIvor.
The material, which has been obtained by Thurso Heritage Society, is being digitised and will be available on a new website under construction by Online Projects, a specialist team at the college’s main campus in Thurso.
The two collections contain thousands of documents, letters, photos and artefacts and include a map of parts of Caithness and Sutherland dating from 1599.
Mr McIvor, who chairs the heritage society, is delighted the material will be available to the public.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for this historically-rich yet largely untapped part of Scotland to get the attention it deserves. Some of the material is very rare and will be of great interest to genealogists, historians and education facilities as well as the general public.
“Without doubt the collection of records belonging to John Thurso must be one of the most important collections in Scotland and to make it accessible to the public will have a huge benefit,” he told the Caithness Courier yesterday.
Mr McIvor (41) has been collecting historical items and artefacts for 22 years. Material includes a photographic archive covering 150 years, as well as maps, plans and books.
“The work is under way and the team will be doing my collection first, then John’s. About 1500 of my photos have been done so far and by the end of the year my collection should be finished along with part of John’s,” stated Mr McIvor. He added that audio interviews with local characters will also be digitised and made available online.
The first phase of the project has cost around £12,500 and has been funded by bodies such as Caithness and North Sutherland Fund and Robertson’s Trust. Local companies Kongsberg Maritime Ltd, Auto-Parts and Speedy Skip Hire also contributed, while profits from a guidebook written by Mr McIvor were gifted to the fund. In addition, significant donations were received from locals and expats.
Mr McIvor stressed it would take further work and funding to complete the task.
But he added: “We are extremely grateful to the funding organisations, the college and of course John Thurso for giving us access to his fascinating collection. He has been extremely helpful and could not have been more generous,” continued Mr McIvor.
Lib Dem backbencher John Thurso said: “I am delighted to be part of this exciting project and to help make this wonderful data available online.”