We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Tunnock Prize for 2022 is Alison Spence with an essay entitled ‘Milton printworks, Patrick Mitchell and calico printing in the West of Scotland, 1796-1861’. The essay highlights the dispersed records documenting Patrick Mitchell's career as a calico printer which contain a wealth of information about printing practices and business management. Alison is reading for a PhD in Information Studies, University of Glasgow.

Honorary mention goes to Esther Draycott with an essay entitled ‘All Shadows are alive’, which relates to the decline of the drying green in working-class Glasgow and expressions relating to its loss revealed on social media.  Esther is reading for a PhD at Glasgow School of Art, Design Department.

The Tunnock Prize is an essay competition aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers kindly sponsored by Thomas Tunnock Ltd.

Entries should focus on the use and interpretation of Scottish archives both within Scotland and further afield. Submissions should consist of between 4,000 and 6,000 words. Any submission that makes use of archival material to explore historical matters relevant to Scotland will be considered. Entries should follow the format specified in the Guidelines to Authors available at https://www.scottishrecordsassociation.org/scottish-archives

The winning entry will be awarded a prize of £250 and, subject to peer review, will be eligible for publication in Scottish Archives, the journal of the Scottish Records Association. Please send your submissions via email to: [email protected] accompanied by a brief covering letter giving your name and eligibility (degree, university and year of studies, or the year of obtaining your degree).

The closing date for entries is 1 September 2023.

The prize winner will be announced at the Scottish Records Association’s AGM in November 2023 and publicised on the SRA website at https://www.scottishrecordsassociation.org and in our newsletter, Retour.

2020 Heather Curtis, University of St Andrews, ‘Transactiones pro animabus’: Rent Charges and the Economics of Salvation in Late Mediaeval St Andrews’.

2021 Robert Fell, University of Edinburgh, ‘It happened at the berry-time when Travellers came to Blair’: Traveller Voices in Tobar an Dualchais / Kist o Riches