Palaeography Workshops

The Scottish Records Association (SRA) offers palaeography classes to help researchers read and understand handwritten records produced in Scotland in the early modern period. The workshops are run on a voluntary basis by members of the SRA who have relevant experience in reading early modern records and teaching palaeography. The classes were originally designed to be offered on-site for small groups, but they have been modified to be presented online as well.

Palaeography Pointers

This workshop lasts about an hour and is for people who are starting to read records written in the seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. It uses examples from kirk session records and parish registers of baptisms and marriages.

Palaeography for Private Household Collections

This workshop introduces researchers and archive staff to the skills and techniques necessary to read and interpret Scottish household papers, in the early modern period, and deals with correspondence, journals, and other household records from the seventeenth century. The documents used in the course are from Glamis Castle Archives, but they are record types found in most historic house collections. It is in two parts, with each part lasting 2-3 hours. It can be run as two separate events or as a whole-day event.

Previous workshops

The Palaeography Pointers workshop took place most recently in Aberdeen in October 2024. The Palaeography for Private Household Collections took place in Aberdeen in October 2024 and in the Muniments Room at Argyll Estates Archives at Inveraray Castle in September 2025.

Future workshops

If you would like to host a palaeography workshop, please get in touch with the Membership Secretary via the Contact page.