The Tunnock Prize
The Tunnock Prize 2025 Winner
The Tunnock Prize for 2025 is awarded to Olivia Dunderdale, a PhD candidate at the University of St Andrews, for her essay entitled 'Reassessing the Record: Northern Burghs, Parliamentary Participation and Local Archives in Early Modern Scotland.' Subject to peer review, Olivia's essay will be published in a future volume of Scottish Archives.
The Tunnock Prize 2026
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 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: editorscottisharchives@gmail.com 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 30 September 2026.
Previous winners of The Tunnock Prize
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
2022 Alison Spence, University of Glasgow, 'Milton printworks, Patrick Mitchell and calico printing in the West of Scotland, 1796-1861'. Honorary Mention: Esther Draycott, 'All Shadows are alive', Glasgow School of Art.
2023 James Fox, University of St Andrews, 'Recordkeeping and the Business of Books in pre-Union Edinburgh: The Debt Book of John Porteous, 1699-1702'.
2024 Grant Schreiber, University of Guelph, 'Kirk Session Financial Records and the Poor of Aberdeen, 1602-27'.