Record collection of the month

The John o’ Groat Journal Collection, Caithness

Valerie Amin introduces a fascinating journal collection cared for by The Nuclear and Caithness Archives, that can help you find new information about your Caithness ancestors, including those who moved to another area or emigrated

Nucleus: the Nuclear and Caithness Archives was purpose-built to house the records of the UK Civil Nuclear Industry, as well as the archives of the county of Caithness. Based in Wick in Caithness, Scotland, the building won both the The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Award and The Royal Institute of British Architects Award for Scotland in 2018 for its design.

Documents in the Caithness Archive date from 1469 to the present day and consist of burgh, council and parish records, personal and business records, maps, photographs and plans.

The latest deposit to arrive at the Archive was from the office of the John o’ Groat Journal newspaper. The office in Wick had been the newspaper’s base since it was founded in 1836, but with the sale of the building, a new home was needed for the historic copies of ‘The Groat’ as it is known locally, and its sister paper, the Caithness Courier.

The collection includes weekly editions of the newspapers dating from 1836 to the present day. As well as local and national news, they carried features on the life and history of the area, readers’ letters, poetry, adverts and family notices. They are a fantastic resource for family historians because they go beyond the bare bones of the names and dates we find in statutory records, to the stories behind them.