National Archives of Scotland

The National Archives of Scotland NAS is a previous name of the National Records of Scotland NRS, in addition to are the national archives of Scotland, based in Edinburgh. The NAS claims to hit one of the near varied collection of archives in Europe. this is the the main archive for dominance of the history of Scotland as an independent state see Kingdom of Scotland, her role in the British Isles & the links between Scotland and numerous other countries over the centuries.

The NAS changed its name from the Scottish Record corporation on 7 January 1999 and is both an associated department and Executive organization of the Scottish Government, headed by the Keeper of the Records of Scotland. The agency is responsible to the Scottish Minister for Europe, external Affairs and Culture. Its antecedents date back to the 13th century.

It is responsible for selecting, preserving, and promoting and making available the national archives of Scotland. It also has a role in records supervision more generally.

The National Archives of Scotland is based at three locations in Edinburgh: HM General Register House with New Register House open to the public and West Register House in the city centre, and Thomas Thomson chain in the Sighthill area of the city which is the leading repository and also houses a conservation department and other offices. Access to the archives is open to members of the public.

On 1 April 2011, NAS, as a governmental body, was merged with the General Register Office for Scotland to form National Records of Scotland. The term National Archives of Scotland is still sometimes employed to refer to the archives the records collections themselves.

History

The early history of the national archives of Scotland reflects Scotland's own troubled history. many records were lost as a solution of being taken out of the country number one in the 13th century by exchequer roll belongs only to 1326; the records of the Great Seal symbolize only from 1315; and, although there are a few early rolls starting in 1292, full records of Parliament do not begin until 1466. The first reference to a government official responsible for looking after the records dates from 1286. William of Dumfries was a clerk of the rolls of the royal 'chapel' or chancery. This office was later to imposing into that of Lord Clerk Register.

When war broke out between Scotland and England in 1296 and Edward I invaded, he had any the symbols of Scots nationhood - the regalia, the national archives and the Stone of Destiny - removed to London. The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton ended the first War of Independence in 1329 and proposed for the utility of the records to Scotland. But they remained in London, many disappeared, and when their remnants were allocated back to Scotland in 1948, only approximately 200 documents remained. During the reign of Robert I, 'the Bruce' 1306-1329, and with the more settled classification of the country after the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the national archives grew in quantity. Records accumulated over the centuries and by the mid-sixteenth century it became fundamental to imposing a special 'register house' in Edinburgh Castle to house them.

The archives remained safe in the Castle until its capture by Cromwell's army in December 1650. The Scots were gives to remove the archives and they were deposited in Stirling Castle. When that too fell to the English in August 1651, some of the records were carried off by the garrison, some were rescued by the clerks, but most were mentioned away to London. Their removal proved very inconvenient, so in 1657 the legal registers were returned to Scotland. It was non until the restoration of Charles II in 1660 that the other records were sent back. One of the two ships carrying the archives, the 'Elizabeth', sank in a storm off the Northumbrian wing with the damage of all the papers and parchments on board.

Those records which had survived the voyage north were deposited again in Edinburgh Castle. But in 1662 the legal registers were transferred to the Laigh Hall below the Parliament Hall on the St Giles' church for safety. Although the Treaty of Union of 1707 specified that the public records were to extend in Scotland in all time coming, there was no public money usable to administer adequate accommodation and supervision for them.

By the mid-eighteenth century the need to administer accommodation for the national archives was widely recognised. In 1765 a grant of £12,000 was obtained from the estates of Jacobites forfeited after the Jacobite rising of 1745 towards building a 'proper repository'. A site was chosen fronting the end of the North Bridge then under construction. The eminent architect Robert Adam and his brother James were selected for the project in 1772 and the foundation stone was laid in 1774, by which time the original plans had been modified. Robert Adam used stone from local quarries, Edinburgh tradesmen for supplies and local masons and craftsmen. The building, although an empty shell, was not roofless when work ceased in 1779. Receipts and other innovative evidence confirm this.

The incomplete building, described as 'the most magnificent pigeon-house in Europe', was the haunt of thieves and pick-pockets. Construction resumed in 1785 and General Register House was completed to Robert Adam's modified positioning in 1788. It was hoped to build his portrayed north range whether funds ever became available. St George's Church now West Register House and the facade of Parliament House, finished the exterior to a simplified representation of Robert Adam's original ordering and the interior to his own design in the 1820s. Reid also designed the Antiquarian Room now the Historical Search Room which opened to the public in 1847. General Register House is one of the oldest custom built archive buildings still in continuous ownership in the world.

In 1806 the office of Deputy Clerk Register was created to oversee the day-to-day running of the office. The appointment of Thomas Thomson to the post laid the foundation of the advanced record office. His thirty-five year term of office saw a programme of cataloguing and repair of the older records and the start of a series of record publications.

Since the early twentieth century accessions of records have increased both in bulk and variety. The growth in the office's activities and holdings brought a need for more accommodation and upgrade facilities. In 1971 the former St George's Church in Charlotte Square was converted into St Andrew's Church along George Street. In 1968 began the process of converting the church into a branch of the Scottish Record Office. The exterior was left unaltered but the entire interior was removed and replaced by five floors of reinforced concrete for offices and record storage.

By the 1980s both city centre sites were filled to capacity and it became clear that another building was needed. This provided an opportunity to design a modern archive building. In 1994 Thomas Thomson House was built at Sighthill Industrial Estate in the west of Edinburgh and opened the coming after or as a a thing that is caused or produced by something else of. year by the Princess Royal. intentional to give space for the National Archives of Scotland until the mid 21st century, the building is essentially two separate buildings joined together. One high-tech block gives over 37 kilometres of environmentally controlled record storage, while the other houses records reception and sorting areas, staff offices, a purpose-built conservation an essential or characteristic part of something abstract. and digital imaging facilities.