Our intrepid archivists continue their journey through the many bundles of letters in our collection, cataloguing and noting information of interest.

As the house cools down over Autumn, we appreciate their efforts even more as they're observed huddled around a heater in the Archive Room twice a week. This shows true dedication to safeguarding historical primary sources for generations to come.

Last month they wrote an interesting summary of what they have found:

News from the Archives

Three documents have recently proved of some interest. Firstly, there is one of four pages (KH,113/7) which consists entirely of recipes – including those for mead, gingerbread and carrot pudding. Although these are undated, and un-attributed, they’re probably written in an 18th century hand; and their present condition suggests repeated heavy use! Secondly, there’s an 18th century receipt (KH,111/14) from an Aberdeen bookseller for 31 sheets of maps by H. Moll – at a cost of 1s 3d each; it is likely that these are the maps now handsomely bound as one of the most popular attractions in the maps section of Kemnay House library. Finally, there’s a document (KH,110/1) which impressed because of its length. In earlier centuries, some legal documents were expected to be written out = all on the same page; and this was often achieved by using normal-sized pages, pasted together at their bottom margins, and authenticated by signings across the joins; the whole document would then be rolled up, in scroll form. Even amongst these – the unrolling of this item simply went on and on, eventually overlapping both edges of the table (2.4 metres in length) in the Archives Room. This is quite the longest item so far discovered.

October 2019