Virtual talk from chair of Thurso Heritage Society on local memorabilia
Caithness Family History Society’s (CFHS) next meeting on June 8 features an online talk from the chair of Thurso Heritage Society.
Alan McIvor's presentation is called "Archives: A Collection of Local Memorabilia" and will feature the local historian's large collection including archive photographs and slides, films, books, documents, paintings, maps, coins and tokens, ornaments, pottery, medals and oral history recordings.
Referring to his collection, Alan said: “I started out with an interest over 30 years ago, but that was all – I didn’t have anything relating to the area.
"Eventually, I got two photographs of Olrig Street and Thurso Castle, which were going to be dumped by a local photographer. From there, it has continued to grow. I am very grateful that some people have allowed me to copy and photograph items or given me things for safekeeping rather than seeing them destroyed. For the Powerpoint talk, all the artefacts I am showing are original, with some surviving hundreds of years."
Born and raised in Thurso, Alan has provided information and archive material for several publications and television documentaries. He has also published two local history books – A Guide to
Historic Thurso and Memories of Thurso. A member of CFHS, he regularly writes articles for its journal.
Alan says he would usually just do a presentation about Thurso, or a particular theme relating to the town, but this is the first time he will talk about his collection. He will give a brief description of each item to give some background and show that objects "have their own story to tell".
Explaining some documents, Alan said: “I have some early fishing records requested by the House of Commons. They show the fishing industry’s colossal scale, not just with herring.
"One report shows that from the 36 fishing stations listed, over 2.5 million cod, ling, and hake were taken or purchased in 1826-27. Lerwick was the busiest port, while locally, it was Thurso, followed by Lybster and Wick.”
He added: “My interest is in Thurso’s history, but I have tried to select some items related to elsewhere in the county such as a letter pertaining to a riot in Wick with the tollhouse destroyed, a cabinet card of Braal Castle and a painting of Dirlot.
“I am working on storing all the objects in proper archival supplies. Eventually, it would be great to have them properly catalogued as a resource. It could easily be something that trainee archivists or curators could work on. Though funding would be needed to get appropriate cataloguing software. ”
To join the online event on Wednesday, June 8 at 7pm, book at caithnessfhs@btinternet.com