We are delighted to announce that the latest Scottish service to be awarded Accredited Archive Status is Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Archives are part of the Garden’s Library, located in the Science building in the northeast corner of the garden, which also houses the Herbarium, a preserved collection of plant specimens. These collections complement the Living Collection of plants that grow in our gardens and glasshouses.
Although the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is now over 350 years old, the Archives were formed more recently throughout the 20th Century, beginning as an amalgamation of interesting papers, letters, photographs, illustrations, plans and objects selected for preservation as they helped us to tell our story. Open a box and there may be papers inside like those that describe the interaction between Regius Keeper (Director) and one of the first female gardeners, dismissed in 1897 because she wouldn’t wear the boy’s outfit he insisted on. Open another and you can read a letter written by plant collector George Forrest describing how he escaped from hunters intent on taking his life in the Mekong Valley, China, in 1905. In another you can look at beautiful illustrations of flowers painted by Lilian Snelling at the end of the First World War to complement the taxonomic work of describing plants new to science. Explore ledgers to read the background history of young men coming to Edinburgh to be trained as gardeners and foresters in the early 20th century. Another set of ledgers allows us to appreciate the range of plants sent to the Garden from around the world, and to marvel at the range of locations we sent our plants to.
Leonie Paterson, archivist, said:
It is a joy to work in the Archives at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and the process of listing and cataloguing the collections to make them discoverable continues. Participating in the Archives Service Accreditation programme has been invaluable not only in guiding us in the right direction, but also in giving us confidence in what we do.
Search the Archives catalogue: atom.rbge.org.uk
For more info: Library and Archives | Science and Conservation | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Archive Service Accreditation is supported by a partnership of the Archives and Records Association (UK), Archives and Records Council Wales, National Records of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Scottish Council on Archives, The UK National Archives, and the Welsh Government through its Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales division.
Scottish awards are co-assessed by representatives from National Records of Scotland and the Scottish Council on Archives.
For more information on Archives Accreditation visit: www.scottisharchives.org.uk/accreditation