Abbreviation | SHS |
---|---|
Formation | 1886 |
Founder | Earl of Rosebery |
Registration no. | SC005043 |
Legal status | Charity |
Location | |
President | Dr Catriona MacDonald |
Website | scottishhistorysociety |
The Scottish History Society is a historical and text publication society, which promotes the study of and research in the history of Scotland. [1]
It was founded in 1886, as part of the late 19th-century revival in interest in Scottish national identity. [2] The Society was founded as a result of a letter from the Earl of Rosebery (later to serve as Prime Minister, from 1894–95), published in The Scotsman on 3 February 1886, [3] and Rosebery became the first President of the Society.
The first president of the Society defined its work as "the humble and unobtrusive task of letting everyman know, in so far as in us lies, and so far as documentary evidence exists, how our forebears lived and worked and carried on the business of their country in their separate spheres." [4]
The Society has a council of scholars representing most of the universities in Scotland and some beyond, as well as other institutions.
The Scottish History Society's objects are to promote interest in, and further knowledge of, the history of Scotland by means of discovery and publication of documents illustrative of that history. [5]
The first publications, in October 1887, were Bishop Pococke's Tours in Scotland, 1747-1760, edited by D W Kemp, and the Diary of and General Expenditure Book of William Cunningham of Craigends, 1673–1680, edited by the Reverend James Dodds, D.D.
By 1900, 65 Public Libraries subscribed for the society's publications. Amongst some of its notable members have been Sir James Balfour Paul, Lord Lyon King of Arms, and Emeritus Professor David Masson, Historiographer Royal for Scotland.
Since its foundation the SHS has produced an increasing number of vital records hitherto unavailable to scholars of Scottish history, and in this the SHS have provided an invaluable service to the nation.
The current series of SHS publications is the 6th Series, published by Boydell & Brewer. [6]
In 1900, the President was the Earl of Rosebery. In 1970, the President was Professor Gordon Donaldson. Other Presidents have included the novelist and politician John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, Dr Jenny Wormald, and Professor Roger Mason of the University of St Andrews. Information on the Society's current office bearers may be found on the official website. [7]
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Prof David Mather Masson LLD DLitt, was a Scottish academic, supporter of women's suffrage, literary critic and historian.
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, was a British Liberal politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl of Rosebery, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.
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Albert Edward Harry Meyer Archibald Primrose, 6th Earl of Rosebery, 2nd Earl of Midlothian, styled Lord Dalmeny until 1929, was a British liberal politician who briefly served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1945. He was the Member of Parliament for Midlothian from 1906 to 1910. He became the Earl of Rosebery and Midlothian in 1929 and was thus a member of the House of Lords until his death.
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Barnbougle Castle is a much-altered tower house on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, between Cramond and Queensferry, and within the parish of Dalmeny. It lies within the Earl of Rosebery's estate, just northwest of Dalmeny House. Although its history goes back to the 13th century, the present castle is the result of rebuilding in 1881 by the 5th Earl of Rosebery, who served as Prime Minister from 1894–1895.
Rev David Dickson (1583–1663) was a Church of Scotland minister and theologian.
The Battle of Glasgow was fought on 16 March 1544, between Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox and the Scottish Regent James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, and their adherents, during the minority of Mary, Queen of Scots. There was a second battle at Glasgow Muir in May 1544 between Arran and the Earl of Glencairn.
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